[Archived] Marvin ePub reader for iPad

[Philantrop]

Originally Posted by ProfCrash

I am not disagreeing with you but the reality is that many people ignore DRM and don't care about it.

Yes, but the solution is not to support DRM but to a) fight it and b) tell people why DRM is bad. You should be starting with your brothers! :-)

[crashnburn]

Originally Posted by Philantrop

I believe such people exist. Either they learn or it'll be their loss sooner or later.

With DRM, they're forever hostages of their ebook vendor and/or supplier of the DRM system.

Be it Barnes & Noble who like(d) to cut people off from their books if their credit card has expired, or Apple who are denying people's heirs access to your digital library, or Amazon who like to wipe their customers' Kindles and remove the entire account.

Or that Japanese comic seller, JManga; they're shutting down and their customers won't be able to download their digital content.

Or just switching to a different reading device - without removing the DRM, how do people get their ebooks transferred? Sure, they can buy them again but that might not strike them as the ideal solution.

And all of this is just the tip of the iceberg.

Sure, whoever is "not interested in stripping DRM" can just ignore it - it's just a really, truly bad idea.

Maybe we should put out some widely spread articles around this and spread to consumers - with
- Specific examples of HOW - People got screwed over Digital Products they bought.
- An easy way for them to be AWARE and "SUPPORT" the case - Petition etc

As he mentioned, a lot of people dont have time or dont even bother looking into it.

[ProfCrash]

The problem is that the only available solution to DRM at this moment may be illegal in the US and is illegal in Canada and other countries. So you can say DRM is evil and this could happen to you but to back up your books means breaking the law.

I have chatted with my brothers and gotten a "It is not worth my time" response. I hope for their sakes that nothing happens to their accounts but that is on them.

I don't see the police coming after folks for stripping DRM, as long as they are not pirating the material, but some people worry about that.

Anyway, Marvin works great for the folks with ePubs that are DRM free.

[kguil]

maxjens, I'm expecting 1.4 to be available in about 7-8 days (including the 5-6 days Apple usually take to review). Note that the snapping options we've been talking about aren't in 1.4.

[maxjens]

Originally Posted by kguil

maxjens, I'm expecting 1.4 to be available in about 7-8 days (including the 5-6 days Apple usually take to review). Note that the snapping options we've been talking about aren't in 1.4.

Yes, i understand. Looking forward to testing and using it.

[crashnburn]

Originally Posted by ProfCrash

The problem is that the only available solution to DRM at this moment may be illegal in the US and is illegal in Canada and other countries. So you can say DRM is evil and this could happen to you but to back up your books means breaking the law.

I have chatted with my brothers and gotten a "It is not worth my time" response. I hope for their sakes that nothing happens to their accounts but that is on them.

I don't see the police coming after folks for stripping DRM, as long as they are not pirating the material, but some people worry about that.

Anyway, Marvin works great for the folks with ePubs that are DRM free.

People get busy. Wrong laws and policies and governments come in all the time, there are fewer people who actually fight it as compared to those who sign petitions.

Maybe even if we could get all the people who believe its not worth their time to join/ sign/ contribute in less time consuming ways.

[Janet16]

Hmm, I just got a Epub converter from enolsoft, think this tool might do help me, then no need the converter.

[artbatista]

Originally Posted by murraypaul

You really need to learn to turn your opinions down when posting.
At the moment you come across as shouting down anyone with even a slightly different viewpoint than yours.

Alex can be bit forceful, but then he's right most times. I kinda like his "damn the torpedoes, full speed ahead" mode.



Art

[artbatista]

Originally Posted by Philantrop

I believe such people exist. Either they learn or it'll be their loss sooner or later.

With DRM, they're forever hostages of their ebook vendor and/or supplier of the DRM system.

Be it Barnes & Noble who like(d) to cut people off from their books if their credit card has expired, or Apple who are denying people's heirs access to your digital library, or Amazon who like to wipe their customers' Kindles and remove the entire account.

