ePub instead of Kobo Format

paulsalter · 10-02-2012, 10:44 AM

I have seen a few posts recently where people are using ePubs instead of the Kobo format.

I can understand this if you are using other devices.

But, What benefit does using the regular ePub on a Kobo device give you as opposed to using the Kobo format?

Or is it just a personal preference?

PeterT · 10-02-2012, 11:01 AM

The big benefit to at least HAVING the ePub version available to you is the fact YOU have a copy of it, and are thus protected from (heaven forbid) Kobo going out of business and the infrastructure to download and sync kepub's ceases to exist.

Some folks also like the fact that they can "tweak" ePubs to remove their dislikes in formatting.

Also if you are a multiple Kobo family (for instance Taming here), all the readers are registered to the same account, and thus if both people read the same book, the Kobo syncing of reading location within an kePub would become annoying.

taming · 10-02-2012, 01:50 PM

People who buy books from multiple sources, not just from Kobo, also use ePubs--either with Adobe DRM or DRM free. My preference is to purchase from Kobo because I read on multiple devices and I really, really like sync. It seems to me that over time the prices at Kobo are pretty much the same as the prices from other book stores. Sometimes you can get a less expensive version from a a place like Amazon, or BOB, and if the difference is more than a dollar or two, I will buy there and read an ePUB. I think price equality may be different in some countries, but for Canadians, this seems true. The implementation of the DOJ lawsuit ruling could turn this upside down, as it is US only (hummm, that family summer house in upstate NY could come in handy)

I check prices using calibre, btw.

Although I prefer to read Kobo ePUBs, I always make a drm free backup for all of the reasons Peter gave. My husband and son read ePUBS so they don't screw up my sync. I read on multiple devices, as stated earlier and they do not.

There is a group of people who never buy books at all. Some of them use Overdirve to borrow library books, and they go onto the Kobo eInk devices as ADE DRM'd ePUBs. Some people get every book they have from torrent sites or other places where books under copyright are made available in ways that may violate the law. I am not giving any kind of opinion about this, just explaining that the Kobo devices are used for ePUBs (or PDFs) if people are getting books in this way.

Krytes · 10-02-2012, 02:12 PM

-Reading public domain books: gutenberg offers books in epub format.
-Fanfic: archiveofourown.org also offers fic downloads as plain epubs
-Scanning my own physical books to make a backup copy: this is slow and tedious in the extreme, so I don't do it much, but I generally save such books as epubs unless the formatting is really complicated, in which case they get saved as ordinary pdfs.
-Research papers: usually pdf format.

Until the major publishers start selling books that I want without DRM, those four categories make up all of the books on my device. That's why I've never used kepubs.

filmo · 10-02-2012, 02:55 PM

Amazon can easily remove a book you bought from your Kindle and have done this. If you download books to off reader storage much harder to remove a book you have bought.

Mrs_Often · 10-02-2012, 03:34 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by paulsalter

I have seen a few posts recently where people are using ePubs instead of the Kobo format.

I can understand this if you are using other devices.

But, What benefit does using the regular ePub on a Kobo device give you as opposed to using the Kobo format?

Or is it just a personal preference?

For me, it's personal preference. I do get books from elsewhere, but when I buy a book, I buy it from Kobo just because. And then instead of using their kepub, I download the epub and read that. The kepub books show their page numbers per chapter – and where that is useful to be able to know how many pages you have left until the end of the chapter, it really annoys me to have no clue how many pages I have left until the end of the book. Luckily, epub page numbers show as page per total.

So, I stick to epubs until kepubs give me the option to choose between pages per chapter or per book total...

voidoid · 10-03-2012, 03:01 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Mrs_Often

The kepub books show their page numbers per chapter – and where that is useful to be able to know how many pages you have left until the end of the chapter, it really annoys me to have no clue how many pages I have left until the end of the book. Luckily, epub page numbers show as page per total.

