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by bibliotekka 825 days ago
Add on: ask your local library if they have: Libby, Kanopy or Hoopla
2 comments

Libby / Overdrive for ebooks are a racket. The publishers sell ‘disposable’ licenses that expire after something like only 20 uses or a few years, whichever comes first. Support your local library, but don’t support greedy publishers.
Yeah, sad that libraries have embraced these DRM schemes instead of fighting for their rights to preserve our culture without the need for rightholder approval.
Don’t libraries negotiate the licensing? If I want digital copies what else can I do? Libby or Amazon which is worse?
> If I want digital copies what else can I do?

File sharing is clearly the most user friendly and therefore correct choice.

Kanopy is great, and very nearly as good as the mainstream streaming platforms in terms of selection and software quality.

Hoopla, however, is abysmal both in selection (though this depends on your local library) and in software/service quality. The search is broken, and it has some of the most confusing UX I've ever experienced. It's as if it actively wants to prevent you from watching anything.

That’s just what the internet was like many years ago, slow, bad search, clunky, jerky not smooth, and with lots of right angles.

Hoopla is just based off a relic.