5 ms·

this is, in a nutshell, why I never "buy' ebooks.

by jgalt212 6y ago

markus_zhang 6y ago
They are good if they are in plain pdf format though.
- BlueTemplar 6y ago
  No, unless you plan to print them out, PDF is atrocious for ebooks.
Marqin 6y ago
Why not? When you buy ebooks you can download the PDF and even print it for yourself as backup.
- 2Gkashmiri 6y ago
  Oh. Why not offer non DRM formats to begin with because I am paying equal to or more than the paperback price of a book and not some bullshit license and shit. OP is saying he/she refuses to accept the whole renting/licensing shenanigans in ebooks. If Apple can sell you a non DRM mp3 for $.99 a pop, why the fuck does it need DRM for an eBook. ? Your only option is to either buy a paperback or pirate and downloading on kindle and then finding a PDF and then printing it should not happen to a paying customer.
  - ineedasername 6y ago
    DRM is often the choice of the publisher, not the retailer. (Amazon makes it very difficult to get a DRM-free version though, even when the publisher has authorized it)
- ComputerGuru 6y ago
  That depends very much on where you buy your ebooks.
Wowfunhappy 6y ago
This is entirely dependent on whether the ebooks are DRM Free or not. I prefer audiobooks, but I have a large collection of them which which will be mine forever, no matter what any retailers decide.
- misiti3780 6y ago
  Where do you buy them from>?
  - Wowfunhappy 6y ago
    Downpour.com, Libro.fm, and Audiobooksnow.com are my go-to's (the last of these has a tiny handful of DRM'd titles, so check for a "Downloadable" symbol). Each of these has subscription memberships which you should take advantage of; you can cancel at any time, so I usually subscribe, buy, and cancel all at once when I want a book. Google Play audiobooks are also DRM-Free, but tend to be more expensive. I do also occasionally buy from Audible, when a book isn't available anywhere else. You can strip the DRM with ffmpeg once you know the key for your account. But most audiobooks can be had natively DRM-Free if you shop around a bit.
- mrkurt 6y ago
  It's worth stripping DRM off your Kindle books if you have a large library. Pretty easy too!
caseysoftware 6y ago
Unless they come DRM free and downloadable outside the service, I consider them "rentals" But for those that are, Calibre keeps those nicely organized.
- markus_zhang 6y ago
  Yeah agreed. Never purchase those that needs a reader or something. Of course there are programs to extract the pdf files but it's always a bit too much for me. ESPECIALLY WHEN THEY CHARGE ALMOST THE SAME AS A REAL BOOK.
dehrmann 6y ago
I'd be more worried about this if I ever reread books.
Keyframe 6y ago
Depends how you look at it. O'reilly sub is a good value even if it's 'rental' only. If only one could read/access them on kindle.. but that's another, yet related topic.
ineedasername 6y ago
I generally avoid them for reference books, but for novels since I very rarely re-read them. I'm willing to make the trade-off for convenience and (sometimes) lower prices, but I go into it eyes open knowing the risks. I do worry about things like Steam though, which unless the game is available DRM-free from GOG, may be the only place you can buy the game-- or at least no different in terms of DRM lock in and risk of the platform shutting down than other platforms like Epic or Origin etc.
fullshark 6y ago
I didn't mind renting videos and I don't mind "renting" ebooks for an indiscriminate amount of time. The convenience is worth it, having to store every book you purchase comes with costs too.
larrywright 6y ago
I tend to favor ebooks for things that I know have a shorter shelf life. Especially technology stuff. There are books I may read again in 10 or 20 years, but technology books are outdated within a couple of years at most. It seems wasteful to get them on paper.
dragonwriter 6y ago
Plenty of vendors sell DRM-free ebooks in widely-supported formats (PDF, ePub); most, IME, publishers that sell directly do, it's the separate big stores that tend to have DRM-infested content. Actually, many of publishers selling directly not only sell DRM free, but you get a variety of formats when you purchase, rather than purchasing separately by format.
- BlueTemplar 6y ago
  Yeah, movies and tv shows are much harder to (legally) find DRM-free…
imgabe 6y ago
Just buy it and strip the DRM from it. Philosophical arguments aside, the publisher/author got their money, you get a book you own which is what you wanted. Assuming you aren't then hosting it somewhere where everyone can download it for free nobody is harmed and there is no reason not to do this.
- deleted 6y ago
  [deleted]

this is, in a nutshell, why I never "buy' ebooks.

markus_zhang 6y ago

They are good if they are in plain pdf format though.

