Register Guidelines E-Books Search Today's Posts Mark Forums Read

Go Back   MobileRead Forums > E-Book Readers > Amazon Kindle

Notices

Reply
 
Thread Tools Search this Thread
Old 03-02-2009, 06:37 PM   #1
pippin65
Enthusiast
pippin65 began at the beginning.
 
pippin65's Avatar
 
Posts: 47
Karma: 10
Join Date: Jan 2008
Location: Fl
Device: Kindle2
Good Article on Amazon's Text to speech Removal

can't say that I'll miss it terribly...but it's nice to have features. maybe they'll give us folders! Folders over text to speech any day!

http://news.cnet.com/8301-13512_3-10184974-23.html
pippin65 is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 03-02-2009, 06:43 PM   #2
BobLenx
Connoisseur
BobLenx has a complete set of Star Wars action figures.BobLenx has a complete set of Star Wars action figures.BobLenx has a complete set of Star Wars action figures.BobLenx has a complete set of Star Wars action figures.
 
BobLenx's Avatar
 
Posts: 78
Karma: 308
Join Date: Jan 2008
Device: Sony505 K2 K3
Interesting article with some good points. The author commented that it is illegal to purchase a copy of a book and read it to an audience of people who do not also all own copies of the book. What about classrooms where teachers regularly read books to children only owning the single copy of the book? Can a teacher bring in their Kindle and read an electronic book to their class?

Here's an interesting question. Suppose I have purchased a digital book for my Kindle-2, and at the time of purchase the text-to-speech feature worked fine and dandy. Later on the publisher does in fact disable TTS for that same book. I go to read the book after that - say archiving the book and then retreiving it again - and now I can no longer use text-to-speech. Is that legal?

Bob

Last edited by BobLenx; 03-02-2009 at 06:49 PM.
BobLenx is offline   Reply With Quote
Advert
Old 03-02-2009, 06:49 PM   #3
whitearrow
Guru
whitearrow ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.whitearrow ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.whitearrow ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.whitearrow ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.whitearrow ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.whitearrow ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.whitearrow ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.whitearrow ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.whitearrow ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.whitearrow ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.whitearrow ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.
 
Posts: 808
Karma: 2260766
Join Date: Apr 2008
Device: Kindle Oasis 2
Well, it's not a crime, and nobody's going to get arrested So yes, it's "legal."

Do you mean "is it a breach of contract?" Because the TTS is listed as an experimental feature, I would guess probably not. You'd need to dissect the ToS.

In practical terms, there may be some changes in the immediate future, as current titles are updated, and I'd say that Amazon would be smart to honor a refund request from any user that bought a book that disabled its TTS status. But 6 months from now, I doubt this will be an issue -- I doubt publishers will be changing back and forth willy-nilly. Hopefully, Amazon will say on the book's page if TTS is disabled before you buy.

And there's always MobiDeDrm as a last resort.
whitearrow is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 03-02-2009, 06:52 PM   #4
pippin65
Enthusiast
pippin65 began at the beginning.
 
pippin65's Avatar
 
Posts: 47
Karma: 10
Join Date: Jan 2008
Location: Fl
Device: Kindle2
Interesting point. I think the losers here are the disabled and/or the severely visually impaired. Too bad for them.
pippin65 is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 03-02-2009, 06:53 PM   #5
BobLenx
Connoisseur
BobLenx has a complete set of Star Wars action figures.BobLenx has a complete set of Star Wars action figures.BobLenx has a complete set of Star Wars action figures.BobLenx has a complete set of Star Wars action figures.
 
BobLenx's Avatar
 
Posts: 78
Karma: 308
Join Date: Jan 2008
Device: Sony505 K2 K3
Love the smiley face at the end of your reply.

I guess a lot of people who really have need of the TTS feature will be downloading free eBooks and utilizing software such as you indicated.

It will be interesting to see how many books end up having TTS removed. Not really a feature I ever intend to use personally.
BobLenx is offline   Reply With Quote
Advert
Old 03-02-2009, 07:04 PM   #6
whitearrow
Guru
whitearrow ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.whitearrow ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.whitearrow ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.whitearrow ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.whitearrow ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.whitearrow ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.whitearrow ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.whitearrow ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.whitearrow ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.whitearrow ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.whitearrow ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.
 
Posts: 808
Karma: 2260766
Join Date: Apr 2008
Device: Kindle Oasis 2
Given that the Kindle is not really a device designed to be used by the visually impaired, it just strikes me as unlikely that there are thousands of users out there who bought the Kindle relying on the availability of TTS.

I tried out TTS, just to hear how it sounded -- it was okay, but not something I can ever see myself using on a regular basis. I'd still rather listen to a real audiobook on those occasions when I'm so inclined.
whitearrow is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 03-02-2009, 07:54 PM   #7
Alisa
Gadget Geek
Alisa can tie a knot in a cherry stem with his or her tongueAlisa can tie a knot in a cherry stem with his or her tongueAlisa can tie a knot in a cherry stem with his or her tongueAlisa can tie a knot in a cherry stem with his or her tongueAlisa can tie a knot in a cherry stem with his or her tongueAlisa can tie a knot in a cherry stem with his or her tongueAlisa can tie a knot in a cherry stem with his or her tongueAlisa can tie a knot in a cherry stem with his or her tongueAlisa can tie a knot in a cherry stem with his or her tongueAlisa can tie a knot in a cherry stem with his or her tongueAlisa can tie a knot in a cherry stem with his or her tongue
 
Alisa's Avatar
 
Posts: 2,324
Karma: 22221
Join Date: Aug 2007
Device: Paperwhite, Kindle 3 (retired), Skindle 1.2 (retired)
According to the article, TTS isn't being removed. It's just no longer enabled by default. Publishers can opt in and allow it. I would hope that many do. After all, it's likely the impetus behind this suit wasn't so much that TTS as it stands today is any real competition for a professional audio book read by a live person but the idea that it's a foot in the door. If the technology gets better, it could be competition so they moved to protect their rights now.

