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Should the Gates Foundation Support Linux and Apple Computers in Public Libraries?

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“Let me tell you a little story about the imbalance of computer
platforms in public libraries. The year was 2005. Fairfax County
Public Libraries, in Fairfax, Virginia, started offering free
audiobook downloads in Windows Media Audio (WMA) file format. These
audiobooks could not be heard on any Linux computer, Macintosh
computer, or iPod. Not only were the audiobooks in WMA format, they
were under DRM (Digital Rights Management.) So if you happened to
be blind and you owned an iPod, you could not listen to these
audiobooks. Then again, blind people don’t need to listen to
audiobooks, right?”


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