BlueTemplar 6y ago
No, unless you plan to print them out, PDF is atrocious for ebooks.

Marqin 6y ago

Why not? When you buy ebooks you can download the PDF and even print it for yourself as backup.

2Gkashmiri 6y ago
Oh. Why not offer non DRM formats to begin with because I am paying equal to or more than the paperback price of a book and not some bullshit license and shit. OP is saying he/she refuses to accept the whole renting/licensing shenanigans in ebooks. If Apple can sell you a non DRM mp3 for $.99 a pop, why the fuck does it need DRM for an eBook. ? Your only option is to either buy a paperback or pirate and downloading on kindle and then finding a PDF and then printing it should not happen to a paying customer.
- ineedasername 6y ago
  DRM is often the choice of the publisher, not the retailer. (Amazon makes it very difficult to get a DRM-free version though, even when the publisher has authorized it)
ComputerGuru 6y ago
That depends very much on where you buy your ebooks.

Wowfunhappy 6y ago

This is entirely dependent on whether the ebooks are DRM Free or not. I prefer audiobooks, but I have a large collection of them which which will be mine forever, no matter what any retailers decide.

misiti3780 6y ago
Where do you buy them from>?
- Wowfunhappy 6y ago
  Downpour.com, Libro.fm, and Audiobooksnow.com are my go-to's (the last of these has a tiny handful of DRM'd titles, so check for a "Downloadable" symbol). Each of these has subscription memberships which you should take advantage of; you can cancel at any time, so I usually subscribe, buy, and cancel all at once when I want a book. Google Play audiobooks are also DRM-Free, but tend to be more expensive. I do also occasionally buy from Audible, when a book isn't available anywhere else. You can strip the DRM with ffmpeg once you know the key for your account. But most audiobooks can be had natively DRM-Free if you shop around a bit.
mrkurt 6y ago
It's worth stripping DRM off your Kindle books if you have a large library. Pretty easy too!

caseysoftware 6y ago

Unless they come DRM free and downloadable outside the service, I consider them "rentals" But for those that are, Calibre keeps those nicely organized.

markus_zhang 6y ago
Yeah agreed. Never purchase those that needs a reader or something. Of course there are programs to extract the pdf files but it's always a bit too much for me. ESPECIALLY WHEN THEY CHARGE ALMOST THE SAME AS A REAL BOOK.

dehrmann 6y ago

I'd be more worried about this if I ever reread books.

Keyframe 6y ago

Depends how you look at it. O'reilly sub is a good value even if it's 'rental' only. If only one could read/access them on kindle.. but that's another, yet related topic.

ineedasername 6y ago

I generally avoid them for reference books, but for novels since I very rarely re-read them. I'm willing to make the trade-off for convenience and (sometimes) lower prices, but I go into it eyes open knowing the risks. I do worry about things like Steam though, which unless the game is available DRM-free from GOG, may be the only place you can buy the game-- or at least no different in terms of DRM lock in and risk of the platform shutting down than other platforms like Epic or Origin etc.

fullshark 6y ago

I didn't mind renting videos and I don't mind "renting" ebooks for an indiscriminate amount of time. The convenience is worth it, having to store every book you purchase comes with costs too.

larrywright 6y ago

I tend to favor ebooks for things that I know have a shorter shelf life. Especially technology stuff. There are books I may read again in 10 or 20 years, but technology books are outdated within a couple of years at most. It seems wasteful to get them on paper.

dragonwriter 6y ago

Plenty of vendors sell DRM-free ebooks in widely-supported formats (PDF, ePub); most, IME, publishers that sell directly do, it's the separate big stores that tend to have DRM-infested content. Actually, many of publishers selling directly not only sell DRM free, but you get a variety of formats when you purchase, rather than purchasing separately by format.

BlueTemplar 6y ago
Yeah, movies and tv shows are much harder to (legally) find DRM-free…

imgabe 6y ago

Just buy it and strip the DRM from it. Philosophical arguments aside, the publisher/author got their money, you get a book you own which is what you wanted. Assuming you aren't then hosting it somewhere where everyone can download it for free nobody is harmed and there is no reason not to do this.

deleted 6y ago
[deleted]