Last edited by Alisa; 03-02-2009 at 10:11 PM.
Alisa is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 03-02-2009, 09:28 PM   #8
Patricia
Reader
Patricia ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.Patricia ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.Patricia ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.Patricia ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.Patricia ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.Patricia ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.Patricia ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.Patricia ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.Patricia ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.Patricia ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.Patricia ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.
 
Patricia's Avatar
 
Posts: 11,505
Karma: 8720163
Join Date: May 2007
Location: South Wales, UK
Device: Sony PRS-500, PRS-505, Asus EEEpc 4G
MS LIT format also has a built-in text to speech facility, and it's been around for years. I wonder why it hasn't met with similar legal problems.
Patricia is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 03-02-2009, 09:31 PM   #9
soilwork
useR!
soilwork will become famous soon enoughsoilwork will become famous soon enoughsoilwork will become famous soon enoughsoilwork will become famous soon enoughsoilwork will become famous soon enoughsoilwork will become famous soon enough
 
soilwork's Avatar
 
Posts: 299
Karma: 651
Join Date: Nov 2007
Location: NY
Device: Onyx Boox Max 2, Kobo Libra H2O, iRiver Story HD
Quote:
Originally Posted by Patricia View Post
MS LIT format also has a built-in text to speech facility, and it's been around for years. I wonder why it hasn't met with similar legal problems.
I guess publishers now think that the ebook market is big enough to care. Before Kindle, they might have just ignored the whole ebook market.
soilwork is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 03-03-2009, 03:57 AM   #10
HarryT
eBook Enthusiast
HarryT ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.HarryT ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.HarryT ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.HarryT ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.HarryT ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.HarryT ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.HarryT ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.HarryT ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.HarryT ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.HarryT ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.HarryT ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.
 
HarryT's Avatar
 
Posts: 85,544
Karma: 93383043
Join Date: Nov 2006
Location: UK
Device: Kindle Oasis 2, iPad Pro 10.5", iPhone 6
Quote:
Originally Posted by Patricia View Post
MS LIT format also has a built-in text to speech facility, and it's been around for years. I wonder why it hasn't met with similar legal problems.
MS Reader TTS is disabled for all DRM-enhanced books.
HarryT is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 03-03-2009, 08:39 AM   #11
Patricia
Reader
Patricia ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.Patricia ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.Patricia ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.Patricia ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.Patricia ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.Patricia ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.Patricia ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.Patricia ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.Patricia ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.Patricia ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.Patricia ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.
 
Patricia's Avatar
 
Posts: 11,505
Karma: 8720163
Join Date: May 2007
Location: South Wales, UK
Device: Sony PRS-500, PRS-505, Asus EEEpc 4G
Quote:
Originally Posted by HarryT View Post
MS Reader TTS is disabled for all DRM-enhanced books.
Ah. I hadn't realised that, Harry. Thanks for explaining.
Patricia is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 03-03-2009, 08:55 AM   #12
Nate the great
Sir Penguin of Edinburgh
Nate the great ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.Nate the great ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.Nate the great ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.Nate the great ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.Nate the great ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.Nate the great ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.Nate the great ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.Nate the great ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.Nate the great ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.Nate the great ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.Nate the great ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.
 
Nate the great's Avatar
 
Posts: 12,375
Karma: 23555235
Join Date: Apr 2007
Location: DC Metro area
Device: Shake a stick plus 1
Quote:
Originally Posted by Patricia View Post
MS LIT format also has a built-in text to speech facility, and it's been around for years. I wonder why it hasn't met with similar legal problems.
Because Amazon is the 362.87 kg gorilla.
Nate the great is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 03-03-2009, 10:54 AM   #13
BobLenx
Connoisseur
BobLenx has a complete set of Star Wars action figures.BobLenx has a complete set of Star Wars action figures.BobLenx has a complete set of Star Wars action figures.BobLenx has a complete set of Star Wars action figures.
 
BobLenx's Avatar
 
Posts: 78
Karma: 308
Join Date: Jan 2008
Device: Sony505 K2 K3
I rather suspect there are a substantial number of Kindle's out there in the hands of the visually impaired. The ability to increase the size of the font to such a huge size would have to be a real draw to anyone who needs large print books to read. I showed my Kindle to a neighbor who is visually impaired and uses a massive magnifying glass to read and she was wow'ed. I think I will download a couple of freebie short stories so she could try using my Kindle to see if it really works for her.
BobLenx is offline   Reply With Quote
Reply

Thread Tools Search this Thread
Search this Thread:

Advanced Search

Forum Jump

Similar Threads
Thread Thread Starter Forum Replies Last Post
Text to Speech briteflint Calibre 3 05-24-2010 02:56 PM
K2 Text to Speech SarahW Amazon Kindle 5 04-23-2010 10:18 PM
No more text to speech??? pippin65 Amazon Kindle 22 11-16-2009 04:27 PM
Text to speech Chelley Introduce Yourself 5 03-09-2009 12:33 PM


All times are GMT -4. The time now is 09:39 AM.


MobileRead.com is a privately owned, operated and funded community.