Quote:
Originally Posted by davidfor
If you are calling the use of Adobe DRM a walled garden, then it's a pretty big garden. There are a lot of devices and reading apps that support it. And of course, other stores sell books using Adobe DRM and they can be read on Kobo devices. That includes Overdrive books.
If Kobo is a walled garden, then it has a pretty big gate in the wall that they have left wide open.
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1) While it is true that there are many more ePub book sellers than mobi book sellers, there
are other places (besides Amazon) where you can buy or download mobi books that will work directly on your Kindle.
2) The default format for both the Kindle and Kobo is not the standard mobi or ePub formats. Both Kindles and Kobos have fewer features when not using AZW3 (KFX) or KePub formats. (I know patches on the Kobo can work around this, but I'm talking about the default configuration.) And not all books on Kobo's site are available in ePub format (I know this because the Kobo market will sometimes balk at selling books for Sony readers).
3) Calibre and Apprentice Alf's deDRM plugins can negate these restrictions (both on Kindles and Kobos).
4) While the ADE "walled garden" is huge it's still a walled garden. The Amazon "walled garden" is also huge. (And, in the U.S., borrowing with Overdrive is actually easier on the Kindle than on most Kobo devices.)
At any rate, I think the Kindle "walled garden" argument is misleading as Amazon's "send to Kindle" allows you to automatically convert ePub books for reading on your Kindle device (this is if you don't want to use Calibre with deDRM plugins). Both Amazon and Kobo default to a proprietary format if downloading directly to your Kindle or Kobo device. Both companies make it easier to use their proprietary formats.