Two Nooks, One account

[Catsnkites]

As I try to decide whether or not to purchase a second Nook for my family, I have a question about the accounts.

Obviously, I could create a second account for the second Nook, but I already have many books on the account that other family members read. I know I can have two (or more) Nooks on the same account, but then do they get the same books? If my daughter is reading the Hunger Games Series, will it show up on my Nook as well? Will she end up with my eclectic collection including romance, microbiology, Sherlock Holmes and medical thrillers?

(the books that need to be shared are not LendMe books, so that wouldn't work. And it's not really "sharing" just some books on this nook and others on this other Nook)

Thans!

Susie

[RAH]

Seems to me if you have the same account on more than one Nook, all Nooks will stay in synch, not just regarding what books are there, but also the last page read, etc. This is actually supposed to be a feature. I don't think there is any way around this, except to establish a new account for any additional Nooks. Of course, then the new account would not have access to the books from the old account. I don't think you can have it both ways.

[geertm]

Originally Posted by Catsnkites

As I try to decide whether or not to purchase a second Nook for my family, I have a question about the accounts.

Obviously, I could create a second account for the second Nook, but I already have many books on the account that other family members read. I know I can have two (or more) Nooks on the same account, but then do they get the same books? If my daughter is reading the Hunger Games Series, will it show up on my Nook as well? Will she end up with my eclectic collection including romance, microbiology, Sherlock Holmes and medical thrillers?

(the books that need to be shared are not LendMe books, so that wouldn't work. And it's not really "sharing" just some books on this nook and others on this other Nook)

Thans!

Susie

B&N's DRM allows you to share books by just copying (sideloading) them to another Nook (just as you would with non-B&N books).
For the first book you share this way you will be asked for the credit card number and name the book was downloaded with. The Nook remembers this, so other books will open immediately.

If you register both Nooks to the same account, both Nooks will get the same books (because this was meant for one person using multiple devices to read books). Also if one person archives a books, it will be archived on both Nooks. So unless the readers of both Nooks have the same taste in books, sharing an account is usually not recommended.
Just share the books.

[Catsnkites]

OH COOL! I did not know that! Awesome, thank you SO much ... I was a little worried at the thought of my 12 year old daughter reading some of my more adult books .... though the house is packed with paperbacks, so she could really, any time she wanted .... but this makes life MUCH easier! Especially since we'll use the same credit card info (mine!)

Thanks!

Susie

[RAH]

But if you do this (sideload a drm b&n book onto a nook with a different account), isnt this a regular shared book, subject to the one-time rule, and only good for 2 weeks? If not, what prevents a person from spreading a drm book all around to all their friends?

[geertm]

Originally Posted by RAH

But if you do this (sideload a drm b&n book onto a nook with a different account), isnt this a regular shared book, subject to the one-time rule, and only good for 2 weeks? If not, what prevents a person from spreading a drm book all around to all their friends?

No, you are not lending the book, you are copying the book.
The reason B&N's DRM is called a social DRM is that to open a book you need the credit card number and name the book was downloaded with. This is information you probably do not mind sharing with close family or friends, but you will not give it to strangers or put it on the Internet. The fact that your credit card number and name are needed to share, limits the sharing of books.
(In spite of that B&N does not promote this biggest advantage of their DRM, probably because of the publishers).
It is a social limitation, not a technical limitation (Kindle books are tied to the hardware ID of the reader, Adobe books are tied to your Adobe ID).

[RAH]

Well, that is interesting then. I realized that the credit card requirement would stop people from wholesale distribution, but I never knew about this social drm aspect with close friends and family. Thanks for the tip! Is there any limit to how many people you can do this with for a particular title?

[DrLaurenceBrown]

This is something I have found myself wondering recently while looking into purchasing another Nook for a family members. Thanks for posting and all the info!

[GreenMonkey]

Originally Posted by geertm

No, you are not lending the book, you are copying the book.
The reason B&N's DRM is called a social DRM is that to open a book you need the credit card number and name the book was downloaded with. This is information you probably do not mind sharing with close family or friends, but you will not give it to strangers or put it on the Internet. The fact that your credit card number and name are needed to share, limits the sharing of books.
(In spite of that B&N does not promote this biggest advantage of their DRM, probably because of the publishers).
It is a social limitation, not a technical limitation (Kindle books are tied to the hardware ID of the reader, Adobe books are tied to your Adobe ID).

This is something that I've been reconsidering on my anti-DRM stance. I think I may be willing to buy B&N ebooks since the DRM this way is a little less onerous.

[geertm]

Originally Posted by RAH

Well, that is interesting then. I realized that the credit card requirement would stop people from wholesale distribution, but I never knew about this social drm aspect with close friends and family. Thanks for the tip! Is there any limit to how many people you can do this with for a particular title?

There is no limit.
The whole encryption is contained within the e-book file. The file is not tied to any DRM server. There is no internet connection or DRM server needed. There is no central registration of what happens with the file.

[Care]

I do this with my sister and niece. We can share our books then, but yet my niece doesn't get the racey urban fantasy or pnr books. The nice thing is you only need to enter your name and credit card number once and it will be remembered on the device.

Also, you can do this with the Aldiko app for Android. Just go to open a B&N book on your phone or tablet with Aldiko and it will ask you for the name and credit card number you used to purchase the B&N ebook. This way I only use one app for all of my books, B&N and other non drm epub books.

[wymore]

Originally Posted by geertm

B&N's DRM allows you to share books by just copying (sideloading) them to another Nook (just as you would with non-B&N books).
For the first book you share this way you will be asked for the credit card number and name the book was downloaded with. The Nook remembers this, so other books will open immediately.

If you register both Nooks to the same account, both Nooks will get the same books (because this was meant for one person using multiple devices to read books). Also if one person archives a books, it will be archived on both Nooks. So unless the readers of both Nooks have the same taste in books, sharing an account is usually not recommended.
Just share the books.

One caveat to add to this. This works OK with books (although sometimes you can't see the covers of the copied books). It does not, however, work with apps you purchase from B&N. There is no way to sideload them from one Nook to another. If you plan on purchasing apps, then it is better to share the same account.

[Fbone]

Is it true you only need the last 8 digits of the credit card?

[geertm]

Originally Posted by Fbone

Is it true you only need the last 8 digits of the credit card?

No, you need the full credit card number. The credit card number is not stored on the Nook, but used to generate a key that is stored on the Nook. This is a one-way process. The key cannot be used to generate your credit card number.

[Fbone]

Originally Posted by geertm

No, you need the full credit card number. The credit card number is not stored on the Nook, but used to generate a key that is stored on the Nook. This is a one-way process. The key cannot be used to generate your credit card number.

Thanks, it was something I read and wondered if it was accurate.

Seems reasonable otherwise people can post their ebooks along with name and partial card number on the internet for anyone to download.