I don't find it useful at all to know how many pages left until the end of the chapter. It seems to me to be a crazy design idea and I would like to know if ANYONE likes it.

paulsalter · 10-03-2012, 06:09 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by voidoid

I don't find it useful at all to know how many pages left until the end of the chapter. It seems to me to be a crazy design idea and I would like to know if ANYONE likes it.

I like to know how many pages to the end of the chapter, number of pages to end of the book I couldn't care less about

I usually have a couple of books on the go at a time, during the day I have the occasional half hour spare to read (i like to finish chapters when reading, not stop half way through a chapter)

So I read a chapter from the book I know I can finish within the time I have free

On an evening I don't really care about either, but I will finish the current chapter before putting the book down

John F · 10-03-2012, 07:27 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by voidoid

I don't find it useful at all to know how many pages left until the end of the chapter. It seems to me to be a crazy design idea and I would like to know if ANYONE likes it.

Quote:

Originally Posted by paulsalter

I like to know how many pages to the end of the chapter, ...

Make that anyone +2.

nogle · 10-03-2012, 08:34 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by John F

Make that anyone +2.

And another... +3

Suzanna · 10-03-2012, 10:52 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by voidoid

I don't find it useful at all to know how many pages left until the end of the chapter. It seems to me to be a crazy design idea and I would like to know if ANYONE likes it.

My sister loves it. She commutes to work via bus and subway and she doesn't like to stop reading mid-chapter. Because she can see how long a chapter is, she can decide whether she'll have time to finish it before reaching her destination.

elemenoP · 10-03-2012, 12:41 PM

So when you buy a book from Kobo, can you legally get both formats? epub to archive and kepub to read on your reader, for example?

eP

paulsalter · 10-03-2012, 01:06 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by elemenoP

So when you buy a book from Kobo, can you legally get both formats? epub to archive and kepub to read on your reader, for example?

eP

I assume it's perfectly legal

They offer you both formats

I get the ePub for backup and use the kepub on my reader

RareBird · 10-03-2012, 02:29 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by elemenoP

So when you buy a book from Kobo, can you legally get both formats? epub to archive and kepub to read on your reader, for example?

eP

That's the way I've done it since becoming a customer. There is nothing illegal about it. If it was, once you downloaded the Adobe ePUB or synced your reader and got the Kobo ePUB, the other option would be unavailable in my view.

ottdmk · 10-03-2012, 04:51 PM

Kobo has made book portability part of their philosophy. If you buy a book from them they want you to be able to use it on all your devices. So if you own both a Kobo and, say, a Sony... you can.

It's an awesome philosophy, imho. And now that more publishers are experimenting with no DRM...

10-02-2012, 10:44 AM	#1
paulsalter Fanatic Posts: 579 Karma: 3243761 Join Date: Nov 2011 Location: UK Device: Kindle Fire HD8	ePub instead of Kobo Format I have seen a few posts recently where people are using ePubs instead of the Kobo format. I can understand this if you are using other devices. But, What benefit does using the regular ePub on a Kobo device give you as opposed to using the Kobo format? Or is it just a personal preference?

Similar Threads
Thread	Thread Starter	Forum	Replies	Last Post
No 'epub' format shown in Plugboards Format dropdown list	kakkalla	Library Management	3	06-16-2012 04:23 AM
Touch Kobo touch's Dictionnary on ePub format	shout	Kobo Reader	9	10-24-2011 12:22 AM
Kobo Touch - Only send .Epub format?	ne0b0rn	Devices	1	07-09-2011 04:55 AM
Does Kobo have a non-standard EPUB format?	Taantric	ePub	9	07-05-2011 06:28 PM
Kobo: convertir de pdf à epub. Mauvais format.	panzer	Autres liseuses	1	10-25-2010 11:33 AM

10-02-2012, 11:01 AM	#2
PeterT Grand Sorcerer Posts: 13,297 Karma: 78876004 Join Date: Nov 2007 Location: Toronto Device: Libra H2O, Libra Colour	The big benefit to at least HAVING the ePub version available to you is the fact YOU have a copy of it, and are thus protected from (heaven forbid) Kobo going out of business and the infrastructure to download and sync kepub's ceases to exist. Some folks also like the fact that they can "tweak" ePubs to remove their dislikes in formatting. Also if you are a multiple Kobo family (for instance Taming here), all the readers are registered to the same account, and thus if both people read the same book, the Kobo syncing of reading location within an kePub would become annoying.

