I guess I need one of these to reply to this post:
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Originally Posted by Cthulhu
...my question is whether or not I can purchase data at ebooks.com or fitionwise.com, and then view that data file on the Sony Reader? Am beginning to think that the answer is 'maybe, with lots of time converting and searching through different file extensions.' Sadly, if that is true, then for me--and I have to think many other people who have or have not seen this forum--anything like the current incarnation of the Reader is a waste of time and money
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You are correct that the Sony Reader won't display the formats you're talking about without quite a lot of work on the files.
However, for perspective's sake, recognize that the problem here is not that Sony doesn't display other people's closed, proprietary formats, but that the texts were sold in closed proprietary formats in the first place.
That's the risk we assume when we by things in such formats, and I'm sure that rluazon will be glad to expound on why that's a Bad Thing, as he has done so eloquently before.
The point is that whether or not they told us at the time (which they don't), when we bought books from ebooks.com et.al., we accepted that unless that particular format
became the standard for e-books, we'd most likely lose access to those files at some point, when the formats are no longer supported by anyone.
Clearly, that same risk presently attaches to Sony's BBeB books from the
Connect Store. If a standard format is adopted, and the vendors of these books convert their holdings into that notional standard, then we could probably get at them forever on whatever platform we like. Will Sony do such a conversion, if a 'standard' is adopted, no way to know 'til it happens (even if I am privately hopeful on that point). Will the
rest of them do such a conversion under such circumstances?
However, it should be noted that in addition to its BBeB format, the Sony Reader also handles PDF, TXT, and RTF files -- without conversion -- and they are
already pretty standard formats.
So, consider this, the fact that the Sony Reader doesn't handle fictionwise, ebook.com, mobipocket, or a host of other formats doesn't change the fact that it's a dandy piece of hardware, that (by most all accounts) is easier to actually
read from than pretty much everything that's come before it.
I'm not going to let a prior investment in a closed, proprietary format stop me from taking advantage of that. It may slow me down on future investment in closed, proprietary formats (such as BBeB), but that's really another matter, and as long as I can get stuff to read in one of the other formats, I'm good.
And
that is what you'll have to decide for yourself, Cthulhu.
