Quote:
Originally Posted by eschwartz
It's not misleading at all -- they give you the space to do whatever you want with it. And ePub may be a multi-platform standard, IN TERMS OF USAGE, but it's not really an ePub if it's a kepub, or if it has DRM; and mobi7/8 is just as freely available. In fact, anywhere you can get non-DRM books basically boils down to "anywhere other than the baked in store" and they ALL (i think) provide .mobi/.azw3 format as a download option.
|
Does DRM on an epub prevent you transferring that book to another reader which supports epub? I was under the impression that generally it's possible to read, say, a Kobo book on a Nook (at any rate, the two Kobo books I just transferred to my Nook were readable). If so then for practical purposes, the DRM on an epub makes no difference to the average reader.
Don't confuse what you do as a more competent and experienced reader of ebooks with what the average person does. Most people care whether the book is readable, not whether it has DRM on it. Most people buy from the main sites, they don't go looking specifically for sites which sell non-DRM books*. Most of the main sites - aside from Amazon - sell epub, not mobi. (BTW, I just found out that
Waterstones in the UK - who promote and sell Waterstones-branded Kindles in their store -
don't even sell Kindle books! They sell epub. Insane).
It's misleading to paint Amazon as generously allowing readers to use the space on a PW for whatever they want because for the average reader, that is simply not the case. The average Kindle user is restricted to Amazon. The average Nook or Kobo user has a much wider choice.
*On that topic, genuine question here: are there DRM-free sites that are practical alternatives to the main sites in terms of the number and range of available books? I ask because I just searched the Diesel e-book store and they didn't have any of the books I wanted (I checked about 10), but I don't know much about these sites so I wondered if there are alternatives - I'd much prefer to buy DRM-free books off the bat if possible rather than removing it later.
Quote:
Originally Posted by eschwartz
And just for the record, mobi was there first, ePub is the newcomer. It existed long before Kindle, and mobi is NOT a "Kindle Book", it is a MOBI book, which Kindles can read (as can several other readers, see HERE).
Kindle books are books that come from the Kindle Store, just like Nook books are books that come from the Barnes & Noble store. mobi and epub are not either type, they are books that are free as a bird.
Seriously, why do so many people pointlessly hate on MOBI, and pretend that "Industry Standards" actually mean anything? It is a totally different issue altogether. |
Who cares which came first? I imagine Amazon could add support for epub easily enough if they chose to. They don't, presumably because they'd prefer people to buy from Amazon, and unlike the other companies they're dominant enough that people will simply accept that restriction.
As to mobi/azw3 not being 'Kindle books', I see that as nitpicking. Those formats are so tightly associated with Amazon (in a way that epub isn't closely associated with any single reader) that for all practical purposes - again, for the average reader - they really are 'Kindle books'.
I don't 'hate on MOBI', I just disagree with the implication Amazon are more generous than B&N or other companies in their allocation of internal space. The fact is all these companies would rather you buy your books from them, and make it somewhat tricky to buy books from elsewhere. By sticking to their own format, Amazon are slightly worse than the others, but largely because they're successful enough that they can afford to do that. Maybe the other companies would do exactly the same thing if they didn't think it would lose them business.