10-02-2012, 01:50 PM	#3
taming Trying for calm & polite Posts: 4,012 Karma: 9455193 Join Date: May 2010 Location: Mostly in Canada Device: kobo original, WiFI, Touch, Glo, and Aura	People who buy books from multiple sources, not just from Kobo, also use ePubs--either with Adobe DRM or DRM free. My preference is to purchase from Kobo because I read on multiple devices and I really, really like sync. It seems to me that over time the prices at Kobo are pretty much the same as the prices from other book stores. Sometimes you can get a less expensive version from a a place like Amazon, or BOB, and if the difference is more than a dollar or two, I will buy there and read an ePUB. I think price equality may be different in some countries, but for Canadians, this seems true. The implementation of the DOJ lawsuit ruling could turn this upside down, as it is US only (hummm, that family summer house in upstate NY could come in handy) I check prices using calibre, btw. Although I prefer to read Kobo ePUBs, I always make a drm free backup for all of the reasons Peter gave. My husband and son read ePUBS so they don't screw up my sync. I read on multiple devices, as stated earlier and they do not. There is a group of people who never buy books at all. Some of them use Overdirve to borrow library books, and they go onto the Kobo eInk devices as ADE DRM'd ePUBs. Some people get every book they have from torrent sites or other places where books under copyright are made available in ways that may violate the law. I am not giving any kind of opinion about this, just explaining that the Kobo devices are used for ePUBs (or PDFs) if people are getting books in this way.

10-02-2012, 02:12 PM	#4
Krytes Enthusiast Posts: 48 Karma: 24 Join Date: Jul 2008 Device: Kobo Clara BW, Boox Tab Mini C, Boox Note 2	-Reading public domain books: gutenberg offers books in epub format. -Fanfic: archiveofourown.org also offers fic downloads as plain epubs -Scanning my own physical books to make a backup copy: this is slow and tedious in the extreme, so I don't do it much, but I generally save such books as epubs unless the formatting is really complicated, in which case they get saved as ordinary pdfs. -Research papers: usually pdf format. Until the major publishers start selling books that I want without DRM, those four categories make up all of the books on my device. That's why I've never used kepubs.

10-02-2012, 02:55 PM	#5
filmo Wizard Posts: 1,326 Karma: 1077205 Join Date: Jun 2011 Device: Kobo Touch, Sony T1, Kobo Mini	Amazon can easily remove a book you bought from your Kindle and have done this. If you download books to off reader storage much harder to remove a book you have bought.

10-03-2012, 12:41 PM	#12
elemenoP Wizard Posts: 1,717 Karma: 3790058 Join Date: Oct 2010 Location: NYC Device: Kindle Paperwhite, Sony 650	So when you buy a book from Kobo, can you legally get both formats? epub to archive and kepub to read on your reader, for example? eP

10-03-2012, 04:51 PM	#15
ottdmk Wizard Posts: 1,217 Karma: 3804496 Join Date: Feb 2012 Location: Ottawa, Ontario, Canada Device: Kobo Libra 2, Lenovo Tab M10 FHD Plus, Lenovo Tab M9	Kobo has made book portability part of their philosophy. If you buy a book from them they want you to be able to use it on all your devices. So if you own both a Kobo and, say, a Sony... you can. It's an awesome philosophy, imho. And now that more publishers are experimenting with no DRM...

Advert

Advert