Quote:
Originally Posted by HappyMartin
I want to be able to read outdoors in bight daylight as I would a normal book. I often go places where there is no electricity and for time periods of a couple of weeks. I need to be able to read Pdf manuals in the field.
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You will most likely be disappointed then.
PDF is not an eBook format. It's a page-layout format. Unless the PDF is formatted for the size of your eBook reader (which it probably won't be), it will be unreadable (at worst) or very cumbersome to read (at best).
Quote:
Originally Posted by HappyMartin
The world of DRM took me by surprise. I would never buy a pirated movie or music nor would I pirate the same. I don't pirate or crack software. I would never steal a book.
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But the real purpose of DRM is to lock users into a particular company. It has nothing to do with the "protection" of the content. All DRM is either cracked or circumvented.
Quote:
Originally Posted by HappyMartin
I do however buy a lot of books and I lend them to friends. My wife and I often read the same books. When I am finished with a book I will give it away or swop it at a second hand book store. Al this is I believe legal. If I buy an ebook however my wife cant read it unless I give her my reader, is this correct? I will also not be able to sell this book or give it away.
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That is correct. A DRMed eBook is basically "read once and throw it away". The DRM vendors do not guarantee that you will be able to read your eBook in the future and I've yet to see any that support transfer of the license.
Remember that you do not "buy" a DRMed eBook. You license it. You have no rights with a DRMed eBook.
Quote:
Originally Posted by HappyMartin
This would seem reasonable if the price difference between ebooks and normal books was greater than it is. I am also concerned about books being automatically erased after a period of time. Do Mobipocket books expire? What books have this nasty characteristic?
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I've seen very few expiring DRMed eBooks. Mostly from libraries (where expiry would be appropriate).
However, no DRMed eBook vendor guarantees that you will be able to read their eBooks too far in the future or on the next eBook reader device.
Quote:
Originally Posted by HappyMartin
If I buy a new reader what of all the books I downloaded for my old reader?
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They might work. They might not. There's no guarantee.
If they don't work, you have no recourse. You are stuck.
Quote:
Originally Posted by HappyMartin
I want to buy a book, stick it on a reader and read it.
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First, if the book has DRM, you can't "buy" it. You license it. But, other than that, you can (with certain restrictions) do that.
What you can't do is transfer that eBook to someone else or plan on reading that eBook next month.
The last time I checked, Fictionwise was offering a license for "Spook Country" for $26. A non-transferrable, not guaranteed to be able to read next month, DRMed eBook.
Amazon.com offered the paper version (transferable, guaranteed to be readable in the next decade), for only $16.
Very poor value for any intelligent person.