MobileRead Forums - View Single Post - Arc Bought a Canadian Arc on ebay. Indie bookstore question.

oj829 · 02-15-2013, 01:07 PM

Situation: bought a 32Gb Kobo Arc on ebay from a Canadian seller. (The USD and CAD are very close to 1:1 right now) because my local indie bookstore will not be biting on becoming an Arc outlet. I'm a Glo and Touch owner.

2 questions:

1) Is there a way to tell if an Arc's pedigree is that it was sourced for a big-box store or an indie bookstore? While I don't plan to use the Arc to make any book purchases - I have a Glo bought from and linked to my local indie for that - if it ever comes to that because (heaven forbid) my Glo breaks, I don't want to switch allegiances. (The seller seems to specialize in tech and software stuff, not so much bookstore stuff. I don't want to ask too many questions and scare him off.)

2) Privacy. I just read a lengthy detailed review of the Arc and I see that Kobo has carried over their monstrous "Discover" engine technology and basically applied it to anything you do on the tablet - not just the books you've been reading like on their e-ink hardware, but now the videos and music you play, the websites you visit, the apps you install, etc. Reading how it works in practice, I have finally and officially donned my tinfoil hat.

Can it be stopped? Should I invest in a network traffic monitor/firewall?

02-15-2013, 01:07 PM	#1
oj829 Groupie Posts: 191 Karma: 574940 Join Date: Jul 2012 Device: Kobo Touch, Kobo Glo, Kobo Arc(32GB), Kobo Arc 7HD, Kobo Glo HD,NookHD	Bought a Canadian Arc on ebay. Indie bookstore question. Situation: bought a 32Gb Kobo Arc on ebay from a Canadian seller. (The USD and CAD are very close to 1:1 right now) because my local indie bookstore will not be biting on becoming an Arc outlet. I'm a Glo and Touch owner. 2 questions: 1) Is there a way to tell if an Arc's pedigree is that it was sourced for a big-box store or an indie bookstore? While I don't plan to use the Arc to make any book purchases - I have a Glo bought from and linked to my local indie for that - if it ever comes to that because (heaven forbid) my Glo breaks, I don't want to switch allegiances. (The seller seems to specialize in tech and software stuff, not so much bookstore stuff. I don't want to ask too many questions and scare him off.) 2) Privacy. I just read a lengthy detailed review of the Arc and I see that Kobo has carried over their monstrous "Discover" engine technology and basically applied it to anything you do on the tablet - not just the books you've been reading like on their e-ink hardware, but now the videos and music you play, the websites you visit, the apps you install, etc. Reading how it works in practice, I have finally and officially donned my tinfoil hat. Can it be stopped? Should I invest in a network traffic monitor/firewall?