Lame "All-American B&N Classics" free promo

[AnemicOak]

Originally Posted by frquixote

Won't be able to read any of these on my WM6 device

Not sure, maybe this will help (don't know if it does both formats or just eReader).

http://www.teleread.com/2010/07/04/b...indows-mobile/

[ATDrake]

Originally Posted by frquixote

Yup ... its the only way to check out the ePubs as I download them. Switched to IE 8.0 and got the books to download

If you don't mind reading your books on the computer instead of a dedicated reader, perhaps you'd be willing to try the B&N reader app for Windows?

It does read their DRM-ed ePub/eReader formats (and non-DRM ones, too, if the version I've got is any indication), so you can also use it to check things.

I find the text display is generally somewhat nicer than that of the EPUBReader FF add-on.

Originally Posted by frquixote

... unfortunately, I was hoping to get at least SOME of them in eReader format ... guess B&N has abandoned it in its entirely.

Yeah, they seem to have switched over to ePub for everything a little while ago, and it's causing major problems for Mac users.

A lot of the new books are either not loading at all, only showing blank pages once the unlock info is entered, or just plain crashing the app outright, and it's kind of hit and miss as to which.

And it seems to be a problem with the DRM, since those particular issues disappeared once I went and liberated the ones which were giving me trouble.

Mind you, the B&N/eReader DRM is in my opinion less intrusive than most forms. No need to log into a central server that may one day disappear to activate, or download multiple files separately keyed for each device you might lose/replace/upgrade, no real device limits, and the perception that your name & cc info are locked into the file probably discourages most people from just passing them around.

Of course it does depend on having compatible software which can still read the formats used with it on your platform of choice still available. Which, as you've pointed out, can be a major drawback.

B&N have been promising a new improved version of the Mac reader for over a month now, but in the meantime, they've removed the PDB versions which actually still work and all the stuff in my bookshelf archive now re-downloads as ePub. Good thing I keep offline backups.

You'd think they'd at least give people a choice of download format until they've gotten things fixed.

[frquixote]

AnemicOak, Thanks for the pointer to the B&N software for WM. I had only ever seen the version that had been pulled off an HTC device and it didn't work with WM6.0. Unfortunately, neither does the version on the B&N site, but I appreciate the effort.

ATDrake, I think you are right. It only makes sense to install the B&N Reader on my netbook. That will at least allow me to continue playing with the free books. Like you I actually prefer the B&N DRM scheme and have lived with it quite nicely on the eReader and Fictionwise sites for a long time. Unfortunately, it doesn't play nicely with my recently acquired Sony PRS-505.

Lastly, I agree that you'd think they would give people a choice of download formats. It makes good sense and it keeps customers ... and the book sellers wonder why some folks are feeling forced into liberating their ebooks? I only wish it was easier to do.