[SensualPoet]

Originally Posted by paolamanzini

To me, it does not make sense, and if you have rightfully purchased the book, you should have the right to read it wherever you like.

This argument is a red herring. If you buy a Blu-ray disc and it doesn't play on your Toshiba VHS player, will you blame Sony for promoting the Blu-ray format and think you should have a right to play this file on any device of your choosing? Amazon is selling you an e-book to play on Kindle-enalbed devices. You do not have a right to run around and demand it ought to play on something else. And to be "morally absolved" from ignoring the terms and conditions of the original sale.

Originally Posted by Penforhire

If Amazon would embrace Epub I would declare it the clear winner. Unfortunately they might have the legs (market share) to hold out a long time and continue muddying the format waters. I understand why, anything to help lock users into one store.

If Amazon allows DRM ePubs to be played back on Kindles, it can also continue to exclusively offer Kindle-formatted ebooks — that is, never sell a single ePub, just allow playback on its devices. That would keep the customer selling proposition simple: buy from Amazon, you can be guaranteed a Kindle experience. But, as a customer service, a Kindle also supports DRM ePub files acquired elsewhere, such as borrowed from the library. Under those circumstances, do you still believe ePub would be declared "the clear winner"? Be careful what you ask for!

Originally Posted by Catlady

They're locking in customers, but they're also locking out customers. Now that I've bought a non-Kindle, they don't want my business anymore.

You can buy Amazon Kindle DRM format books without owning a Kindle and enjoy them on several platforms including an iPad, smartphone or your PC. (Amazon notes 20% of its Kindle ebook sales are to customers who do not own a Kindle; they are using free Kindle apps to read the content.) If you own a Kindle, you can still buy DRM ePubs and enjoy those on an iPad, smartphone or your PC. No one is locked in to anything. What Amazon provides is a seamless, easy way to acquire a library of content with the assurance it plays on many devices. That's exactly the same as several ePub players; Amazon just executes the whole thing better ... resulting in it being the leading vendor.

Originally Posted by JSWolf

ePub has won. More devices, libraries, & more shops selling.

With a small footnote: fewer total customers, less revenue, less profit and lower unit sales. And all that fragmented over several companies. It's an odd definition of "won".

Originally Posted by speedlever

So by this, I would infer that I could legally use Calibre to strip DRM from library ebooks to read on the K3? But just not strip DRM from purchased books? (why would I want to?)

No, Calibre does not strip DRM. You have to find other tools to do that and, while it is relatively easy once you know how, it is FAR beyond the means of the average consumer who would never bother to go through all these hoops. And that ease of use is EXACTLY what the Amazon value proposition is built on and why it is the indsutry leader, despite arriving in the market a year after Sony.

Originally Posted by speedlever

Thus far I've checked into a few titles that my daughter has bought and read (paperbacks) and the ebook price may be $1 less than the paperback. Yikes. That's not exactly encouraging either. Also, some of it is available from the library and some is not.

Check again. Ebooks are typically much cheaper than the average same title paperback in a bricks and mortar store. You will find paperbacks sold online closer in price to ebooks -- but not real books sold in real stores.

As for libraries, most have a tiny number of ebooks -- a few thousand if you are lucky -- vs a well stocked book shop which has tens of thousands of current books. The kicker is that ebooks now are offered in the hundreds of thousands of commercial titles (not public domain out of copyright stuff to push up the stats) and those can be bought instantly and delivered instantly and almost all of them less than the paper edition which might take days or weeks to arrive.

Originally Posted by BWhite

Kobobooks sells books with DRM, just not Amazon's DRM. Will you be able to read Kobo DRM books in 20 years when Kobo no longer exists? I have no idea. Will you be able to read Kobo DRM books in 60 years when Adobe no longer exists? I have no idea.

Calibre does not automatically strip off DRM, it has to be set up to do so. So just downloading Calibre will not do it for you. You have to do more research, using Google.

Kobobooks relies on Adobe ADE technology which is the same as Sony's model (and Waterstones, and W H Smith, and Borders, etc). Provided the Adobe model is running / migrated to something new, your books are protected. AND, they work now when you buy them. I really don't care if the DRM works in 60 years; if I happen still to be around, I am sure something will be available to allow me to read them. And would I care if they didn't? I only own about 10% of the books I owned as a teenager; the rest are already "gone", DRM or not.

To underscore, Calibre does not strip DRM, automatically or otherwise, and cannot be set-up to do so. Calibre migrates one format to another AFTER any pre-existing DRM is removed by the user with different tools.

Originally Posted by Catlady

I made the attempt [to liberate] some Amazon freebies I'd downloaded in the past to Kindle for PC. Five of the 25 files were Topaz, and I'm beyond my depth there. I don't want to be stuck with something I can't convert.

But, really, the main thing is, why should I bother to jump through hoops with Amazon when they clearly don't want my e-book business and I can just buy from B&N, Borders, or Kobo instead?

So, you are complaining about DRM, and how awkward it is to break the DRM, on something you didn't pay 1¢ for and that can STILL be enjoyed, free, on a PC, a Mac, an iPad, an Android device, a Blackberry ... not a single hoop needed. Here's some simple advice: acquire content for the platform that works for you.

Originally Posted by Falcao

Yes, topaz is a botheration.

Advice ditto (acquire content for the platform that works for you).