Asimov's Science Fiction from Kobo

ShellShock · 04-02-2016, 05:23 AM

I used to subscribe to Asimov's Science Fiction from Barnes & Noble in the UK, which I could download as an epub and side load. Now Barnes & Noble UK has shut up shop I need to look elsewhere. I have just bought the latest issue from Google Play, but that was a waste of money: you have to read it in the Google Play Newsstand app, and it looks like it is a direct PDF rendering of the paper edition. So each page in the paper edition is a single page on screen. The font is just too small for comfortable reading on my IPad Mini. There is no font size adjustment, and no reflow. Page rendering is slow. It is crap.

I see that Kobo UK now sell the magazine too: https://store.kobobooks.com/en-us/em...nce-fiction-25. Does anyone know if this can be downloaded as an epub for side loading? Or do you have to use the Kobo app?

davidfor · 04-02-2016, 06:40 AM

I don't think so. It doesn't have a file type, but it does say iOS, Android and Tablets for the reading device. That suggests it isn't an epub.

Witty Username · 04-02-2016, 07:45 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by ShellShock

I see that Kobo UK now sell the magazine too: https://store.kobobooks.com/en-us/em...nce-fiction-25. Does anyone know if this can be downloaded as an epub for side loading? Or do you have to use the Kobo app?

The Kobo UK store says you can try any magazine for free for 14 days. Why not get a free trial copy and see what it's like?

simond · 04-02-2016, 08:37 AM

I ended up moving from Nook to Amazon UK for that as if you have a kindle registered then you can download the magazine from the website and Alf can help after that.

It was a pain that Sainsburys didn't transfer magazines but they only allow you to view theirs in the app anyway, definitely not ePub based.

ShellShock · 04-02-2016, 10:55 AM

I have got Kindle for PC but I don't think that counts? I think you need a physical Kindle?

ShellShock · 04-02-2016, 11:40 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Witty Username

The Kobo UK store says you can try any magazine for free for 14 days. Why not get a free trial copy and see what it's like?

Thanks for the suggestion. I have now done that. It looks like it is a PDF (probably the same as with Google Play). The IOS Kobo reader seems to have better zoom options and is faster than the Google Play Newsstand. I am going to persevere with it for now.

ballfresno · 04-02-2016, 12:41 PM

I also have been using Nook in the UK to be able to subscribe to Analog and Asimov's and have been left high and dry by their retreat from the UK market.

I wrote to Kobo a while back, asking why they could not make Analog and Asimov's available as epub books for the Kobo ereaders. Their response was to the effect that magazines were glossy and required colour screens and Kobo ereaders were not suitable. When I responded by telling them that these "magazines" were more like books than magazines, they never got back to me.

I have also written to the publishers of Analog and Asimov's asking about direct epub purchases from them but they have not responded.

I have now given up on Analog despite reading every issue since July 1973! It is depressing that a magazine on SF cannot move into the 21st century.

ShellShock · 04-02-2016, 01:27 PM

And they are also ignoring the fact that these magazines were previously available as epub (on another platform).

barryem · 04-02-2016, 04:22 PM

I'm not sure if this will help but I was curious so I just bought the current issue of Asimov's on my Paperwhite. It just downloaded and I've browsed through it a little and it seems just fine. It's definitely not a PDF. It reads with features similar to reading a book on the Kindle. The exact same control of fonts, etc. There's no scrolling like with a PDF.

I also tried to download it in Kindle for PC and saw no way to do that. I'm not really sure I care. It was just an experiment.

I also downloaded it to the Kindle app on my phone. Here it's a little more magazine-like till I get to an article and then it tells me to double tap to read. When I do it gives me a normal reading page just like a book would.

On both the Kindle and the Kindle app reading is just fine. No different than a book.

I'm not sure how I'd go about getting it into Calibre but on the devices itself it's a good reading experience.

Barry

ShellShock · 04-03-2016, 02:42 AM

Thanks for checking Kindle for PC. That confirms my experience several years ago - Amazon do not support downloading magazines to PCs. Neither do Google nor Kobo.

The reading experience of the PDF magazine in the Kobo IOS app is poor (but better than Google Newsstand). I have to zoom to get the font big enough to read, so each PDF page requires several page taps to display and I tend to loose my place when the display jumps from the top to the bottom of the PDF page.

I don't own any sort of Kindle so that is not an option for me.

