4 ms·

The thing I hate about kindle (hardware) being a loss leader is that it requires Amazon to keep it locked down so that you can ONLY buy content through them. I

The thing I hate about kindle (hardware) being a loss leader is that it requires Amazon to keep it locked down so that you can ONLY buy content through them. I'd rather pay for it up-front and actually have an open e-book market on the back end. As opposed to having to root/jailbreak it and/or go through painful file conversion processes to read other e-books.

msbarnett 16y ago
It isn't locked down at all. You can read ebooks from o'reilly, baen, pragprog, and many other non-Amazon stores on it right out of the box. It simply doesn't implement competing DRM schemes.
- moultano 16y ago
  EPUB is not a competing DRM scheme. It's the standard for virtually every other reader and store, and the kindle doesn't support it.
  - msbarnett 16y ago
    Which is a completely separate issue from the claim that the kindle is a locked down device that can only view content bought from Amazon. In my experience, every DRM-free ebook store I've dealt with has been happy to sell me a .mobi.
    - moultano 16y ago
      Still, the reason they doesn't support epub is most likely because it would make it easier to get books from sources other than amazon. The OP was finding it regretable that they have the motivation to do things like this.
  - whyaorta 16y ago
    Conversion between (DRM-free) EPUB and MOBI is pretty much trivial. It's a pain, but it's hardly a problem.
    - pmcginn 16y ago
      Download Calibre to manage your ebooks. It makes conversion pretty much transparent, and with the right plugins you can set it up to remove the DRM from the books you purchase.
  - epubdrmremoval 16y ago
    Why not get a professional epub drm removal software here:http://www.removedrmfromepub.com http://www.removedrmfromepub.com
miles 16y ago
Speaking of rooting/jailbreaking, I put together a simple guide for those who want to jailbreak their Kindle and use Luigi's standalone terminal: http://tinyapps.org/docs/kindle_standalone_terminal.html http://tinyapps.org/docs/kindle_standalone_terminal.html
reedlaw 16y ago
There is alternative firmware: http://www.mobileread.com/forums/showthread.php?t=105847 http://www.mobileread.com/forums/showthread.php?t=105847

msbarnett 16y ago

It isn't locked down at all. You can read ebooks from o'reilly, baen, pragprog, and many other non-Amazon stores on it right out of the box. It simply doesn't implement competing DRM schemes.

moultano 16y ago
EPUB is not a competing DRM scheme. It's the standard for virtually every other reader and store, and the kindle doesn't support it.
- msbarnett 16y ago
  Which is a completely separate issue from the claim that the kindle is a locked down device that can only view content bought from Amazon. In my experience, every DRM-free ebook store I've dealt with has been happy to sell me a .mobi.
  - moultano 16y ago
    Still, the reason they doesn't support epub is most likely because it would make it easier to get books from sources other than amazon. The OP was finding it regretable that they have the motivation to do things like this.
- whyaorta 16y ago
  Conversion between (DRM-free) EPUB and MOBI is pretty much trivial. It's a pain, but it's hardly a problem.
  - pmcginn 16y ago
    Download Calibre to manage your ebooks. It makes conversion pretty much transparent, and with the right plugins you can set it up to remove the DRM from the books you purchase.
- epubdrmremoval 16y ago
  Why not get a professional epub drm removal software here:http://www.removedrmfromepub.com http://www.removedrmfromepub.com

miles 16y ago

Speaking of rooting/jailbreaking, I put together a simple guide for those who want to jailbreak their Kindle and use Luigi's standalone terminal: http://tinyapps.org/docs/kindle_standalone_terminal.html http://tinyapps.org/docs/kindle_standalone_terminal.html

reedlaw 16y ago

There is alternative firmware: http://www.mobileread.com/forums/showthread.php?t=105847 http://www.mobileread.com/forums/showthread.php?t=105847