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Apple forces users to pay full price to redownload already bought ebooks
- gte910h 16y agoYet another reason amazon has won the eBook battle....
- rbanffy 16y agoYet another reason to avoid DRM... Try to get your DRM'ed Kindle books to any non-Kindle platform.
- mtrichardson 16y agoI can read my Kindle books on my iPhone, iPad, BlackBerry, Mac, and Windows computer (and soon Android). It's still Amazon's software (which, for the desktop computers, sucks), and it's still DRM'd, but you don't have to have a Kindle to enjoy the Kindle library.
- rbanffy 16y agoWill you also burn your paper books in case Amazon ceases to exist (or changes its business model)? How free it is to be free to use only devices that Amazon supports? How yours are your books?
- joubert 16y agoAmazon has the power, and have used it, to remove books from your home that you have already bought. That's insane!
- gte910h 16y agoAnd they learned that's a very very bad idea and aren't going to do it again.
- rbanffy 16y agoAnd we should trust them completely.
- rbanffy 16y agoEven more insane is to give such power to someone on the promise they will never use it again. Or on the promise they will use it responsibly.
- gte910h 16y ago1> There are few non-kindle platforms 2> The type of DRM they have is pretty easy to strip: http://www.makeuseof.com/tag/how-to-strip-mobi-and-prc-ebooks-of-encryption/ http://www.makeuseof.com/tag/how-to-strip-mobi-and-prc-ebook...
- adolph 16y agoIf I remember correctly, music on the iTunes store works similarly. They charge you at download and you had better back up your files. The operational concept is that the user downloads the content once and then syncs that content among devices (iPhone, iPad, whatever) using their desktop computer. From http://support.apple.com/kb/HT4059 http://support.apple.com/kb/HT4059: "Can I copy my books onto other computers or devices? Books downloaded from the iBookstore can be placed on up to five computers you own that you’ve authorized with your iTunes Store account. You can sync your books to all iPads, iPhones, and iPod touches you own.1 Audiobooks, PDF files, and ePub files you've added to iTunes will appear in Books under Library. To sync Books to your device, connect it to your computer using the cable it came with. In iTunes, select your device then click the Books tab. Choose the books you would like to read on your device then press Sync. Books will sync to iPad, iPhone, and iPod touch even if iBooks is not installed; to read synced books, download iBooks from the App Store." "1Requires iPhone and iPod touch with iOS 4 or later. iBooks is not compatible with original iPhone or iPod touch (1st generation)."
- masklinn 16y ago> If I remember correctly, music on the iTunes store works similarly. Interesting, because it definitely doesn't work that way for apps. And I checked with one of the free singles iTunes gives weekly, it does indeed warn me that I'm re-buying the stuff (but detects that I've bought it in the past), it doesn't seem to just launch a re-download. Cements my decision to never buy any music on iTunes.
- adolph 16y agoYep, apps are different. Apps also have update downloads. As far as buying music online, caveat emptor. Even Amazon works similarly as far as MP3 downloads go. From http://www.amazon.com/gp/help/customer/display.html/ref=hp_mp3trbl_mng?nodeId=200154260#use http://www.amazon.com/gp/help/customer/display.html/ref=hp_m... "Downloads are only available for a short time after purchase. If you saved the .amz file to your computer, you should "Open" it using the Downloader application immediately after saving it. If you wait to complete your download, it may expire and no longer be available."
- CoryMathews 16y agoYet another reason for people to wake up and see how closed and restricted apple is and always will be. I'm actually getting tired of reading about apple screwing people over the same way again and again.
- pyre 16y agoWhile I hate a lot of the restrictions that Apple places on things, you have to entertain the possibility that the content industries (music,movies,books,etc) heavily push these types of these things when negotiating distribution deals with Apple. As others have mentioned, the things that Apple does control (e.g. Apps) don't have the 'rebuy to redownload' restriction.
- borism 16y agobut nothing except profits prohibits Apple to stand up for the interests of it's users the way Amazon and Google do, yet Apple seems to always choose it's own short-term interest ahead of it's users' long-term interest.
