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"Buy it once, read it anywhere." No. Read it anywhere there's a Kindle app. Maybe. For a while. Note that invisible string attached. And the key that you do

"Buy it once, read it anywhere." No. Read it anywhere there's a Kindle app. Maybe. For a while. Note that invisible string attached. And the key that you don't control that is required to give you access to what you've already paid for. I have no intention of every buying a _book_ with DRM. I have books, that I bought myself, that are 45 years old. I can read them just as well today as then, failing eyesight notwithstanding. I'm not going to invest money into a book that can suddenly disappear, not because of fire or damage, but because of obsolescence or malice on a venders part. No "reads for shure" for me... There's a perfectly fine, improvable but fine, open e-book format with lots of titles, both legitimate and informal.

lemming 16y ago
Exactly. For me, the saving grace of Amazon's mobi format is that it's easy to strip the DRM off. I would never buy so many ebooks were that not the case. I generally immediately return Topaz books if I slip up and actually buy one.
- dpapathanasiou 16y ago
  For me, the saving grace of Amazon's mobi format is that it's easy to strip the DRM off. You're not alone; I asked the same question in this poll (http://www.mobileread.com/forums/showthread.php?t=87089 http://www.mobileread.com/forums/showthread.php?t=87089), and that was the overwhelming response.
oddthink 16y ago
Ah, but a Kindle book doesn't require shelf space or storage. It's not a lump of matter you have ship when moving. You can take a pile when traveling without dislocating a shoulder. Those benefits are real; for me, storage cost overwhelms the actual price of a book very quickly, at which point the DRM is a non-issue. Of course, I'd prefer unencumbered PDF or Mobi, but a with-DRM e-book beats a physical book for me. Part of this is that I'm an urban apartment-dweller with limited shelf space. My book-buying is limited, not by the price of the book, but by not wanting to have to deal with the object.
- commieneko 16y ago
  Sure if you are talking about a few dozen books. But over the years I have collected, shall we say _dozens_ of books that are keepers. To have them suddenly, without warning evaporate for no good reason is simply an untenable situation. Especially since, as digital files they should be disaster proof, unlike several boxes I lost a while back due to water damage. But even more to the point. Books, the written word in general are important. Very important. Do we really want to encourage the development of a system that effectively puts a "kill switch" on knowledge?

lemming 16y ago

Exactly. For me, the saving grace of Amazon's mobi format is that it's easy to strip the DRM off. I would never buy so many ebooks were that not the case. I generally immediately return Topaz books if I slip up and actually buy one.

dpapathanasiou 16y ago
For me, the saving grace of Amazon's mobi format is that it's easy to strip the DRM off. You're not alone; I asked the same question in this poll (http://www.mobileread.com/forums/showthread.php?t=87089 http://www.mobileread.com/forums/showthread.php?t=87089), and that was the overwhelming response.

oddthink 16y ago

Ah, but a Kindle book doesn't require shelf space or storage. It's not a lump of matter you have ship when moving. You can take a pile when traveling without dislocating a shoulder. Those benefits are real; for me, storage cost overwhelms the actual price of a book very quickly, at which point the DRM is a non-issue. Of course, I'd prefer unencumbered PDF or Mobi, but a with-DRM e-book beats a physical book for me. Part of this is that I'm an urban apartment-dweller with limited shelf space. My book-buying is limited, not by the price of the book, but by not wanting to have to deal with the object.

commieneko 16y ago
Sure if you are talking about a few dozen books. But over the years I have collected, shall we say _dozens_ of books that are keepers. To have them suddenly, without warning evaporate for no good reason is simply an untenable situation. Especially since, as digital files they should be disaster proof, unlike several boxes I lost a while back due to water damage. But even more to the point. Books, the written word in general are important. Very important. Do we really want to encourage the development of a system that effectively puts a "kill switch" on knowledge?