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I am really disappointed by this. These days, I mostly use my (fifth) Kindle when flying on aircraft, and there I mostly read The Economist or The Atlantic. Th
by mdavidn 4y ago
I am really disappointed by this. These days, I mostly use my (fifth) Kindle when flying on aircraft, and there I mostly read The Economist or The Atlantic.
They don't publish offline media for laptops. I don't own a tablet. My phone battery is precious on trips. I guess I'll just look for paper copies at the terminal again...?
- DoingIsLearning 4y ago> They don't publish in an offline format for laptops. I don't own a tablet. The conclusion to draw is that you clearly don't own your ereader either. I mean DRM does not stop those unwilling to pay. If the only achievement of DRM is to annoy the people who are willing to pay, i wonder if it likely increases rather than reduces piracy. There is no reason why you shouldn't be able to be served an open epub with your magazine subscription.
- Talanes 4y agoThe problem isn't putting the content onto the device, that's very easy to do. The problem is that the content isn't being published in any offline-viewable formats anymore, so there's nothing to transfer.
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- mdavidn 4y agoI'm not sure who you're preaching to. I've owned five of these devices over the past 14 years. I accept DRM for the things I read on it. If the publishers offered a DRM-laden edition that I could read offline on my laptop, I would find that to be a compelling option.
- Talanes 4y agoNot to mention that DRM on the Kindle isn't a hardware-side constraint. The device will happily accept DRM-free files side-loaded onto it.
- rendaw 4y agoWhile maybe not what GP was getting at, it sounds like you're frustrated that they don't offer a format, not that they don't offer a DRM-free version. That sounds like being frustrated your owner only gives you dry kibble.
- HyperSane 4y agoCan't you use the Kindle app on your laptop?
- iz_zi 4y agoWhy haven’t you invested in a open source alternative that doesn’t limit your choices?
- mdavidn 4y agoWhat would an "open source alternative" to The Economist look like exactly?
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- iz_zi 4y agoI meant the e reader, not the economist, to clarify.
- iz_zi 4y agoAlso there are many open source e readers, that include e ink technology too. Amazon tried but idk something’s off.. smells like Microsoft… a bit if you ask me :^)
- BossingAround 4y agoAh yes, the DRM that is solved by buying a device which does not support said DRM.
- deleted 4y ago[deleted]
- daveoc64 4y agoYou've not understood the problem. The problem is not the devices that support DRM. Many ereaders support some form of DRM, but that doesn't stop you reading both free and paid content without DRM. The problem is that the content (Newspapers/Magazine) is not made available via a suitable medium to continue reading it on an ereader.
- mesh 4y agofyi, if you have a subscription to the Economist, you can read each edition offline via their mobile app. Available every Thursday. You can also listen to it, but that doesnt work offline.
- lasr_velocirptr 4y agoIt does work offline. I don't remember the exact steps on how to do it. Basically, you can get an rss feed with credentials imported into podcast app of your choice and just download the episode before going offline. I prefer this approach since 1) It works offline 2) I can use podcast player of my choice with much better UX than the economist app
- mesh 4y agoAhh, you are saying the Economists app just uses RSS behind the scenes? Why didn't I think of that!?! This actually solves real problems for me as I have to often drive through areas where I have no coverage, and I listen to the economist (much to the chagrin of my wife who is riding with me). Thanks! edit: Found the info, its actually on the Economists site (looks like you have to login): https://www.economist.com/audio-edition https://www.economist.com/audio-edition
- lasr_velocirptr 4y agoWelcome! Yup. That’s the link. You can just log in there if you have subscription and grab the rss url It will look like https://www.economist.com/audio-edition-podcast/<auth_token>/index.xml https://www.economist.com/audio-edition-podcast/<auth_token>... You can paste that into a podcast app of your choice. I use pocket casts on iOS which works with the above url for sure
- Sunspark 4y agoDid you know that airplanes have power outlets at foot level, sometimes USB ports higher up? You could simply bring your phone charger with you on the plane..
- kube-system 4y agoThis varies by configuration. Some aircraft and airlines do not. Only one out of the last 25 or so flights I’ve been on have an outlet. For example, Southwest is one of the worlds largest airlines and didn’t have outlets on any of its 700+ airplanes. (Neither AC nor USB) They just announced they will start ordering jets with USB ports starting this year. Also it is fairly common for short haul or regional jets to lack power outlets as well.
- Sunspark 4y agoSurprising to hear that such a large airline wouldn't have power outlets in 2023 but perhaps it makes sense, because Southwest doesn't really do "long flights". Good info for fliers to be aware of. For Southwest and short haul fliers, I would then recommend an USB battery bank. They come in large capacities now which would cover several full charges.
- gnicholas 4y agoI no longer have USB-A, which is the only USB receptacle I’ve ever seen on a plane.
- rationalist 4y agoThey make USB-A to USB-C adapters.
- gnicholas 4y agoTrue, but if I'm traveling I'm not likely to bring a second phone charger cable just for this, especially because they can't charge as fast as USB-C cables. I bring a USB-C brick for my computer and USB-C to lightning cable for my iPhone.
- cheeze 4y agoDo people not fly with a USB battery on trips these days?
- thazework 4y agoFor the Economist you should be able to download offline editions through the app- https://myaccount.economist.com/s/article/Whats-included-in-The-Economist-app https://myaccount.economist.com/s/article/Whats-included-in-...
- chaorace 4y agoIs it really the same experience, though? In newsstand publications, you can swipe up/down to skip articles and there's a special 2-pane ToC that lets you navigate by sections. I'm not even sure if the epub format has the capability to provide magazine-specific integrations like these.
- damontal 4y agoYou can use Calibre to download the Economist each week and send it to your kindle.
- dehrmann 4y agoSure, but I wish I didn't have to jump through these hoops.
- robk 4y agoCalibre from command line + email to Kindle works fine if you have any kind of machine that's online (or even a free tier Oracle VPS)