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Reading plain EPUBs on whatever device has been a fairly good experience in my opinion, given that that is more or less just going to be the physical book in di
by Telaneo 7mo ago
Reading plain EPUBs on whatever device has been a fairly good experience in my opinion, given that that is more or less just going to be the physical book in digital form. Then again, the only way I think people actually find those are through free online downloads and not any actual store front.
Given the choice between 'tainted digital experience' and 'plain analogue experience', I can't blame consumers for choosing the latter, but the 'plain digital experience' does exist. It's just not sold.
I wonder how long it's going to take before the analogue experience becomes tainted. It's, sadly, not unthinkable to put ads in books. I guess there's little point from the perspective of the relevant people if they can't make those ads personalised, but maybe if the enshittification goes far enough, it could happen.
- bentley 7mo ago> the only way I think people actually find those are through free online downloads and not any actual store front. The other day I commented about my DRM‐free ebook sources: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47684550 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47684550 In my opinion, it’s important to support those publishers and stores that do choose to sell unencumbered media, so that they have some justification to keep doing it.
- kQq9oHeAz6wLLS 7mo agoOne more to add to your list: baen.com, home of publisher Baen books. Lots of sci-fi and fantasy, all DRM free if you buy direct from them.
- spking 7mo agoThat was a thing already, in the 1960s and 1970s lots of pulp paperbacks had ads for cigarettes and cheap cologne between chapters, for example.
- Telaneo 7mo agoThanks. I hate it.
- nottorp 7mo ago> Then again, the only way I think people actually find those are through free online downloads and not any actual store front. Mostly correct, but some publishers have seen the light. Asimov's magazine used to be on kindle subscriptions, then on some dubious application no one had heard of, but now they offer drm-free epubs, for example.