My Run-In With Topaz - Page 4

DiapDealer · 03-13-2011, 11:24 AM

Quote:

You can buy the paperback now (pre-order), you just have to wait longer for it to be delivered.

Yes, and you will get it for the cheaper price when it becomes available. That's how Amazon's pre-ordering system works.

HarryT · 03-13-2011, 11:25 AM

eBooks often are way cheaper, of course.

In this particular case, though, Amazon can (and have) heavily discounted the paper book price, but the eBook price is set by the publisher, and Amazon have no control over that.

FF2 · 03-13-2011, 11:57 AM

Yesterday I identified all of my Topaz books by searching for the string "TPZ0" inside the file and not relying solely on the books' extensions. Dragged them all into Calibre where they conveniently turned to ZIPS. Checked for or added metadata (darn titles that have "extraneous" info like "Book 2 of Series ABCD" generally fail the initial meta-lookup) Then converted to Mobi. 49 books later - done.

I have not looked at all of the results. I can worry about that later and work on them if necessary. But, at least, they contain some semblance of readable text.

susan_cassidy · 03-13-2011, 02:04 PM

I used to think that books on Amazon with just a file size were always Topaz, but I recently found several books that were listed that way, but when I downloaded the sample, found that they were regular .mobi books. I assume that the sample is going to be consistent with the rest of the book.

wallcraft · 03-13-2011, 02:57 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by susan_cassidy

I used to think that books on Amazon with just a file size were always Topaz, but I recently found several books that were listed that way, but when I downloaded the sample, found that they were regular .mobi books.

The tell for TOPAZ is that the filesize is missing, but the number of pages is present. It used to be that the alternative (indicating AZW) was a listing of both filesize and the number of pages, but recently many AZW ebooks list only the filesize.

Mak'em Lad · 03-13-2011, 06:48 PM

Just finished talking with a guy at Amazon customer Services. Part of the conversation was about Topaz.
He told me that Amazon had had lots of complaints about the Topaz format and are at present in the process of removing all Topaz format books.
Whether that means as soon as they have the replacement in Kindle format or just removing them regardless wasn't mentioned.
So rather than their numbers increase, as worst it will stay the same, at best they'll be gone forever.

The second issue was DRM and that it should be shown whether or not the ebook uses it.

Two other issues were raised & I have been asked to forward my comments on all four to the Kindle developement team.

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03-13-2011, 11:25 AM	#47
HarryT eBook Enthusiast Posts: 85,544 Karma: 93383043 Join Date: Nov 2006 Location: UK Device: Kindle Oasis 2, iPad Pro 10.5", iPhone 6	eBooks often are way cheaper, of course. In this particular case, though, Amazon can (and have) heavily discounted the paper book price, but the eBook price is set by the publisher, and Amazon have no control over that.

03-13-2011, 11:57 AM	#48
FF2 Wizard Posts: 1,105 Karma: 1025784 Join Date: Oct 2010 Device: WiFi Kindle3	Yesterday I identified all of my Topaz books by searching for the string "TPZ0" inside the file and not relying solely on the books' extensions. Dragged them all into Calibre where they conveniently turned to ZIPS. Checked for or added metadata (darn titles that have "extraneous" info like "Book 2 of Series ABCD" generally fail the initial meta-lookup) Then converted to Mobi. 49 books later - done. I have not looked at all of the results. I can worry about that later and work on them if necessary. But, at least, they contain some semblance of readable text.

03-13-2011, 02:04 PM	#49
susan_cassidy Wizard Posts: 2,251 Karma: 3720310 Join Date: Jan 2009 Location: USA Device: Kindle, iPad (not used much for reading)	I used to think that books on Amazon with just a file size were always Topaz, but I recently found several books that were listed that way, but when I downloaded the sample, found that they were regular .mobi books. I assume that the sample is going to be consistent with the rest of the book.

03-13-2011, 06:48 PM	#51
Mak'em Lad Junior Member Posts: 5 Karma: 10 Join Date: Mar 2011 Device: Iphone, PDA, may get a Kindle	Just finished talking with a guy at Amazon customer Services. Part of the conversation was about Topaz. He told me that Amazon had had lots of complaints about the Topaz format and are at present in the process of removing all Topaz format books. Whether that means as soon as they have the replacement in Kindle format or just removing them regardless wasn't mentioned. So rather than their numbers increase, as worst it will stay the same, at best they'll be gone forever. The second issue was DRM and that it should be shown whether or not the ebook uses it. Two other issues were raised & I have been asked to forward my comments on all four to the Kindle developement team.

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