The Transylvanian Format

David Rothman writes “The thin, pale-skinned Vendor did what he could to comfort The Librarian and make a sale. But he mustn’t betray his secret. He remembered the library in the other town, the one that had placed garlic over the door. Even if it had happened on Halloween, that was not a good sign.

Still, despite the dark clothes, funereal mien and soul to match, the Vendor was feeling exuberant today. A rival e-book outfit was was going out of business. Thousands of e-books in The Librarian’s collection would be unreadable–“protected” by proprietary DRM and “preserved” in a proprietary format to begin with. Maybe The Vendor could altruistically replace them with books in his own proprietary format. “I promise you,” The Vendor said. “We’re here to stay.”

“But how do I know?” asked The Librarian, feeling an odd ache in the back of her neck.

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