Amazon doesn't want you to read free ebooks

[AnemicOak]

Originally Posted by JD Gumby

And, of course, nothing is stopping you from using any other ebook reader app (except for Barnes & Noble's, though that's probably B&N's decision rather than Amazon's - Amazon has no problem offering Kobo's app)

True Nook isn't in the Amazon appstore, but there's nothing stopping you from sideloading the Nook app it's available in quite a few places. Or did Amazon all of the sudden stop allowing the sideloading of apps?

[JoeD]

Originally Posted by WillysJeepMan

That's the fundamental difference between the iPad and Kindle Fire. Although one is not necessarily worse or better than the other, they ARE different.

Yes, I agree, Apple are more focussed on making money from the device, Amazon from the content (although Bezos has said they do both). However, in both cases, Apple and Amazon provide a way to install additional reading apps if you're not happy with the experience their in built apps provide.

The kindle is Amazon's device and likely subsidised to a degree. It's bound to push Amazon as a content provider and makes sense that Amazon will skip features on purpose to make it easier buy from their store, or simply because they don't want to spend time adding features that do not help them sell more content, as long as they're not blocking alternative apps from making up for that short coming, I don't see it as a terrible thing.

Granted, it'd be nicer if books/docs and so forth that were in a supported format appeared alongside all the Amazon bought content as it does in the kindle eInk devices.

On a related note, it's sad imo that the growing trend is for devices to be tied to a single store and retailer rather than devices competing on their HW specs and out the box functionality but able to install apps/content from a wide range of places. I wish tablets and phones were more like the PC market was (up until MS also started to lock down the PC with the atrocity that is windows 8)

[Rizla]

One can say that one can always get round implicit restrictions on the KF, but the fact is that most users are not that savvy and will accept whatever is served up to them. In a world of competition that wouldn't matter too much. Competing and less restrictive devices would emerge that customers will turn to. The problem is Amazon's market dominance. It seems they are fast becoming a monopoly and therefore will control the vast majority of digital content consumption. And they are corporation out to make money. They will control the future of books. This is worrying.

[Sydney's Mom]

Originally Posted by Rizla

One can say that one can always get round implicit restrictions on the KF, but the fact is that most users are not that savvy and will accept whatever is served up to them. In a world of competition that wouldn't matter too much. Competing and less restrictive devices would emerge that customers will turn to. The problem is Amazon's market dominance. It seems they are fast becoming a monopoly and therefore will control the vast majority of digital content consumption. And they are corporation out to make money. They will control the future of books. This is worrying.

I agree. But I used to think publishers were just in it for the books, and had that little fairytale knocked out of me. There isn't anyone to trust with books anymore, as librarians are also being controled by the almighty dollar. Great living in a capitalist society!

If you are smart enough to convert a video to the right format in the first place (Handbrake), you should be smart enough to download ES to watch it. I find the Fire open enough to do what I want, but you do have to have contact with Amazon, even if you don't buy anything. For example, I transferred 14G of music into the cloud - took almost a week. (My family was ready to kill me.) 99.9% of that music was transferred from CDs into into itunes years ago. It is now available for me to listen to while I am connected to wi-fi, or download and listen to anytime.

[Rizla]

I find it interesting to compare the development of the printing press to the development of the digital reading platform. It's interesting that the printing press was a device that made information more available to people. Can we say the same of digital readers? If we can't, then it is the business practices of companies like Amazon, and predominantly Amazon that we have to blame. Interesting times.

[Sydney's Mom]

I think digital readers do have the effect of increasing the number of books being read. There is something for the ease of just starting the second book in the series because it is sitting on your digital reader. I definately read in spurts, as to amount and subject. It was difficult to maintain a spurt if I didn't have any like books around. Now it is easy to read on, and on, and on . . .

[Andrew H.]

Originally Posted by JD Gumby

They haven't, however. You just need to take an extra step (moving the ebook files) in order for the Kindle app to find the sideloads since browser downloads don't go directly into the library - apparently the Kindle app doesn't contain any sort of file browser so you can add them from within the app. (at least as far as I can gather from the Gutenberg webmaster's rant, linked to earlier)

You don't even have to do that - AFAIK, you can just e-mail the file to your KFire from PG.

(And of course you can get most PG books for free through Amazon; the real concern here isn't that Amazon doesn't want you to have free books, but that there's an extra step to get free books from the PG site.)