Quote:
Originally Posted by khalleron
Nope. Never has.
Epubs from other vendors can be read on a Kobo without conversion. Epubs from Kobo can be read on other readers without conversion.
|
Quote:
Originally Posted by JSWolf
Sorry, but that's very much incorrect. You can buy DRMed ePub from other vendors such as Google Play. You cannot do that with a Kindle. Amazon is the only vendor to sell eBooks with DRM that work with a Kindle.
|
Oh, well so long as you are defining "closed ecosystem" according to whichever arbitrary subset of the market you like...
So, show me how to put a Kobo EPUB on a reader that doesn't support ADE-style DRM. Pick any Kindle, naturally,
or pick any of the multitudes of ereader apps, as in, the ones people with a choice actually read on...
Kobo (the store) is every bit as much of a closed ecosystem as Amazon is. Granted, the space inside the closed ecosystem is roomier... if you count E-ink ereaders exclusively. On the tablet apps side, both the Amazon and Kobo closed ecosystems are majorly cramped. But at least you can read their books on any tablet, if not any app
on the tablet.
Perhaps my not-so-subtle point has escaped you... so here goes:
DRM of any kind directly equates to
and defines a closed ecosystem.
If that book cannot be read
on any device or software I choose, bar none (assuming the device/software doesn't have DRM on its end to stop me) then that is a closed ecosystem
on the content end.
Kobo and Kindle and Nook and Google Play and iBooks and every other ebook vendor that can and does put DRM on at least some of its books is
by definition a closed ecosystem.
Amazon and Kobo and iBooks (and recently Nook) specifically, are more closed than other closed ecosystems, as they all sell books that cannot be read on anything other than an in-house device/app. Amazon and iBooks (and recently Nook) exclusively use exclusive DRM (assuming the book has DRM), and Kobo sells some books which are exclusively KEPUB, an in-house DRM.
If that device cannot be used to read
whatever book in whatever format I want, bar none (assuming the book in question is not locked by DRM of its own) then that is a closed ecosystem
on the hardware end.
Kobo and Kindle and Google Play (the app) and iBooks (the app) and Sony and every other ereader vendor that does not restrict the device to reading ebooks in proprietary and in-house-only formats, and does not lock down the device to prevent you from adding your own content regardless of the format used internally, is
by definition an open ecosystem.
Nook is arguably a (partially?) closed ecosystem with their partitioned userstore on newer devices.
But, by all means, call Kobo an open ecosystem if the lie makes you any happier. To be honest, I am not sure why it does, since you both seem fairly comfortable buying from other vendors, in which case the inconvenience of using Alf is matched by the inconvenience of using ADE... so "open" becomes meaningless. Unless you speak of the device, in which case
they are both open.
I suppose it must be because it gives you the opportunity to hate on Amazon, which seems obscurely to be very popular. Your actions do fit all the characteristics of an Amazon-basher (not the first time for either of you). You hate one company for doing something, while ignoring that every other company does exactly the same thing... and then praise the other companies for NOT doing "it".
Quote:
Originally Posted by JSWolf
Plus, if you live outside the USA, a Kindle is not a good choice if you have access to Overdrive.
|
That is a separate, justified, and completely irrelevant argument. Really, what on earth were you thinking?