- joblessjunkie 16y agoThis sounds more like a series of first-release bugs than an evil policy.
- bitmover 16y agoSounds like a bug to me. I redownloaded eBooks I had purchased on my iPad just fine.
- leviathant 16y agoAs much as I'd love to give Apple a hard time over this, I'm going to put it out there that this is likely just capitulation to publishing companies. You have to pay to re-download MP3s and eBooks, but not apps from the app store. I may not like Apple's philosophy regarding a lot of things, but they're generous by comparison to record labels and publishing companies.
- ghshephard 16y agoIf that's the case why is it that the kindle will sync all my books to my k1, k2, iPhone 3G/3GS and iPad with zero fuss and no repurchases required?
- rudyfink 16y agoAmazon and Apple my have a different contracts with the publishers?
- ugh 16y agoAmazon is better at negotiating with publishers or has more bargaining chips? I don’t really know whether Apple’s heart is in all this book stuff (Steve Jobs famously said that Americans don’t read anymore), they might not care all that much at the moment. iBooks might just be a fallback solution in case Amazon tries funny stuff (or some other competitor emerges which doesn’t want to play ball with Apple).
- nkassis 16y agoI was under the impression that he said that because he didn't have a book reading application yet and was downplaying the kindle until the iPad was out. Similar to how he downplayed the netbooks until the iPad came out. (Yes iPad and the netbooks are different but they are in the same field. I think it's harder to reinvent books compared to small portable computers. Hence why iBook is pretty much the same as all the ebook software).
- WilliamLP 16y ago
- yardie 16y agoPersonally, I'd never buy an eBook, ePub, or whatever. I either invest in a dead tree, get a unDRMed PDF, the web copy, or just check it out from the library. There are far too many options available today for me to buy into a format that can do less than what I was able to do 5 years ago.
- kristiandupont 16y agoNow that the ipad and other ebook readers are good enough to read on comfortably, I don't see myself buying a technical book made out of dead trees ever again. I might for fiction because I am a bit of a romantic..
- yardie 16y agoI guess it depends on the technical usage. I still go back to my college era calculus and physics books. Expensive at the time but worth it's weight in gold. For emerging technologies (hot, new languages) I prefer StackOverflow, Google, and wikis. I'd only give ePubs a shot if the price was substantially cheaper than the dead tree version. I'd still buy an iPad, but only for light reading and the 100k apps.
- sliverstorm 16y agoI really hope you change your mind eventually. Dead-tree books are probably on the decline, and if nobody is willing to pay for electronic books because of the prevailing attitude (electronic things are free!) that's going to mess things up. Don't get me wrong, dead-tree books have their place. In addition to ebooks, I own something like 200lbs of reference books. I'm not blind to the pros of paper. (though you can bet I'll be excited when a real textbook replacement comes along, and I don't have to lug 200lbs around)
- abstractbill 16y agoWhat does "mess things up" really mean though? Do you think people would stop writing books if it was harder to make money from them? I don't.
- cabalamat 16y agoI wonder how long before everyone gets the message: Just say no to DRM.
- glhaynes 16y agoWhat does this have to do with DRM?
- crad 16y agoThis must be publisher specific. I purchased a book on my first iPad and when I bought a second (with 3g), I re-downloaded it without having to pay for it.
- commieneko 16y agoThe solution is called Stanza (owned by Amazon now I believe) and ePub books. I agree that the legitimate selection possilby isn't as good, but I see no advantage to buying books, _books_ for chrissakes, that have DRM. I actually use Apple's book software a bit here and there, it works fairly nicely, and when they add PDF support I'll probably use it a bit more. But I'm not buying a page from Apple's book store until the DRM situation has changed. I waited them out on DRMed music, never bought a note before they offered DRM free files. Now I spend money there regularly, among other non-DRMed places. Its a shame the "powers" have to learn this lesson over and over and over and over...
