kindle's drm-ed ebooks, with no re-download
Brenda Wallace
know, but there is a re-download facility if, for example you lose
your kindle and buy another, have it replace on warrunty, or maybe
upgrade to a kindle version 2 later.
however, the publisher can choose to turn off re-downloading - or
limit it to 2 or 3 downloads. expecially ugly is, amazon don't tell
customer what restrictions the publisher has chose.
Those books you bought are only yours to read if you never move from
your original kindle you bought it on.
Not such a big deal if it's a flick of a story you want to read once -
but what if it's an encyclopedia?
http://www.geardiary.com/2009/06/19/kindles-drm-rears-its-ugly-head-and-it-is-ugly/
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Donald Stidwell
is truly evil.
Tim Gregory
really makes me lean a bit more to the Sony.
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Bert Latamore
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Brenda Wallace
>
> I've been thinking a lot about a dedicated reading device lately. This
> really makes me lean a bit more to the Sony.
What's their model? DRMed?
Bert Latamore
Kerry Lannert
Philip Storry
I have a Sony PRS-505 eReader - a very nice bit of kit.
The "primary" format on the Sony (LRF files) supports DRM, but doesn't
require it. It'll also read EPUB files, PDFs, text and a couple of
other formats.
Personally, I bought the Sony because:
a) No requirement for DRM, no onerous ties to a service which may not
be there in future
b) The Kindle v2 wasn't available in the UK at the time
The Kindle v2 is tempting, but would just see me spend a lot of money
on books I'd read once.
The Sony's "paltry" memory of some 256Mb is still huge when you
remember you're dealing with text and one cover image for almost all
books. The screen's great, and only the desktop software lets it
down.
But then, I run Linux so don't expect to be supported - one good tip
is Calibre (http://calibre.kovidgoyal.net/), which works excellently
on Linux but is apparently also available on Windows and OS X. I've
not used it on those operating systems, but I'd imagine it will do the
trick.
The software's just for managing books - transferring them, tagging
them (Sony calls tags "Collections"), editing the metadata on
author/series etc. But without it, I don't think that the central
index on the device by which you navigate will get updated, so some
software (whatever you choose) is a necessary evil, even though you
can mount both the internal memory and any memory cards as mass
storage devices when connected via USB! :-|
You can buy books for the Sony, and as you'd expect there's DRM on
those. A basic fact of ebooks that you have to accept when buying a
reader device - any reader device - is that DRM is mandated by the
publishers of books, NOT the manufacturers of devices.
(Generally speaking, manufacturers prefer not to restrict as they know
it increases sales. Witness tape-to-tape recorders in the 80's,
CD-to-tape recording with automatic blank spacing in the 90's, and DVD
region encoding in the 00's. Of course, on this I'm teaching nobody
anything when I say this, but I'm thinking about the archives in case
anyone stumbles upon them in future! *grins*)
In the UK, eBooks are sold via an agreement with the booksellers
Waterstones - who also sell the Sony device. It all looks quite swish
and nicely integrated, but I must admit I've not even touched it as
it'll be DRM'd and I suspect not in ways I like.
(For the record, I think DRM can be done well. But it usually isn't,
and that puts me off it.)
So with regards to getting reading that's not insanely compromised by
a publisher's stiffy for stiffing their customers, I'd recommend the
following two sites...
Baen's Webscriptions eBook store: http://www.webscription.net/ - if
you like Science Fiction or Fantasy, then these guys will sell you
some pretty decent stuff at reasonable prices. Early Heinlein.
Harlan Ellison. I think I bought the entire Giant's series from James
P Hogan for around 20 bucks - some of their deals are astonishing
given how much reading you get. And none of it is DRM'd, you can
choose your format (including Word document and PDF for some
materials!), and they treat you like you're not a criminal.
This store is highly recommended for both content AND the way that
they do business.
But wait! There's more! Try the Baen Free Library -
http://www.baen.com/library/ - which has a number of books from Baen's
store completely free of charge and with no DRM. (I bought the first
of James P Hogan's aforementioned Giants series, and no sooner had I
finished it I found myself buying stuff from Baen - so be careful, and
lock up that credit card!)
And, of course, there's always Project Gutenberg:
http://www.gutenberg.org. Say what you like, but having Jules Verne,
H. G. Wells, P. G. Wodehouse, Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, and many many
more - all for free - is just great. Sometimes the formatting's
ropey, but they're now experimenting with publishing in EPUB format
which fixes much of that.
I can't recommend Project Gutenberg highly enough really. The price,
their mission, and the end results - it's all good.
For those who wandered out of the land of Palm and may have eReader
files, there is a way to convert them but it requires a Python script
if I recall correctly. There are also, I believe, ways to convert
MobiPocket (? - I never used that format) files, and others. As the
old/new saying goes, give a man DRM and you may have one sale; give a
man a scripting language, and you might get some follow on sales once
he's removed the obstacles you put between him and what you sold him.
;-)
I'm very happy with my Sony eReader. The screen's great, the battery
life is astonishing, and I think it was a great investment.
However, if you don't like what you see at Baen or Project Gutenberg,
you might have troubles finding content.
I hope that helps!
Gate
Not just because of ugly, but it's just not very usable. I understand
the second one is a lot better. But I love the Sony, and see no reason
to get a new Kindle. In fact, I'll sell my Kindle as soon as I can.
The Sony, on the other hand, is the one I use every single day. And
that's saying a lot from somebody who "has" to have all the latest
tech. I don't plan to upgrade to the newer Sony either, for that
matter. This one works a treat!
Gate
> some pretty decent stuff at reasonable prices. Early Heinlein.
> Harlan Ellison. I think I bought the entire Giant's series from James
> P Hogan for around 20 bucks - some of their deals are astonishing
> given how much reading you get. And none of it is DRM'd, you can
> choose your format (including Word document and PDF for some
> materials!), and they treat you like you're not a criminal.
> This store is highly recommended for both content AND the way that
> they do business.
Jesper Anderson
doesn't require it. I've converted hundreds of books from ereader,
lit, html and text format to lrf, and it works very well. There are
third party applications which do an excellent job of automatically
converting books in batches. The PDF support is a bit dodgy, but the
picture on the e-paper is amazing. I didn't bring it along on this
trip to London, carrying enough stupid kit as it is, but otherwise I
always have it with me, and I love it. I've all but given up on dead
tree books now thanks to having it.
Jesper