Quote:
Originally Posted by charlesatan
The problem is when you migrate out of the Kindle (and presumably there is no Kindle app for that device).
If the Kindle eBook is DRM'd, you can't convert it using Calibre without breaking the DRM first.
Loading files into the Kindle isn't the problem with DRM'd Kindle books. Using the files you bought via the Kindle to other devices, is. (This is somewhat mitigated by the proliferation of Kindle Apps which locks you into the Amazon ecosystem even when you don't necessarily own a Kindle).
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Or, taking the long view, if Amazon is out of business in 10 years or gets out of the Kindle book business, you don't have any support any more - sure your existing Kindle works, but what beyond that?
You're tied to the well being of Amazon to continue to use your media. Imagine if books you bought at Borders didn't work now.
And I know everyone is cocky - I hear the same attitude with PC gaming and Steam - "they'll always be around". Given the number of epic bankruptcy collapses in the last few years...are you sure? Look at the collapse of Lehman Brothers, for example.
No company is bulletproof.
DRM'd e-books aren't as bad as Steam - at least you don't have to worry that when the company folds, the remote-authentication servers aren't there any more. But still...would you buy DVDs or Blu-rays that would only play on Sony players, and count on Sony always being around?
You're doing the equivalent with Amazon's DRM, or, realistically, any company's DRM except for perhaps Adobe DRM epub - that's the closest equivalent to DVD DRM (DRM but with no particular vendor lockin) to me is standard Adobe epub DRM - at least that is used across a few different companies (Sony, Kobo, etc).
Books are, to me, often a long-term purchase. I'll re-read them years from now. I'll probably still be reading Asimov's Robot/Foundation novels in 20 or 30 years, just like I read them in high school. It's part of the intrinsic value of it to me (and why I purchase one). I should be able to use it without any trouble, just like a paper book.