Or that Japanese comic seller, JManga; they're shutting down and their customers won't be able to download their digital content.

Or just switching to a different reading device - without removing the DRM, how do people get their ebooks transferred? Sure, they can buy them again but that might not strike them as the ideal solution.

And all of this is just the tip of the iceberg.

Sure, whoever is "not interested in stripping DRM" can just ignore it - it's just a really, truly bad idea.

I myself was cut off from my books at amazon, when they decided to switch away from PDF years ago.

Then Fictionwise was cutoff by overdrive, resulting in mess that took a year to sort out. At FW it was actually worse than Amazon, because they sold books in multiple formats (lit, mobi, pdb, etc) with multiple DRM forms.

I swore I would never buy a book that I can't remove DRM from.

No, my friend, I agree with you.

To paraphrase Alex: "anyone not removing DRM and converting their books to an open format, IS most certainly out of his/her mind"

Art

[crashnburn]

Originally Posted by artbatista

I myself was cut off from my books at amazon, when they decided to switch away from PDF years ago.

Then Fictionwise was cutoff by overdrive, resulting in mess that took a year to sort out. At FW it was actually worse than Amazon, because they sold books in multiple formats (lit, mobi, pdb, etc) with multiple DRM forms.

I swore I would never buy a book that I can't remove DRM from.

No, my friend, I agree with you.

To paraphrase Alex: "anyone not removing DRM and converting their books to an open format, IS most certainly out of his/her mind"

Art

I think it's like a cardiac arrest or cancer or diabetes.. Very few people REALIZE the implications until it HITS them or CLOSE to them.

The people who have so far not been affected and "dont have the time" havent yet FELT the pinch.

[ProfCrash]

I haven't been hurt by it, I just prefer to own what I own.

[artbatista]

Originally Posted by ProfCrash

I haven't been hurt by it, I just prefer to own what I own.

Another excellent reason. As with music, the ebook industry is going thru that phase were they would like customers to believe that they are "getting a license, you see, you are not actually buying these books".

Imagine if you get haircut, for $20.00, but the hairdresser demands that you pay another $20.00 if you are selected to give a speech or appear in public before an audience of more than 100 people.

You bought a license to a haircut, you don't really own it. Where would it end?

Art

[feijoada]

Dear kguil, Like everyone, I'm a huge fan of Marvin on the iPad. I'm also impressed with your accessibility, willingness to hear and incorporate user feedback, and transparency with future plans on your roadmap. I wonder if you could shed light on when you plan on releasing a version for the iPhone. I've found myself checking this forum on a weekly basis to see if you've mentioned something but now I've joined the site simply to ask this question. Now I understand you are busy and I admire your reluctance to overcommit yourself so I won't bother urging you to make the iPhone more of a priority. So all I'm asking is, given your existing pace and plans, when might users expect to download the iPhone version of Marvin? If you aren't certain, would you give us a timeframe? Lastly, I don't want to be a pain in the ass and pester you, so would you update the community from time to time about iPhone development? Many, many thanks! Eduardo

[kguil]

Hi feijoada, Thanks.

Hopefully within 2-3 months.

There are some priority features I'd like to add to the iPad version (e.g. full-book searching) and will be able to give you a more reliable estimate after that.

I'll be posting updates here and on Marvin's Twitter account (Home Screen, settings, follow).

[maxjens]

For all those people that have different metadata in calibre opposed to in the epub file itself.

There is a developer that created an OPDS reader that works with the Calibre Library http://blog.slucas.fr/en/oss/calibre-opds-php-server.

In his latest update he created the option to send the latest metadata with the epub. Instead of converting your epub, it is now possible to get the latest metadata supplied when downloading the book to Marvin.

Marvin and Cops 0.3.4 integrate perfectly.

To use cops you will need (W)AMP running or some other web server. There is an install package for Synology.