04-03-2008, 04:54 PM | #1 |
Connoisseur
Posts: 66
Karma: 918
Join Date: Dec 2007
Device: iRex Iliad
|
DRM experiment
I decided to do an experiment.
I wrote a book ("Computer Programming: An Introduction for the Scientifically Inclined") over the past few years. I self-publish it, and it has recently become available (on Amazon, for instance) as a 284 page, 7.5x9.25" paperback, for $22.99. Since I also own an iLiad, I decided to make the book available as an e-book as well (in PDF). I spent some time re-formatting it (maximizing the use of the limited screen real-estate), resulting in a 374 page book. I've partaken in some of the DRM discussions here on the mobileread forums, and I decided to make the book available for EUR 4.99 (about $6.95 with today's dollar rate) with no DRM (so you can print it out if you like, or copy text from it). Instead, each PDF is "personalized": based on the PayPal data, I render your name on the title page. A kind of "social DRM", if you like. This type of "DRM-between-quotes" was suggested during the earlier discussions here in this forum, though I don't remember who came up with it (it might have been me). I recently got an email from Scott Meyers (a well known author in C++ programmer circles) that his "Effective C++" series will be published as PDF e-books using a similar technique. I figured that if it's good enough for Addison Wesley, it's good enough for me. We'll see how things go. I'll post back once I get enough statistics. More information about the book: http://www.curly-brace.com I simply render a new PDF for each purchase, and offer a link to download it. I have tried to contact iRex Technologies because it would be much cooler if such a purchase would be automatically synchronized to your iLiad using iDS, but I haven't heard back from them yet. Does anyone know of a place where you can buy e-books for the iLiad which do use iDS? |
04-03-2008, 05:23 PM | #2 |
Addict
Posts: 256
Karma: 144599
Join Date: Jan 2008
Device: Boox Nova 2
|
Social DRM, I like it! Hope it works out well for you.
|
Advert | |
|
04-03-2008, 06:36 PM | #3 |
Enthusiast
Posts: 47
Karma: 24
Join Date: Mar 2007
Device: Sony PRS500, Nook
|
Would you consider formatting the book in a form that fits the Sony Reader? Either pdf or better lrf?
|
04-03-2008, 06:42 PM | #4 |
Fanatic
Posts: 534
Karma: 469999
Join Date: Feb 2008
Location: Scotland
Device: Sony PRS-650 (PRS+ alpha - thanks Kartu!)
|
If you format it so I can read it on my Cybook I'll buy it.
I'd also suggest you bang together a PDF with a few sample pages on it. That will help convince people that it really is readable on an Iliad. Last edited by Halk; 04-03-2008 at 06:46 PM. |
04-03-2008, 06:47 PM | #5 |
Sir Penguin of Edinburgh
Posts: 12,375
Karma: 23555235
Join Date: Apr 2007
Location: DC Metro area
Device: Shake a stick plus 1
|
|
Advert | |
|
04-03-2008, 09:27 PM | #6 |
Resident Curmudgeon
Posts: 73,987
Karma: 128903378
Join Date: Nov 2006
Location: Roslindale, Massachusetts
Device: Kobo Libra 2, Kobo Aura H2O, PRS-650, PRS-T1, nook STR, PW3
|
If you reformat your PDF for a page size of a 6" eink screen and remake the PDF, it may actually sell a lot better. The problem is that as a letter sized page, it doesn't really look all that good on a 6" enk screen unless we use something like pdflrf to modify the PDF. Give it a try with some sample pages and we can download the sample and try it and see how well it looks.
|
04-03-2008, 09:32 PM | #7 |
Fanatic
Posts: 548
Karma: 2928497
Join Date: Mar 2008
Device: Clara 2E & Sage
|
David Rothman has been talking up "social DRM" for some time over at TeleRead. I'm sure he didn't originate the idea either, but it may be a usable one. Let us know how things turn out.
|
04-03-2008, 09:54 PM | #8 | |
Grand Sorcerer
Posts: 19,832
Karma: 11844413
Join Date: Jan 2007
Location: Tampa, FL USA
Device: Kindle Touch
|
Quote:
BOb |
|
04-03-2008, 10:00 PM | #9 |
Resident Curmudgeon
Posts: 73,987
Karma: 128903378
Join Date: Nov 2006
Location: Roslindale, Massachusetts
Device: Kobo Libra 2, Kobo Aura H2O, PRS-650, PRS-T1, nook STR, PW3
|
It's just too easy to strip out the footer when converting to something else. That doesn't really work. All it prevents is the PDF from getting out, not some conversion to say HTML.
|
04-03-2008, 10:03 PM | #10 | |
Grand Sorcerer
Posts: 19,832
Karma: 11844413
Join Date: Jan 2007
Location: Tampa, FL USA
Device: Kindle Touch
|
Quote:
What is the hypothesis for this experiment? BOb |
|
04-04-2008, 07:23 AM | #11 |
Connoisseur
Posts: 66
Karma: 918
Join Date: Dec 2007
Device: iRex Iliad
|
I don't even put the name on every page - just on the title page. I realize that this is really easy to strip out, but I don't want to engage in an "arms race" with pirates.
|
04-04-2008, 07:29 AM | #12 | |
Connoisseur
Posts: 66
Karma: 918
Join Date: Dec 2007
Device: iRex Iliad
|
Quote:
It's a good idea to offer a sample chapter or so. I'll get to it. I will stick with PDF however, because my book contains a lot of fomulas, graphics, and code snippets which I don't think will look good in a "flowable" format. Designing for a real page size even smaller than the iLiad will be quite a chore - I was quite a bit of work to fit everything on the pages already. |
|
04-04-2008, 09:31 AM | #13 |
Fanatic
Posts: 534
Karma: 469999
Join Date: Feb 2008
Location: Scotland
Device: Sony PRS-650 (PRS+ alpha - thanks Kartu!)
|
I'd have no issues buying a book, if I was told - "There's some kind of digital signature embedded in it, somewhere. We're not going to say exactly where, but you could get past that if you really wanted."
That'd probably stop individuals sharing their books on purpose. It would not, of course, stop people who for one reason or another see it as their job to "liberate" as much media for free consumption as possible. But you're never going to do that anyway, if it gets too hard to strip the signature from the book, then they'll instead get hold of the books from other people, or set up a fake account and buy the book then release that one. You won't beat them, but the best you could hope for is to stop people casually sharing. As for what Nate said, it may well, which is partly why I asked for a few sample pages. With the sample pages I can read it on my Cybook and see if it's workable. |
04-04-2008, 10:22 AM | #14 | |
Resident Curmudgeon
Posts: 73,987
Karma: 128903378
Join Date: Nov 2006
Location: Roslindale, Massachusetts
Device: Kobo Libra 2, Kobo Aura H2O, PRS-650, PRS-T1, nook STR, PW3
|
Quote:
|
|
04-04-2008, 12:17 PM | #15 | |
Gadget Geek
Posts: 2,324
Karma: 22221
Join Date: Aug 2007
Device: Paperwhite, Kindle 3 (retired), Skindle 1.2 (retired)
|
Quote:
|
|
Tags |
drm, pdf |
|
Similar Threads | ||||
Thread | Thread Starter | Forum | Replies | Last Post |
PRS-600 End of the experiment | ChristopherTD | Sony Reader | 23 | 02-28-2010 09:51 AM |
The Grand Experiment! | daffy4u | Sony Reader | 186 | 02-22-2010 10:36 AM |