3 ms·

I exchange please remove DRM from ebooks.

arendtio 6y ago
Short Story: A few weeks ago, I had trouble to connect my Sennheiser Headphones to a bluetooth splitter. So I downloaded the manual and after some time I found what I was doing wrong. To let me find the critical part faster next time, I wanted to highlight the relevant part of the manual. Sadly the manual was DRM protected and didn't want to let me annotate the manual... So I had to find a way to work around it, but I felt like a criminal, just because I wanted to use a highlighter on the digital manual of a physical product I bought.
- colejohnson66 6y ago
  What is even the point of DRM protected manuals? I can understand it on book, but manuals? Piracy of a manual isn’t going to affect sales of the product; I (almost all the time) have no need for the manual if I don’t own the product.
  - macjohnmcc 6y ago
    Maybe they want to avoid anybody who copies their hardware from copying the manual. About the only thing I can see but at that point you lost the war.
OnlyLys 6y ago
Ebook DRMs are truly some of the most annoying things ever. I just want to click "Pay", and then click "download PDF" so I can annotate the books in my favorite app. Why do they have to make it more complicated than that. This reminds me of a few months ago when I accidentally bought a 90 USD Ebook that came with DRM. I didn't realize it until I clicked the download button and got some Adobe digital editions file. I immediately Googled for a PDF copy of the book and saw that there were plenty on the first page of Google, so I don't know what the point of the DRM was other than to make me have to download some crappy reader just to read it. Thank goodness the company that sold the Ebook was willing to refund me.
- macjohnmcc 6y ago
  It is a game where only the honest i.e. customers are punished.
xvector 6y ago
This is why I have turned to libgen, torrents, and Usenet for my books and other media. I would pay for my content if I actually got to own it. But no, ironically I have a greater sense of ownership by obtaining my content via alternative means than the traditional legal means. The only media that I still have on streaming services is music. Spotify is just so damn convenient. I need to find a way to move off it though, as over the years I’ve found many of my favorite albums just disappear as Spotify ends licensing deals or whatever.
- macjohnmcc 6y ago
  If we are going to be subject DRM and on par or worse pricing on ebooks they should at least update the contents on them for a year or so in exchange. Their cost of distribution is zero and their cost of duplication is zero. Give a little in exchange. I would buy more paper books if I also got the PDF for on the go or just for the convenience to search.

Short Story: A few weeks ago, I had trouble to connect my Sennheiser Headphones to a bluetooth splitter. So I downloaded the manual and after some time I found what I was doing wrong. To let me find the critical part faster next time, I wanted to highlight the relevant part of the manual. Sadly the manual was DRM protected and didn't want to let me annotate the manual... So I had to find a way to work around it, but I felt like a criminal, just because I wanted to use a highlighter on the digital manual of a physical product I bought.

colejohnson66 6y ago
What is even the point of DRM protected manuals? I can understand it on book, but manuals? Piracy of a manual isn’t going to affect sales of the product; I (almost all the time) have no need for the manual if I don’t own the product.
- macjohnmcc 6y ago
  Maybe they want to avoid anybody who copies their hardware from copying the manual. About the only thing I can see but at that point you lost the war.

OnlyLys 6y ago

Ebook DRMs are truly some of the most annoying things ever. I just want to click "Pay", and then click "download PDF" so I can annotate the books in my favorite app. Why do they have to make it more complicated than that. This reminds me of a few months ago when I accidentally bought a 90 USD Ebook that came with DRM. I didn't realize it until I clicked the download button and got some Adobe digital editions file. I immediately Googled for a PDF copy of the book and saw that there were plenty on the first page of Google, so I don't know what the point of the DRM was other than to make me have to download some crappy reader just to read it. Thank goodness the company that sold the Ebook was willing to refund me.

macjohnmcc 6y ago
It is a game where only the honest i.e. customers are punished.

xvector 6y ago

This is why I have turned to libgen, torrents, and Usenet for my books and other media. I would pay for my content if I actually got to own it. But no, ironically I have a greater sense of ownership by obtaining my content via alternative means than the traditional legal means. The only media that I still have on streaming services is music. Spotify is just so damn convenient. I need to find a way to move off it though, as over the years I’ve found many of my favorite albums just disappear as Spotify ends licensing deals or whatever.

macjohnmcc 6y ago
If we are going to be subject DRM and on par or worse pricing on ebooks they should at least update the contents on them for a year or so in exchange. Their cost of distribution is zero and their cost of duplication is zero. Give a little in exchange. I would buy more paper books if I also got the PDF for on the go or just for the convenience to search.