Quote:
Originally Posted by notimp
Hups - a posting went missing. Probably because it was critical about this forum rather engaging in product support on a case by case basis, than to educate their members on any structural issues within the current Amazon distribution system.
And because it was critical about this essentially being self exploitive behavior on part of the users in here, who rather would engage in producing detailed step by step instructions for every case, at any time, in any thread, than to engage others to think about why Amazons distribution system is structured this way. ("We are helping you, with jumping through the hoops, others have designed, for free.")
Also eschwartzs answer isnt correct as far as Amazons point of view is concerned. Amazon would like you to log into their online interface and specify specifically on which device you want to read an eBook that you want to download on any device that isnt registered to Amazon. The document will then be encrypted with a device specific key, before you can download it on your PC.
This discourages the normal user to use any non Amazon controlled environment for obtaining their books. This is also used so eBook management isnt viable locally (and can only be done via Amazons web interface) - once the first eReader you bought isnt your primary device anymore.
Also, eschwartzs answer isnt correct for the current file format Amazon already is mainly distributing - because there is no way to remove DRM from it.
Right now this forum doesnt care to recognize this, because Amazon consideres PCs (the K4PC environment) to be legacy devices - to which they only distribute their old file formats - from which you can still strip the DRM.
Structurally it is impossible that this way of circumventing Amazons lock in can be prolonged in the medium term future - because "understanding the new eBooks" will only be something that a handful of people at Amazon itself will be able to/have to care about - because in the new paradigm, they will be the only ones that still will be able to produce eBooks.
Getting product support, without being educated on the processes, can be done on reddit just as well. Also - it moves this community from being motivated by self interest to be motivated by whatever emotional payoff still is possible for its members solving customer support problems for Amazons customers. Like it already took place in this thread.
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No one has said, that starting to realize what it means to run a community like this in the age where Amazon also has a monopoly on production and distribution, would consist of a friendly surface discussion. Its going to be rough.
And censorship already is used to remove critical aspects from the discussion, when it cuts into this - first and foremost - being a platform, where people look for personal support from others for free. Regardless of subforum, or topic. And them being helped out in ways - that dont promote a deeper understanding of the structural causes of the problems they are having.
I think this has been a fair assessment.
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Mobileread is, to use a quite overworked cliche, a broad church. And, as eschwartz and others have pointed out, the vast majority do not care about DRM or lock-in or the agenda of Amazon and the BPH. A small minority, however, do care, and an appropriate thread here is a good place to discuss such issues. However, I reject any suggestion that I or any other member have a duty to "educate" or badger or hector other users who have simple practical questions to which they just want answers. For those who are interested, there is plenty of material available here and elsewhere for them to educate themselves. Or, of course, they can simply ask in their own threads. Far from being a fair assessment, the quote above seems to focus only on one small function of mobileread which is dismissed pejoratively as people looking for support for free.
Nevertheless, a worthwhile point has been raised, and this is an appropriate thread to discuss the particular issues in the absence of Amazon bashing and scare-mongering. Yes, the fact that .kfx is out there, has not been cracked, and is being used increasingly by Amazon does not fill my heart with joy. It is a real and valid concern. Nevertheless, at the moment, Amazon does allow the download of books in azw3 or in some cases mobi via direct download from its website (If you have a Kindle on your account) or via Kindle4PC. Also, at the moment, Kindles earlier than the Paperwhite 2 do not support the .kfx format. There may well be a problem in the long term, and even possibly in the medium term, but this is not inevitable. We quite simply don't know what Amazon's intentions are, despite what some people claim. Yes, Amazon may intend to phase out other formats. They may or may not release a kfxgen. They may or may not release a Kindle4PC which supports kfx. I am hopeful that kfx will be cracked. If it is not, we will just have to deal with the situation when it arises. There is little to be done now "politically", as no one really cares and all of the unwanted education in the world will not change this.
Vertical integration and monopoly and the like are very undesirable combinations. However, I find it ironic that for many people this extent of power is unacceptable only in the hands of Amazon, who, in a further degree of irony, don't yet have this extent of power, though they are fast gaining it through the sheer ineptness of most of their competition.
A group of large publishers have collectively held such power throughout the world for decades and have ruthlessly exploited it. To use the words of the original quote, the large publishers not only had readers locked-in but also controlled production and distribution. It seems to me that even if the worst case scenario feared so much comes about, Amazon will likely prove to be a far kinder master than the BPH. Certainly a smarter one, as they seem to understand that ebooks should be priced to maximise revenue, not protect a fading print book market or a misconceived value of books as "special snowflakes".
It is legitimate and valuable for German and other Academics to discuss the new market and in particular Amazpn's place in it. However, more productive and relevant in European Academia would be a discussion on the King Canute type policies in vogue in much of the EU, betraying consumers in favour of a few very large businesses and booksellers now only remaining viable because of such ill-conceived legislation.