11-08-2010, 11:42 PM | #1 |
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Download *ePUB* to Computer via Browser?
I am using Safari on Mac OS X to access B&N. Any book I download comes in .pdb format and not ePUB. Even recent books, such as some of the free books from the deals sections d/l as .pdb only.
I thought B&N was moving to exclusively ePUB like Sony. I contacted them about this issue over 6 months ago, and they had no real answers. I figured I'd just wait for the transition to finish, and now I am sure it should be over -- and I'm only trying to access new books. Is there a setting? Do I need to d/l the book from an app to get ePUB? I'm only interested in d/l to my computer, as I don't own a Nook at this point. -Pie |
11-08-2010, 11:55 PM | #2 | |
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11-09-2010, 12:36 AM | #3 |
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The problem is that the OSX Nook app does not handle ePubs, so Safari gets supplied with eReader ebooks instead.
Things I have heard might get you an ePub: a) Download inside NOOKStudy. b) Download with Firefox. c) Download with any web browser using Wine, or any Windows Virtual PC. The last one definitely works. Under Windows, for the past couple of months, I have always got ePubs from B&N. |
11-09-2010, 02:08 AM | #4 |
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Yep, I tried it from Parallels/IE and indeed it gave me an ePUB.
I will give Firefox a shot, or change User Agent and see what happens. -Pie |
11-09-2010, 11:46 AM | #5 |
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I just installed an add-on called User Agent Switcher to my Firefox browser. Setting the user agent to IE 8 allowed me to download the.epub files from my B&N library. Previous to this, Firefox would only download the .pdb files.
I'm on a Mac, of course! |
11-09-2010, 12:07 PM | #6 | |
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11-09-2010, 08:56 PM | #7 |
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If I were you, I would go back and get all ePUBS for your purchased books (from B&N). From the looks of it, B&N isn't planning to support PDB anymore - nookCOLOR doesn't support it for instance. PDB might be a dead format soon (is there any other reader that really uses it (aside from old Palms)?)
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11-09-2010, 09:08 PM | #8 |
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Jetbook Lite and Stanza support it, but yeah overall it is a dead format. I would definitely download them all as epubs. I converted all my mobi and eReader books from my Palm OS reading days to ePub a long time ago and now will not buy anything but epubs.
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11-10-2010, 06:45 PM | #9 | |
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I'll have to look into NOOKstudy, too. Might save me the effort of emailing the ones I download at work, which can be a pain. Some of the classic freebies were quite large files. |
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11-10-2010, 08:00 PM | #10 | |
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Once you have the Develop Menu showing, the second item is a submenu allowing you to select various browsers, including IE 8.0. I don't know why the Mac is limited to .pdb downloads. The newest version of the Nook Mac software supports ePUB. I was able to do the User Agent trick in Safari and open the ePUB in the Nook app. -Pie Last edited by EatingPie; 11-10-2010 at 08:08 PM. |
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11-10-2010, 10:01 PM | #11 |
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Mac users are limited to PDB downloads because the official B&N Reader (note, not a NOOK app like Windows users now have) crashes and burns whenever DRM-ed ePubs are involved, often on a random selection of ePubs with seemingly no particular pattern to the failures. Though it works quite well with non-DRM ePubs.
This prompted quite a spate of complaints on B&N's discussions boards, to the point where B&N, who had just switched over to All ePub! All the Time, finally reverted the Mac users back to head off those complaints. And now they get new ones about how Mac users want to download ePubs, so they can't win, unless they put up a "choose your format" button on the My Library page, at which point someone will no doubt complain that's too difficult a concept and why can't B&N make downloading a simple 1-click process?!?!? Incidentally, the release of NookStudy does not solve anything, because it is limited to 10.6 Snow Leopard Intel users and thus a large chunk of people with non-Intel and 10.5 or lower Macs are left out. The non-Intel Mac people, incidentally, had already been shut out by the most recent "upgrade" to the B&N Reader software, which dropped PPC support. NookStudy also doesn't read one's old PDBs, which is something you'd think it would support, considering that a not-insignificant percentage of the "NookBook" listings say something along the line of "not compatible with Android client" or whatever, which is the secret code phrase for PDB-only, just as "not compatible with Mac or Blackberry clients" means ePub only. Personally, I'm perfectly fine with the fact that they still offer PDB downloads to Mac users and that it's pretty easy to also get the ePubs from this platform if you're motivated enough. The even older B&N eReader app which they used to have on the website and which is still available via the eReader.com website is the only really convenient way I can read my B&N "purchases" on my ancient 10.4 PPC PowerBook, short of stripping and loading them all up via Firefox's ePubReader add-on, or the awfulness that is Stanza's desktop app. But I believe I mentioned convenience, so strike that last part. So now you know. And knowing is half the battle, as GI Joe would put it. |
11-10-2010, 11:59 PM | #12 | |
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11-11-2010, 12:39 AM | #13 |
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They've been promising a fixed and updated Mac version Real Soon Now since well before June. Somehow, I don't think they're going to get around to releasing it at any point before Xmas, and possibly not even after; though it would be nice to be pleasantly surprised.
Offering a download format choice when possible would be the path of least resistance and greater likelihood. Not that I think they'd do that either, given the pre-existing example of the stellar customer-friendly technical changes B&N's management has made to the Fictionwise ebook experience. |
11-11-2010, 11:11 AM | #14 | |
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The solution is to strip the thrice-damned ignoble DRM and actually have a working ePUB on the Mac. And at that point, you can totally punt on the (let's face it) totally inadequate Nook App, and use any ePUB renderer. Heck even the Sony Library app is head and shoulders above the minimalist Nook app. I've owned a Reader since the first US e-Ink device, the Sony PRS-500. From day one, I have been an advocate for a common format across all e-Readers. We need a break between hardware and software (you don't by BMG CDs and only play them only on Sony players -- they work for every manufacturer's CD players). So we have ePub which is almost there (damn you Kindle!), but then it's crippled by the two biggest players using different, incompatible DRM formats... for no justifiable reason. Oops, that was a rant! I didn't mean to go there, but in my defense, this is my primary pet peeve with e-Readers, and something I consider a hinderance to large-scale acceptance. -Pie Last edited by EatingPie; 11-11-2010 at 11:18 AM. |
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11-11-2010, 11:53 AM | #15 | |
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