books without DRM and ereaders

[eredr]

Hello

I am new to ereaders and ebooks and am keen to buy an ereader but I am concerned that if I buy ebooks I may not actually 'own' the book and be able to read them if I buy another brand of ereader in future for example – which may mean having to buy the book again etc. I was thinking of buying a Kobo and they say that if you switch to another brand in future your books would be accessible to other eReaders as long as they're compatible with Adobe Digital Editions but it’s very confusing. I don’t want to pirate my books, I just want to own the books I buy. I see that there are various places which publish ebooks without DRM but they don’t have the books I am wanting to purchase so I don’t know how I would be able to purchase well known books which are DRM free (or if that’s even possible). Could someone please advise or suggest where I might be able to find out about this? I am reluctant to buy books if I am unable to access them some day! In that case I would probably hold off buying ebooks in general actually!

Many thanks

[theducks]

Kobo has 2 formats KEPUB and EPUB

As long as you buy EPUB (if it has ADE DRM), you can read it on any non-Kobo device REGISTERED TO YOU on the same ADE account .

ALF is your friend for helping keep books you 'bought', readable in the future.

[davidfor]

@eredr: There is a basic flaw in what you want. Any book released with DRM will be released with DRM through all stores. The decision about DRM is in the authors or publishers hands, not the store. The stores might encourage it, but, they are not ones making the decision. This means that if you find a store selling books without DRM that the others sell with DRM, the store is probably illegally selling the books

If you have to choose between the two main DRM schemes, Adobe DRM and Kindle, there isn't really much to choose. Kindles are the only one that support the Kindle DRM, so Adobe DRM has the wider support as there are multiple ereader manufacturers and app writers that support it. And you can easily remove these DRM.

For the choice of device, base it on which you like. If you pick up a Kindle or Kobo and it feels good and you like the interface, then that's the device you should get.

[church mouse]

As davidfor said, most mainstream publishers require their author's books to be sold with DRM, no matter from where you "buy" (rent) them.

If you are uncomfortable with the idea or process of stripping the DRM to allow you to read the book on whatever device you prefer and whenever you want, then e-reading may not be for you. This 'transgression" of removing the DRM is something most of us have had to come to terms with if we are to keep our ebooks in the same way we do our paper books.

[eredr]

Thanks for this everyone, I am completely new to this subject. From what I have been reading I understand that Calibre and Alf allow you to buy from either store for both Kobo and Kindle and convert across to the other format.

I may buy a Kobo and buy from both stores and convert both to files I can store on my computer, even if that means stripping the DRM so I know I own them.

I appreciate everyone's advice!

[Dr. Drib]

1) Caiibre is a program you will want to use in order to manage your library of ebooks.

2) Kobo is a store you can buy ebooks from. (They also sell ebook readers, of course.) There is also Amazon, and some other sites that I can't remember at this moment.

3) The Alf blog site will explain how DRM removal can be accomplished FOR ARCHIVAL PURPOSES. No instructions are allowed on Mobileread on how to use this program.

[eredr]

Thanks Dr Drib