4 ms·

I'm a big fan of my local library, unfortunately their ebook system is very annoying. They've partnered with some service that only allows you to access books t

I'm a big fan of my local library, unfortunately their ebook system is very annoying. They've partnered with some service that only allows you to access books through an iOS app (so I can't read on e-ink) and it seems that each book is just a pdf delivered to the app, so you can't change font size or the way the words flow. On top of that, if they even have the book you want you often have to wait several weeks before it's available for you to actually download.

freehunter 12y ago
Yup. My local library only has so many copies of ebooks, and they're almost always checked out. One book I was looking for had a four month wait list. For an ebook! Hoarding ebooks like physical properties is not a good way to behave.
- stinkytaco 12y ago
  >Hoarding ebooks like physical properties is not a good way to behave. As someone who deals with e-books for libraries, I feel that frustration, but I also understand where publishers are coming from. They are doing everything they can to hold onto a business model they have been successful with. They also have authors to deal with, who have been successful with the same model and control the production of the product, to some extent. That said, I suspect many libraries would be willing to license e-books like they license journal content: on an all access subscription model.
bduerst 12y ago
That could be a manufacturer problem - i.e. Amazon being uncooperative with allowing kindle users to read books from sources other than the kindle store. If you can get an epub or mobi version of the book you borrowed, you can use Calibre [1] to put it on your e-ink device. You can also email books to your kindle, but I've had mixed success with that. [1] http://calibre-ebook.com/ http://calibre-ebook.com/
- joshuapants 12y ago
  Unfortunately, on this end it's entirely a software issue. No way to get anything downloaded except through the app. I wonder if I had a jailbroken iPad if I could somehow extract the PDFs it downloads, but even then it wouldn't be a pleasant experience on the Kindle. I do like Calibre, which I've used to get Project Gutenberg books among others onto it.

freehunter 12y ago

Yup. My local library only has so many copies of ebooks, and they're almost always checked out. One book I was looking for had a four month wait list. For an ebook! Hoarding ebooks like physical properties is not a good way to behave.

stinkytaco 12y ago
>Hoarding ebooks like physical properties is not a good way to behave. As someone who deals with e-books for libraries, I feel that frustration, but I also understand where publishers are coming from. They are doing everything they can to hold onto a business model they have been successful with. They also have authors to deal with, who have been successful with the same model and control the production of the product, to some extent. That said, I suspect many libraries would be willing to license e-books like they license journal content: on an all access subscription model.

bduerst 12y ago

That could be a manufacturer problem - i.e. Amazon being uncooperative with allowing kindle users to read books from sources other than the kindle store. If you can get an epub or mobi version of the book you borrowed, you can use Calibre [1] to put it on your e-ink device. You can also email books to your kindle, but I've had mixed success with that. [1] http://calibre-ebook.com/ http://calibre-ebook.com/

joshuapants 12y ago
Unfortunately, on this end it's entirely a software issue. No way to get anything downloaded except through the app. I wonder if I had a jailbroken iPad if I could somehow extract the PDFs it downloads, but even then it wouldn't be a pleasant experience on the Kindle. I do like Calibre, which I've used to get Project Gutenberg books among others onto it.