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Originally Posted by jhowell
Increasingly off topic, but I am curious.
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Not necessarily off topic. The ability to remove DRM or lack thereof is a strong motivator to either switch eco systems or stay with what you have. If previously you didn't have Kindle hardware, but were using Amazon for ebooks, you can either rebel and rage against Amazon and stop buying their books, or you could decide to give in and use a Kindle as main ereader instead. Going with Kindle will still allow to buy (and remove DRM) from Amazon, and from elsewhere (remove DRM convert to Kindle format, even without their hardware).
I, myself, use Amazon alot for non ebook things. And I don't mind the reading experience on their devices. Amazon also sells ebooks, so why not? I remember when KU came out and the outcry of many that claimed books are not interchangable - the "real" books people want to read are only from big traditional publishers. So fine, Amazon made sure to keep it exclusive. Amazon published pbooks have been boycotted as well by bookstores or libraries. Now that it has been shown that there is enough interest in Amazon exclusives, they are evil again. Can't have it both ways.