Kindle Edition != Mobipocket? - Page 3

nekokami · 11-22-2007, 12:13 PM

Even if a Kindle customer buys Mobipocket content from Amazon, Amazon still gets a cut because they own Mobipocket. I still think this is an odd decision for Amazon to have made. The only rationale that makes sense to me that I've heard so far is that they want people to have the experience of books formatted specifically for the Kindle (in terms of graphics), rather than buying a Mobi book somewhere with teeny unreadable graphics and getting mad at the device.

RWood · 11-22-2007, 04:52 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by NatCh

I believe the common practice is to apply the DRM just before download -- that's how they lock it to a given device/account, as far as I know.

My point was that if the DRM books are selling, Amazon may not have any incentive to strip DRM from the files they sell as Apple has started to do with certain music files it sells.

Barcey · 11-22-2007, 05:45 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by nekokami

Even if a Kindle customer buys Mobipocket content from Amazon, Amazon still gets a cut because they own Mobipocket. I still think this is an odd decision for Amazon to have made. The only rationale that makes sense to me that I've heard so far is that they want people to have the experience of books formatted specifically for the Kindle (in terms of graphics), rather than buying a Mobi book somewhere with teeny unreadable graphics and getting mad at the device.

I think they still could have sold "Kindle Edition" books specifically formatted for the Kindle and not locked out their existing customers.

Other then greed the only logical explanations I've been able to come up with are:

1) Although they purchased Mobipocket they didn't like the contracts they've signed with business partners and how the DRM technology is handled and shared. They're happy to let Mobipocket run and collect the money but they didn't want to share that DRM scheme with the Kindle.

2) A scenario where they know or suspect that the DRM for Mobipocket has been broken and they couldn't fix it and maintain backwards compatibility. Under that scenario they might not have trusted the existing DRM scheme with the future business volume they plan on executing with the Kindle. Continuing to run the Mobipocket site as it was is no additional risk then it had been yesterday. This would be naive in my opinion because any DRM can be broken.

Pure and utter speculation. Only Amazon knows for sure and I haven't heard them talking (about this).

nekokami · 11-22-2007, 07:28 PM

Except that I don't think they're really using anything other than Mobipocket with a hidden ID number on the Kindle, and a separate Mobi account. So there's no change in how DRM is implemented.

JSWolf · 11-22-2007, 10:16 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by nekokami

Even if a Kindle customer buys Mobipocket content from Amazon, Amazon still gets a cut because they own Mobipocket. I still think this is an odd decision for Amazon to have made. The only rationale that makes sense to me that I've heard so far is that they want people to have the experience of books formatted specifically for the Kindle (in terms of graphics), rather than buying a Mobi book somewhere with teeny unreadable graphics and getting mad at the device.

I've been saying the same thing basically. I downloaded a book from the library that has maps, charts, tables, etc. and they are all graphics and way too small for the computer screen or a 6" eink screen. I tried Photoshop to enlarge the graphics, but because of the poor quality, they came out too fuzzy when sized to maybe see. So one problem I see for the iLiad and the Gen3 are books in Mobipocket that need the graphics to be viewable properly. That means the books could be possibly useless. I do hope if anyone purchases such a book that the book is returnable.

gteague · 11-22-2007, 11:07 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by JSWolf

I've been saying the same thing basically. I downloaded a book from the library that has maps, charts, tables, etc. and they are all graphics and way too small for the computer screen or a 6" eink screen. I tried Photoshop to enlarge the graphics, but because of the poor quality, they came out too fuzzy when sized to maybe see. So one problem I see for the iLiad and the Gen3 are books in Mobipocket that need the graphics to be viewable properly. That means the books could be possibly useless. I do hope if anyone purchases such a book that the book is returnable.

i'm on the fence trying to decide whether to return mine or not. and this is a big one in the return column. i downloaded the sample of 'clash of thrones' which has a map of the kingdom and it was completely useless. i still have found no way to enlarge such embedded images insitu, that is, in the unit itself. even a small jpg i transferred over i can do nothing with on the kindle.

