[nick101]

Originally Posted by sirmaru

I just downloaded the latest Adobe Digital Editions. It will not allow me to open DRM protected PDF books purchased from another registered computer which I used to own. It only registered my present PC for new books. Asobe will let you have 6 devices registered but the particular books can only be read on one device.

I can't speak for DRM-protected PDFs, but I have several DRMed ePUBs that I have opened on more than one PC. The FAQ to which I linked in my earlier post has a discussion of Adobe Easy Activation, which sounds like your issue. AEA is an earlier form of activation which has now been replaced with Adobe Named Activation, which works as I described earlier.

Also, if you buy a new PC, you will have to re-download those books files. It appears that Sony discontinues many books over time and those particular books will not be available for download. It appears that once sales taper off for a particular book, Sony removes them from their inventory.

Again, this has not been my experience. And you seem to be working on the basis that if one uses a Sony Reader, one can only purchase DRM ebooks from the Sony site. That's not the case - you can get them from anywhere that sells any of the formats that the Reader can understand.

Before scrapping the old PC be sure to unregister it from the Sony store. Then register the new PC when it is set up. You will have to re-download the book files. However, Sony allows one to register up to 5 other portable devices (eReaders) and all books can be read on all 5 of those devices. It appears that only one computer can be registered at one time and books cannot be shared between computers.

Unregistering is good advice. However, you should not have to redownload the book files (unless you're changing formats as per the recent switch by Sony to ePub.

Also, Sony and BN now have 3G connectivity over the air just like Amazon so all three can remove books from your inventory at will if they are so disposed.

No. They can't. The Sony 600, 300, 500, 505 don't have network connections. And your books are backed up elsewhere. Aren't they.

The way I see it is the pBooks are yours to keep until the paper deteriorates which could be hundreds of years if properly preserved. The eBooks are disappearing assets due to changes in fomats, software and hardware. We buy them for the READ and that is all. However, our very lives are also disappearing assets so there is really no problem at all reading eBooks. Few ever go back to re-read any book in any event other than a Bible.

Changing formats are an issue, but you can keep an ebook as long as you want so long as you have the facility to read it. And despite 40 years of mucking about with electronic formats, there aren't many old electronic documents that you can't find a reader for.

And where you get the idea from that few people re-read books I don't know. Most of the people that I know that read at all go back again and again to their favourites.