Quote:
Originally Posted by snipenekkid
only flaw there is even if the library has a dozen Nooks they still need a dozen licenses for the books if they are all to have the same titles. On the Amazon setup all that needs done is to create the correct Amazon account then add, I think the number mentioned in this thread is correct, five different devices (could even be a given user's own device as long as it can read Kindle books, heck it could even be the user's own Kindle as long as they temporarily deregistered it from their account). Those devices can then share ALL the titles associated with that account.
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While it may be true that the ebook has a license limiting the number of devices to which it can be sideloaded, I've never read it closely enough to verify it. I'll look to see if there is anything discussing this the next time I buy a book from B&N. The point I was trying to make is that unlocking a sideloaded NookBook (i.e., ebook with B&N DRM) does not contact a centralized DRM server. Once you've unlocked an ebook with a particular name/credit card #, any other ebooks with the same information is also unlocked. So, a library with 20 nooks could potentially buy one copy of an ebook, sideload it to all 20 nooks, and it would be undetectable outside the library. Using the same name/credit card #, they could buy a second book, sideload it to all of the nooks, and it would be instantly unlocked on all of them even if all of the ebooks have wifi disabled, and the ebooks are copied to an external SDHC card which is inserted into the nooks, and the nooks are never connected to a PC again.
It's not clear to me that this is cost effective for a library, since there's a huge upfront cost buying any ereader, but I think the refurb Nook, at about $100 with this sideloaded ebook sharing is probably the most cost effective ereader solution.