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Originally Posted by mr ploppy
Is there some problem with buying from Amazon and converting to whatever format you need that I'm not aware of?
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There are two problems: (1) If you buy a book and it comes with DRM, you have to be willing and tech savvy enough to strip the DRM before converting and you have to be tech savvy enough to do the conversion. I admit that using Calibre makes conversion task easy, and although I could do as you suggest, I feel that if I have paid for a book I should be able to receive it in a format suitable to use with my device without having to do extra work.
The second problem is, I think, the more important one. (2) Doing as you suggests sends a message to Amazon that I approve of its methods. After all, all that Amazon really cares about is my money and as long as authors support Amazon by making their content exclusive to Amazon and consumers buy that content from Amazon, Amazon has no reason to change its methods.
If no one protests Amazon's growing monopoly but the only message Amazon cares about -- that is, with their pocketbook -- then Amazon will continue down the path until it is in a position to dictate everything -- from pricing (both wholesale and retail) to content and everything between. Although voices like mine are currently lonely voices, I think that will change as increasing numbers of authors and consumers discover that Amazon is not really their friend.