Quote:
Originally Posted by SoCalReader
3) Remember, legally, if you purchase a Kindle, you can only read Kindle books on it. You can not read DRM books from other sources. If Amazon chooses to crack down on people who read Amazon books on other devices or non-Amazon books on Kindles, they have the legal authority to pull all books licenses from you. The probability is low. (But ask people about Direct TV.) However, given this constraint, if most of your reading is PDF, then the Kindle DX might be worth it.
I will be ordering a DX to evaluate it for the sole reason of reading PDF articles, but have no plans on purchasing books from Amazon because of their insistence of using non-industry standard format.
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This is absurd! Where did you read that?
People can read, legally, any MOBI format type of books on their Kindles. There is not legal requirement or legal clause that blocks that.
What may not be legal, at least in USA, is removing DRM from books, as that's part of the contract you have when you download or buy from Amazon. But that also varies from country to country and it is not illegal in certain European countries, I believe.
Also, there is no "insistence" of Amazon on not using industry standard format. Amazon is just a normal company, like any other, who make profit from selling goods, ebooks on this case. But people can still buy a Kindle and upload DRM free books and read those using a Kindle. I do not see the point though, as Amazon is still the biggest store with the best prices, in most cases. I actually own and bought (legally) lot of IT related books that have no DRM protection on it and I use my Kindle as ereader device.
Last but not least, I would argue, at least un United States, that such claim of "non industry" standard is correct. Amazon is probably the major ebook seller here and I do not know of any other online retailer or company that can sell more ebooks than Amazon and they use ePub as default format. B&N tried, and their ebook business is pretty much dead at this point or with not a very promising future.