MobileRead Forums - View Single Post - Why are DRM ebooks evil and why should I avoid them like the plague?

clifswin · 04-04-2011, 07:13 PM

Maybe more reasons than this, but here's my "they're evil" -- I've been buying DRM books from Ereader.com for over ten years, probably averaging six to eight books a month. I've also bought from Mobipocket, and more recently Amazon and Barnes and Noble. I read on my Palm PDA for years, then I switched to using a smartphone about four years ago. My latest WP7 phone? LOVELY device -- but Barnes and Noble hasn't made a peep about supporting it, with EITHER the Nook OR Ereader format. Suddenly I find myself the proud owner of a large virtual shelf of books I'm functionally barred from reading except when sitting at my computer, and could completely lose access to when I next change my computer's OS. I wouldn't accept a dead-tree book that only allowed me to read it under terms like that, and I'm not happy when a DRM ebook does it either.

04-04-2011, 07:13 PM	#81
clifswin ebook addict Posts: 1 Karma: 752 Join Date: Apr 2011 Location: Here. Device: HD7 phone	Here's why they're evil Maybe more reasons than this, but here's my "they're evil" -- I've been buying DRM books from Ereader.com for over ten years, probably averaging six to eight books a month. I've also bought from Mobipocket, and more recently Amazon and Barnes and Noble. I read on my Palm PDA for years, then I switched to using a smartphone about four years ago. My latest WP7 phone? LOVELY device -- but Barnes and Noble hasn't made a peep about supporting it, with EITHER the Nook OR Ereader format. Suddenly I find myself the proud owner of a large virtual shelf of books I'm functionally barred from reading except when sitting at my computer, and could completely lose access to when I next change my computer's OS. I wouldn't accept a dead-tree book that only allowed me to read it under terms like that, and I'm not happy when a DRM ebook does it either.