3 ms·

The problem is not the ebook reader. The problem is trying to buy a commercial ebook from anywhere other than Amazon, and having to use someone's stupid DRM sch

The problem is not the ebook reader. The problem is trying to buy a commercial ebook from anywhere other than Amazon, and having to use someone's stupid DRM scheme. I tried once to not buy a Kindle book, and I just had to end up installing someone's other app just to decrypt the book so I could read it. You can make all the ebook readers you want. Until we find an easier way to make non-Amazon ebooks easier to read, these aren't going to catch on.

criddell 8y ago
I think this is an area the government should step in and force interoperability with ebooks and ebook readers. Nobody should ever be locked out of a book they purchased and lets face it - all of the companies selling DRM protected books will go out of business one day.
dsr_ 8y ago
I buy from Google, no DRM, plain epub. Big selection. I buy from Kobo, no DRM, plain epub. Big selection. I buy from a bunch of authors' own websites or small publishing platforms (like bookviewcafe.com) because an even higher percentage of the price goes to the author, and nobody ever pays to put DRM on their own book.
- taude 8y ago
  Is there any good third-party non-google/amazon reading apps for iPhone/iPad that will sync my places where I'm at in my books?
- fishywang 8y ago
  I'm not sure about Kobo but I think no DRM is not guaranteed on Google. For certain authors (e.g. John Scalzi) their books on Google will have the small part in description says "At the Publisher's request, this title is being sold without Digital Rights Management Software (DRM) applied." (e.g. https://play.google.com/store/books/details?id=XVwOEeHTU4QC https://play.google.com/store/books/details?id=XVwOEeHTU4QC) but my understanding is without that statement the book will be with DRM.
  - buzzert 8y ago
    Many books on Kobo also have DRM unfortunately.
_JamesA_ 8y ago
I recently ran into this issue with ebooks.com [0] which is the only way outside of Amazon Kindle to get Jan Axelson's USB Complete and Serial Port Complete references. The only choices are proprietary Kindle format or PDF and EPUB with a very restrictive Adobe DRM scheme. [0]: https://www.ebooks.com/SearchApp/SearchResults.net?term=jan+axelson&RestrictBy=author https://www.ebooks.com/SearchApp/SearchResults.net?term=jan+...
nebulous1 8y ago
You know Kindle books have DRM too, right? So you need an app that supports that DRM in order to read them (the mobi format doesn't have to have DRM, much like epub). So this is mostly in people's head, because when they have to get something that supports Adobe Digital Editions they're thinking that they're being put out "because DRM", whereas when they have to get something from Amazon to read a Kindle book they're thinking "because Kindle", which is just giving Amazon a pass for no good reason. To be clear I'm against all DRM, I just want the comparison to be correct.
frosted-flakes 8y ago
Calibre with Apprentice Alf does a great, seamless job of DRM removal. Works for everything except iBooks, I think.
- e12e 8y ago
  I was under the impression that Amazon drm v3 wasn't cracked?
  - calcifer 8y ago
    It's not, but there is no urgency to it either. You can still download the old format from the Amazon (if you choose the "transfer via USB" option) or by using an older version of the Kindle app.
ojagodzinski 8y ago
in Poland every ebook i DRM free distributed in epub and mobi formats.
e12e 8y ago
How is Amazon's drm scheme any easier to deal with? Do you mean in order to read on a kindle device?

criddell 8y ago

I think this is an area the government should step in and force interoperability with ebooks and ebook readers. Nobody should ever be locked out of a book they purchased and lets face it - all of the companies selling DRM protected books will go out of business one day.

dsr_ 8y ago

I buy from Google, no DRM, plain epub. Big selection. I buy from Kobo, no DRM, plain epub. Big selection. I buy from a bunch of authors' own websites or small publishing platforms (like bookviewcafe.com) because an even higher percentage of the price goes to the author, and nobody ever pays to put DRM on their own book.

taude 8y ago
Is there any good third-party non-google/amazon reading apps for iPhone/iPad that will sync my places where I'm at in my books?
fishywang 8y ago
I'm not sure about Kobo but I think no DRM is not guaranteed on Google. For certain authors (e.g. John Scalzi) their books on Google will have the small part in description says "At the Publisher's request, this title is being sold without Digital Rights Management Software (DRM) applied." (e.g. https://play.google.com/store/books/details?id=XVwOEeHTU4QC https://play.google.com/store/books/details?id=XVwOEeHTU4QC) but my understanding is without that statement the book will be with DRM.
- buzzert 8y ago
  Many books on Kobo also have DRM unfortunately.

_JamesA_ 8y ago

I recently ran into this issue with ebooks.com [0] which is the only way outside of Amazon Kindle to get Jan Axelson's USB Complete and Serial Port Complete references. The only choices are proprietary Kindle format or PDF and EPUB with a very restrictive Adobe DRM scheme. [0]: https://www.ebooks.com/SearchApp/SearchResults.net?term=jan+axelson&RestrictBy=author https://www.ebooks.com/SearchApp/SearchResults.net?term=jan+...

nebulous1 8y ago

You know Kindle books have DRM too, right? So you need an app that supports that DRM in order to read them (the mobi format doesn't have to have DRM, much like epub). So this is mostly in people's head, because when they have to get something that supports Adobe Digital Editions they're thinking that they're being put out "because DRM", whereas when they have to get something from Amazon to read a Kindle book they're thinking "because Kindle", which is just giving Amazon a pass for no good reason. To be clear I'm against all DRM, I just want the comparison to be correct.

frosted-flakes 8y ago

Calibre with Apprentice Alf does a great, seamless job of DRM removal. Works for everything except iBooks, I think.

e12e 8y ago
I was under the impression that Amazon drm v3 wasn't cracked?
- calcifer 8y ago
  It's not, but there is no urgency to it either. You can still download the old format from the Amazon (if you choose the "transfer via USB" option) or by using an older version of the Kindle app.

ojagodzinski 8y ago

in Poland every ebook i DRM free distributed in epub and mobi formats.

e12e 8y ago

How is Amazon's drm scheme any easier to deal with? Do you mean in order to read on a kindle device?