Quote:
Originally Posted by sonyreaderfan
When you buy from BN you are locked into the BN DRM too because the BN DRM is a special version that can't run on Kobo or Sony, or basically ADE. Some devices like Pandigital license BN drm. Kobo (and Sony) are the open ones. Kobo has truly declared itself to be open. Any of Kobo's or Sony's ebooks can be opened on Kobo, Sony, or Nook.
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Not true in the context of buying a book reader (Which is what I believe we were talking about in this thread, were we not?)
This is ONLY true when trying to buy books from B&N, NOT when buying their eReader Nook models.
In other words, if you have a Nook you bought from B&N, you can use it to read DRM protected books from literally FIVE different major online bookstores without running into any DRM problems (B&N, Kobo, Borders, Sony, and Google)
~~ BUT ~~
Currently, I believe that it's still true that if you use B&N's PC or Android App to purchase and download a book, though you can read it on that device using the B&N App, you CAN'T then move it to your Sony, Kobo, Aluratek Libre, Jetbook, or other Adobe Adept EPUB device.
This is a really, really, really, STUPID thing for B&N to have done, because it means that though they are giving up potentially MILLIONS in sales to other bookstores by letting Nook owners buy from them, they are NOT in a position to perhaps also reap MILLIONS of dollars in sales from users of reader devices sold by those other bookstores in return.
In other words, by posting a lower price on a specific title (or by having a special promotion) Kobo can steal a book sale from B&N, by selling to one of B&N's Nook owners, but no matter how good the promotional deal is at B&N, a Kobo reader owner can't buy from B&N unless they want to deal with removing the DRM somehow, just to save a dollar or two (and most don't).
THIS IS FLAT OUT STUPID. Giving up sales to your competitors willingly, but NEVER being in the position to make them return the favor?
DUMB - REALLY, REALLY, DUMB.
If Liberty or some other bidder does buy B&N, they should fix this instantly, and FIRE THE B&N CEO (after all those MILLIONS in lost sales that B&N has walked away from, through this foolishness are, of course, estimated and deducted from his fatcat 'golden parachute')
Someone PLEASE correct me if this has been fixed, but so far as I know, though B&N has been 'talking' about fixing the incompatibilities between B&N and Adobe DRM for many, many months,
THIS IS STILL AN ISSUE.
Edit:
In fairness to B&N, I understand that harmonizing B&N DRM with Adobe will have substantial development costs, and the alternative of simply adopting Adobe's present Adept DRM for ALL ebook downloads would have substantial licensing costs, but I would suggest that there is a very simple compromise solution; leave all normal Nook downloads as they are, but include an "ADOBE ADEPT COMPATIBLE EPUB EXPORT" feature within your B&N PC, IOS, and Android Apps.
After the initial download in B&N DRM format, by selecting the ADEPT EPUB EXPORT menu option, a totally separate ADEPT compatible copy of the eBook would be downloaded automatically from an Adobe monitored server. By ONLY using ADEPT when the customer actually requires it for his or her particular device, you would NOT increase your costs associated with normal Nook downloads, but ONLY for those downloads where customers must have Adept compatibility. Since your Nook already supports it's own native DRM, you would pay Adobe's licensing fees ONLY for these ADEPT EXPORT downloads, handled and monitored by your B&N App. Sure, this fee would add a few pennies to the cost of these special 'Adept Export' downloads, but the small Adobe fee would be more than offset by the profits derived from a sale that would have, in all probability, otherwise been lost. Present Nook users would see no changes, but this simple change would open up the B&N online bookstore to literally millions of new customers.
Just a thought . . .