/guy

jbenny · 11-23-2007, 02:06 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by gteague

i'm on the fence trying to decide whether to return mine or not. and this is a big one in the return column. i downloaded the sample of 'clash of thrones' which has a map of the kingdom and it was completely useless. i still have found no way to enlarge such embedded images insitu, that is, in the unit itself. even a small jpg i transferred over i can do nothing with on the kindle.

/guy

This is due to the lazyness of the creator of the ebook. In Mobipocket Creator, you can have a thumbnail image that when clicked, displays a much larger image. This works on a PDA. You can even scroll the larger image on the small screen.

Of course, the real problem is the use of bitmapped images, but this is endemic to all ebook formats. There is some hope, as epub supports SVG, which is scaleable. Not a solution for all images, but many images that are currently delivered as bitmapped could be done as SVG.

strangeseraph · 11-23-2007, 05:04 AM

Okay, big question that nobody seems to have answered.

Do you HAVE to register a kindle with amazon to read non-kindle files on it? Which formats does it support that I can upload from off my computer?

I'm in Canada, it may be forever until we see the Kindle here. If I ebay'd it, would I be unable to even use it or can I use it, just not online? I don't understand this whispernet thing either.

If its like the iPhone where you can't use anything until you have the contract/signup complete then forget it. I don't want that. I have over 1000 eBooks on my PC that I don't want to bother with having to convert to yet another digital format. -.-

catsittingstill · 12-04-2007, 08:08 PM

JSWolf wrote: "I do hope if anyone purchases such a book that the book is returnable."

FWIW, I recall reading on a different forum that Kindle books have a seven day return policy. So as long as the purchaser didn't wait too long before checking the graphics to see if they work, the book should be returnable.

TallMomof2 · 12-05-2007, 11:44 AM

Yes, the return policy is seven days. I purchased a cookbook without a working TOC and returned it without a problem.

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11-22-2007, 12:13 PM	#31
nekokami fruminous edugeek Posts: 6,745 Karma: 551260 Join Date: Oct 2006 Location: Northeast US Device: iPad, eBw 1150	Even if a Kindle customer buys Mobipocket content from Amazon, Amazon still gets a cut because they own Mobipocket. I still think this is an odd decision for Amazon to have made. The only rationale that makes sense to me that I've heard so far is that they want people to have the experience of books formatted specifically for the Kindle (in terms of graphics), rather than buying a Mobi book somewhere with teeny unreadable graphics and getting mad at the device.

11-22-2007, 07:28 PM	#34
nekokami fruminous edugeek Posts: 6,745 Karma: 551260 Join Date: Oct 2006 Location: Northeast US Device: iPad, eBw 1150	Except that I don't think they're really using anything other than Mobipocket with a hidden ID number on the Kindle, and a separate Mobi account. So there's no change in how DRM is implemented.

11-23-2007, 05:04 AM	#38
strangeseraph Connoisseur Posts: 53 Karma: 592 Join Date: Nov 2007 Location: Canada Device: Amazon Kindle 3	Okay, big question that nobody seems to have answered. Do you HAVE to register a kindle with amazon to read non-kindle files on it? Which formats does it support that I can upload from off my computer? I'm in Canada, it may be forever until we see the Kindle here. If I ebay'd it, would I be unable to even use it or can I use it, just not online? I don't understand this whispernet thing either. If its like the iPhone where you can't use anything until you have the contract/signup complete then forget it. I don't want that. I have over 1000 eBooks on my PC that I don't want to bother with having to convert to yet another digital format. -.-

12-04-2007, 08:08 PM	#39
catsittingstill Guru Posts: 643 Karma: 551634 Join Date: Dec 2007 Device: Kindle 1.0.8, iPod Touch, Kindle Keyboard	JSWolf wrote: "I do hope if anyone purchases such a book that the book is returnable." FWIW, I recall reading on a different forum that Kindle books have a seven day return policy. So as long as the purchaser didn't wait too long before checking the graphics to see if they work, the book should be returnable.

12-05-2007, 11:44 AM	#40
TallMomof2 Kindlephilia Posts: 2,017 Karma: 1139255 Join Date: Nov 2007 Location: Snowpacolypse 2010 Device: Too many to count	Yes, the return policy is seven days. I purchased a cookbook without a working TOC and returned it without a problem.