MobileRead Forums - View Single Post - The iDS - Is it about time iRex started offering some content?

CommanderROR · 09-27-2006, 04:16 PM

I just looked at the offerings at the Sony Connect Store and found them to be quite OK. Prices are higher than I woul dhave hoped, but lower than I would have feared, and there are many books online already. A quick search revealed that the store is far from complete (especially when compared to the paper-book diversity Amazon offers...) but not too bad and surely better than most (if not all) ebook sites out there right now.

But let's get back to the point...

iRex has been talking about the iDS as a platform for authors and publishers for a long time, but things have been very quiet for too long now...
So far, the iDS is for software updates only. It works, so the basis is there. We don't have any information about either format (DRM, IDFP, Mobipocket...) or publisher/author support.

I have neglected this topic in the past because there was no content for any of the ereaders yet. Now, Sony has started with Hardware, Connect Store and even sources and iRex ist still fighting bugs, making babysteps towards better power management and still has no DRM support (remember? it was supposed to be in Software release 2.5 or 2.6 if i'm not mistaken and vanished from the agenda quietly).

Do you think it is time for iRex to show us what their content service is like? Or should we start loking for ways to rip sony BBeB books to make them readeable on the Iliad?

For me, this has become a serious issue.
Example:
The newest Terry Pratchett Novel named "Wintersmith" is going to appear tomorrow (Sony Connect says 30th, amazon.de has different version appearing from 28th of September to 1st of October). Now...I have no chance to actually buy the ebook anywhere and use it on my Iliad without breaking at least some laws.
I can either buy the paper book and download the ebook or create it myself with scanner and OCR software (thus paying a hardcover price, killing the whole purpose of eboosk and violating the law at least a bit anyway) or I can download the PDF version of the ebook (if I find it somewhere) and then rip it and reformat it for the Iliad, or I can just wait a few days or weeks and download it illegally somewhere and pay nothing.
This is a situation I don't like at all and one I want to see addressed quickly. I love Terry Preatchett and his books, I own every single book he ever wrote (apart from "Where ia my cow" and the cook-books which don't count in my opinion...^^
I don't want to break any laws to read my favourite author and I don't want to pay more in time and money than I would with a paper book either.

Do you share these concerns?
What would you do about it? Or do you only read copyright-free books from gutenberg?

09-27-2006, 04:16 PM	#1
CommanderROR eink fanatic Posts: 2,022 Karma: 4924 Join Date: Mar 2006 Location: Germany Device: STAReBOOK, iRex Iliad, Sony 505, Kindle 2	The iDS - Is it about time iRex started offering some content? I just looked at the offerings at the Sony Connect Store and found them to be quite OK. Prices are higher than I woul dhave hoped, but lower than I would have feared, and there are many books online already. A quick search revealed that the store is far from complete (especially when compared to the paper-book diversity Amazon offers...) but not too bad and surely better than most (if not all) ebook sites out there right now. But let's get back to the point... iRex has been talking about the iDS as a platform for authors and publishers for a long time, but things have been very quiet for too long now... So far, the iDS is for software updates only. It works, so the basis is there. We don't have any information about either format (DRM, IDFP, Mobipocket...) or publisher/author support. I have neglected this topic in the past because there was no content for any of the ereaders yet. Now, Sony has started with Hardware, Connect Store and even sources and iRex ist still fighting bugs, making babysteps towards better power management and still has no DRM support (remember? it was supposed to be in Software release 2.5 or 2.6 if i'm not mistaken and vanished from the agenda quietly). Do you think it is time for iRex to show us what their content service is like? Or should we start loking for ways to rip sony BBeB books to make them readeable on the Iliad? For me, this has become a serious issue. Example: The newest Terry Pratchett Novel named "Wintersmith" is going to appear tomorrow (Sony Connect says 30th, amazon.de has different version appearing from 28th of September to 1st of October). Now...I have no chance to actually buy the ebook anywhere and use it on my Iliad without breaking at least some laws. I can either buy the paper book and download the ebook or create it myself with scanner and OCR software (thus paying a hardcover price, killing the whole purpose of eboosk and violating the law at least a bit anyway) or I can download the PDF version of the ebook (if I find it somewhere) and then rip it and reformat it for the Iliad, or I can just wait a few days or weeks and download it illegally somewhere and pay nothing. This is a situation I don't like at all and one I want to see addressed quickly. I love Terry Preatchett and his books, I own every single book he ever wrote (apart from "Where ia my cow" and the cook-books which don't count in my opinion...^^ I don't want to break any laws to read my favourite author and I don't want to pay more in time and money than I would with a paper book either. Do you share these concerns? What would you do about it? Or do you only read copyright-free books from gutenberg?