Thanks for the reply. You've confirmed my own research, alas. If I understand you aright,
the Mobipocket Concise Encyclopedia Britannica would be useable and searchable on a hardware Kindle, but for the deliberate DRM difference?
I used Mobipocket for years, and then noticed that features began being quietly dropped from both the Mobipocket Reader Desktop and from the eNews Creator. Lo and behold, Amazon had purchased Mobipocket! Was something up? You bet, and we know what it was.
It's been a serious irritation to have purchased quality dictionaries and encyclopedia from Mobipocket only to later find that not only is the Mobipocket reader no longer actively supported (i.e., no Android or iPhone versions), but that there was a deliberate and incomprehensible decision to alter the file DRM format (by a single byte, I understand) so as to prevent Mobipocket books from being read on the Kindle (and related readers). Why? I don't get it. It would have seemed a natural segue to preserve compatibility instead of destroying it and thus seamlessly encourage Mobipocket customers to migrate to Kindle. Mobipocket had (and still does) have a nicely liberal policy of allowing books to be shared between several registered devices. Why couldn't a Kindle or Kindle Reader been one of those devices?
Overall, I'm really happy w the Kindle Android Reader, and the new built-in dictionary is very nice. I still wonder if there might be a back door way to substitute a different one, however (as a built-in, that is). I know there's a way to do that with the Kindle devices. Your reply suggests not, but perhaps?
I've looked for the file corresponding to the built-in Kindle Reader dictionary, but haven't located it. Know where it is and its name?
If the Android Reader let me specify Left-justification I'd be happy enough (dictionary and encyclopedia gripes withstanding). But, whereas I've seen ways to manipulate the Kindle reader.pref file, I find no equivalent on the Android Reader.
But, the general trend with Kindle seems to be overall in the right direction. They seem to be dropping the prices on the devices themselves (as they should) to gain market share. Then they could focus on selling ebooks at reasonable prices. Rather like the old give-away razors. The money was made on the replacement blades. Hopefully Amazon will figure that out sooner than later.
Quote:
Originally Posted by osnova
So far, software Kindles (including the one for Android) do not support the mobi dictionary format. You need a hardware Kindle for that. I've been nagging Amazon from time to time to fix this in their software Kindles. Some people believe that Amazon intentionally makes its software Kindles less attractive than the "real" Kindles.
Android Kindle was recently updated to allow the pop-up feature of an included dictionary but that's it. You can't even have a dictionary look-up in the included dictionary and you can't use your own as a default dictionary.
I am as frustrated as you are because I love dictionaries and I've been making some of my own mobi dictionaries.
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