4 ms·

Every once in awhile the state of DRM really hammers itself home, to me. Case in point, when someone is literally giving a potentially interesting book away an

Every once in awhile the state of DRM really hammers itself home, to me. Case in point, when someone is literally giving a potentially interesting book away and I can't be arsed to take it because getting it onto my reader of choice is just too much hassle.

robertpateii 14y ago
you can't convert it with calibre?
- vvnraman 14y ago
  No. You need to own a Kindle whose serial no. is used by Calibre to convert to any other format.
  - giftedmunchkin 14y ago
    If you download it to any of the desktop apps, I think you should be able to convert it without a serial number; I've done it several times before and I don't have a Kindle. Here[1] are some Calibre plugins that automate it fairly easily. You could also use the Cloud Reader if you don't want to go through the hassle. [1] http://apprenticealf.wordpress.com/2010/02/11/hello-world/ http://apprenticealf.wordpress.com/2010/02/11/hello-world/
    - pseudonym 14y ago
      My issue (well, one of my issues) is that I'm on a rather pristine new work computer, and while I do use Calibre at home, I don't want to put it on this machine. Additionally, I don't want do deal with the hassle of creating a Kindle account and installing an application that I would literally use once. In comparison, if it was a DRM-less epub, or even a PDF, it would be the work of maybe 30 seconds to SCP it to my iPad, open it in iFile, and load it into iBook. No extra applications, no obscure steps to remove the DRM. The note about the Calibre plugins is appreciated, though, and I'll be sure to keep it in mind if this comes up again. It was more a point about the fact that I've don't recall having an experience with DRM so blatantly removing value from a product that it was the difference between consuming it and walking away.
      - giftedmunchkin 14y ago
        That's fair; I also find trying to get books off of the Amazon store irritating. I personally have a nook, but I'll buy eBooks from any store. Regardless, I have to either go through the Kindle desktop app or (ugh) Adobe Digital Editions before I can get it into Calibre, and it's always more of a hassle than it should be.
dredmorbius 14y ago
Yep. More irony is ironic: there's no Kindle reader for Linux, which is one of the platforms on which vi/vim are most likely to be found. Thanks for nothing, Amazon.
- nuclear_eclipse 14y ago
  The Kindle Cloud Reader works just fine for me on Linux (Chromium)...
  - kayge 14y ago
    Same here, on Kubuntu 12. It didn't work on the default rekonq browser, but it looks great in Firefox.

robertpateii 14y ago

you can't convert it with calibre?

vvnraman 14y ago
No. You need to own a Kindle whose serial no. is used by Calibre to convert to any other format.
- giftedmunchkin 14y ago
  If you download it to any of the desktop apps, I think you should be able to convert it without a serial number; I've done it several times before and I don't have a Kindle. Here[1] are some Calibre plugins that automate it fairly easily. You could also use the Cloud Reader if you don't want to go through the hassle. [1] http://apprenticealf.wordpress.com/2010/02/11/hello-world/ http://apprenticealf.wordpress.com/2010/02/11/hello-world/
  - pseudonym 14y ago
    My issue (well, one of my issues) is that I'm on a rather pristine new work computer, and while I do use Calibre at home, I don't want to put it on this machine. Additionally, I don't want do deal with the hassle of creating a Kindle account and installing an application that I would literally use once. In comparison, if it was a DRM-less epub, or even a PDF, it would be the work of maybe 30 seconds to SCP it to my iPad, open it in iFile, and load it into iBook. No extra applications, no obscure steps to remove the DRM. The note about the Calibre plugins is appreciated, though, and I'll be sure to keep it in mind if this comes up again. It was more a point about the fact that I've don't recall having an experience with DRM so blatantly removing value from a product that it was the difference between consuming it and walking away.
    - giftedmunchkin 14y ago
      That's fair; I also find trying to get books off of the Amazon store irritating. I personally have a nook, but I'll buy eBooks from any store. Regardless, I have to either go through the Kindle desktop app or (ugh) Adobe Digital Editions before I can get it into Calibre, and it's always more of a hassle than it should be.

dredmorbius 14y ago

Yep. More irony is ironic: there's no Kindle reader for Linux, which is one of the platforms on which vi/vim are most likely to be found. Thanks for nothing, Amazon.

nuclear_eclipse 14y ago
The Kindle Cloud Reader works just fine for me on Linux (Chromium)...
- kayge 14y ago
  Same here, on Kubuntu 12. It didn't work on the default rekonq browser, but it looks great in Firefox.