Quote:
Originally Posted by cybmole
with the Kobo for Android app - books do seem to be all stored in a single database, so if that corrupts., or if you need to delete & re-install the app, you lose EVERYTHING
I take your point that on the e-readers, they probably do exist as individual files still, and so are better able to survive a database crash. To be honest, with my epubs, for Aura, I just usb to PC, go to calibre & say send to device, I don't pay any mind to how they are stored once they get there!
Though I read that with kobo store books, the Kobo DRM ties them to a device specific key, meaning that if you cannot copy them to a different Kobo device, even if you set that up with the same credentials - you have to re-download them from Kobo servers.
Amazon do the same, but unlike Amazon, Kobo have been known to de-list books and that then leads to problems like the case that I was reading about recently- you can't download a copy from their store onto your new device if it is no longer in the store!
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I don't make much use of the Kobo Android app but looking at the files, it appears that both epub and kepub books are moved out their .zip container into a directory, perhaps for speed? The non-imported version of the epubs still exists in the directory that Calibre copied them to.
As for the Kobo DRM, .kepubs from Kobo would be downloaded to your device unless you exceed the number of devices.
Unlike Amazon, I've never had Kobo remove a book from my device once I had purchased and downloaded it. Somewhat appropriately, Amazon did that with
1984 where they deleted copies from people's ereaders.
As for the de-list, that is up to the author and/or publisher. I had one book I purchased and downloaded as a .epub in addition to the .kepub, which was removed from the Kobo store at the author's request. The book was not removed from my ereader though it no longer showed in my library on the Kobo site. A factory reset lost my .kepub as expected but the .epub still exists if I decide to go all gloomy -- dystopias are not the most cheerful reading.
And if you think Amazon does not de-list books, check their ongoing feud with Hachette.
To quote from two authors:
Amazon.com US links have been removed on my websites until further notice. No, I don't think Amazon is the devil. But at the same time, I don't think Amazon's business model will have the outcome of helping authors in the long run (any more than Spotify has helped musical artists), and I support my colleagues who publish with Hachette in this matter.
All links to Amazon US have been removed from my professional websites and I have requested that my books and ebooks not be sold by Amazon until their issues with Hachette have been settled. My short term financial pain must be balanced against a business model that will have writing full time again becoming synonymous with starvation. I have no wish to emulate H. Beam Piper by having to shoot pigeons for food while being considered one of the top authors in my field.
Regards,
David