Bewildering Stories Editorial

by Jerry Wright

Conflict

"The human heart in conflict with itself..." Yeah, right. I don't care what Faulkner said. The whole thing is an irritation. What? Oh yeah, I guess I meander. Or maunder. Or whatever.

Digital Rights Management. Irritating. I hate the concept, but understand why some "creators" feel the need. Still, after reading works that are in the "Creative Commons" or easily available for download, I felt that I really didn't want DRM crippled books. Only...

I've been reading a lot of Sharon Lee and Steve Miller Liaden Universe books. One of these days, I'll write an "appreciation" of them, although I have reviewed one of their novels already, Plan B. However, I found that a number of their works are hard to come by, but easily available from Embiid Books www.embiid.com.

So I can download them to screen and Palm Pilot. Only they are DRM enabled, and ONLY if you have the special DRM software installed can you read them. Lessee... Stuff I want to read... DRM... Stuff I want to read... DRM...

I didn't AT ALL mind paying $2.99 for the two short stories, or $4.99 for the novel that is at present ONLY out in e-book format. But feh. I had to download and install DRM software on my computer and my Palm. Horrors.

I bit the bullet and compromised my principles.

"The Human Heart in conflict with itself..." Pfui!

--Jerry