- joubert 16y agoI think iBooks is a better app than Stanza (notes, bookmarks, PDF capability) and you can get your EPUBs in there via iTunes (even ones bought from other stores such as the one my startup runs, fifobooks.com).
- lt 16y agoI have been using Stanza on my iPhone for a while now and I think the opposite. I like the interface and usability of Stanza better. It does have PDF support, annotations and bookmarks. You can load your own ePubs and PDFs into it through iTunes. It has nice dictionary features, brightness controls, themes, support for third-party libraries. Overall seemed like a much more mature app than iBooks for the short time I spent with iBooks so far.
- commieneko 16y agoBoth readers have their strengths and weaknesses, which is why I'm still playing with both. iBooks is certainly the younger of the two and I expect it to pass ahead, especially since the Stanza folks seem to be under the sway of Amazon, which has a vested interest in the fight. PDF capability will certainly be a big plus for iBooks when it comes to the iPad. I'm running the new version on my iPod Touch, but PDFs on such a small screen aren't that useful, at least to me. Frankly, all the readers I've used fall short when it comes to library management. I want something like iTunes (only better!) both to manage my library and create and manage reading lists. Right now everything just goes into one big pile that takes _forever_ to scroll through (I've around 800 titles in iBooks and several hundred in Stanza). iBook on iPad actually has crashed (!) a couple of times as I've gone scrolling from the top of the alphabet to the bottom. I'll admit I'm pushing iBooks harder, but that's because I expect so much more from Apple ;) The best desktop solution I've found for PDFs (and cbr/cbz comic files) is a comic book reading program called Comicbook Lover. I use it for PDF management (okay, I manage my digital comic book collection with it too...) It works very much like itunes. If they would add ePub support to it, and change the name, they could rule the world, at least for a while. Unfortunately their iPad and iPhone/iPod Touch app is woefully lacking in the very features that make it work so well on the desktop. Edit: And I do a slow burn every time I go to add documents to my iPod Touch or iPad. Syncing through iTunes is just _stupid_. I understand this is a problem with _many_ apps on the iOS platform, and that there are political and commercials issues involved, but I don't care. Apple needs to work this out, post-haste...
- bonaldi 16y agoJust tested. Downloaded a book on the phone that I'd bought on the iPad, and it gave me the "you have already purchased this book; press to downloaded it again" message you get from the App Store. If you go into the "purchases" tab it offers to redownload any books you've purchased elsewhere. What the OP is seeing has to be a bug; after all iBooks does syncing between iPad and iPhone -- they can't expect you to repurchase each time.
- DeusExMachina 16y agoThe message says: "You have already purchased this but it isn't available for redownload. To purchase it again at full price, tap OK" Given the exact phrasing of the parts I highlighted, I don't think it is a bug. I cannot see in the picture what book it is, but since this does not happen to you for your books, it could be something related to copyright/distribution.
- perpetuity 16y agoTotal PEBKAC!
- fjabre 16y agoThe main point I took away from this: Syncing to iTunes sucks. It's been broken for a long time and it's becoming more apparent with the release of the iPad. It's easily the most frustrating experience I've had managing my iDevices mainly because it's archaic to have to constantly sync to your desktop in 2010. Google was right: "We discovered something really cool...it's called the Internet." Real opportunity for Google here to improve on this with Android/Chrome OS devices.
- perpetuity 16y agoYou can have up to 5 devices utilize the books you buy, no actually you LICENSE ebooks thanks to publisher demands. Read the EULA, you license books on iBooks and the Kindle platform. This is not an Apple initiated issue you Apple bashers, it comes from the publishers. Apple is using Fairplay DRM at the behest of publishers, so the same 5 devices rule applies just like it did when they used to sell music under restrictions. Personally, I feel raped after buying an ebook only to learn I don't really own a copy but a license. I can't lend to a friend and that is a problem, but it is not one Apple created.
- tzs 16y agoPlug iPhone into computer. Select the iPhone in the sidebar on iTunes. Click the books tab. Check the box to sync books. Sync. Your purchased books are then on your iPhone.