AnemicOak · 04-03-2016, 02:59 AM

Can someone in the UK buy from B&N US, maybe using a VPN? Just a thought for another possibility.

ShellShock · 04-03-2016, 05:58 AM

I think using a VPN with a B&N US account is further than I am willing to go, but thanks for the suggestion.

I have now subscribed to the magazine at Amazon UK (as well as Kobo UK), and downloaded the latest issue to Kindle for IOS, hoping it would be an epub, but just like Kobo and Google, the file is a PDF. The Kindle app zoom is worst than the Kobo app, as it zooms out every time you next page.

I tried using IMazing to few the app files on the IPad, with the hope of copying the file to my PC and using Calibre to convert from PDF to epub. But I cannot find the physical ebook file anywhere on the IPad.

I am getting close to giving up, and Asimov's will lose a subscriber of 20 years standing.

ShellShock · 04-03-2016, 06:36 AM

I had another look at the Kindle IOS app, and I think it might be the solution. Apparently it downloads both PDF and epub-like (azw3?) formats, and you can switch between the two within the app (tap to display the menu bar, and in the top right there are two page icons which switch between them). In the "epub" format there are font options (brightness, font face, background colour, line height, and one, two or three columns). All very good. But no option to shrink the page margins, which are annoyingly very wide. Still, this is much better than the PDF view.

Now, if I could also copy the ebook from the Kindle app to my PC, then I could import it into Calibre and convert to epub.

Dr. Drib · 04-03-2016, 08:15 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by ShellShock

I used to subscribe to Asimov's Science Fiction from Barnes & Noble in the UK, which I could download as an epub and side load. Now Barnes & Noble UK has shut up shop I need to look elsewhere. I have just bought the latest issue from Google Play, but that was a waste of money: you have to read it in the Google Play Newsstand app, and it looks like it is a direct PDF rendering of the paper edition. So each page in the paper edition is a single page on screen. The font is just too small for comfortable reading on my IPad Mini. There is no font size adjustment, and no reflow. Page rendering is slow. It is crap.

I see that Kobo UK now sell the magazine too: https://store.kobobooks.com/en-us/em...nce-fiction-25. Does anyone know if this can be downloaded as an epub for side loading? Or do you have to use the Kobo app?

Details lists it at 68 megs.

That's a PDF file.

ballfresno · 04-03-2016, 10:43 AM

I think I may have to go buy a second hand Kindle just so that I can get Analog/Asimov's onto my Kobo (via calibre)... strange world we live in!

04-02-2016, 05:23 AM	#1
ShellShock Wizard Posts: 1,178 Karma: 2431850 Join Date: Sep 2008 Device: IPad Mini 2 Retina	Asimov's Science Fiction from Kobo I used to subscribe to Asimov's Science Fiction from Barnes & Noble in the UK, which I could download as an epub and side load. Now Barnes & Noble UK has shut up shop I need to look elsewhere. I have just bought the latest issue from Google Play, but that was a waste of money: you have to read it in the Google Play Newsstand app, and it looks like it is a direct PDF rendering of the paper edition. So each page in the paper edition is a single page on screen. The font is just too small for comfortable reading on my IPad Mini. There is no font size adjustment, and no reflow. Page rendering is slow. It is crap. I see that Kobo UK now sell the magazine too: https://store.kobobooks.com/en-us/em...nce-fiction-25. Does anyone know if this can be downloaded as an epub for side loading? Or do you have to use the Kobo app?

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04-02-2016, 06:40 AM	#2
davidfor Grand Sorcerer Posts: 24,905 Karma: 47303824 Join Date: Jul 2011 Location: Sydney, Australia Device: Kobo:Touch,Glo, AuraH2O, GloHD,AuraONE, ClaraHD, Libra H2O; tolinoepos	I don't think so. It doesn't have a file type, but it does say iOS, Android and Tablets for the reading device. That suggests it isn't an epub.

04-02-2016, 08:37 AM	#4
simond Fanatic Posts: 532 Karma: 1062755 Join Date: Aug 2005 Location: London, UK Device: Kobo Aura One, iPad, iPhone	I ended up moving from Nook to Amazon UK for that as if you have a kindle registered then you can download the magazine from the website and Alf can help after that. It was a pain that Sainsburys didn't transfer magazines but they only allow you to view theirs in the app anyway, definitely not ePub based.

04-02-2016, 10:55 AM	#5
ShellShock Wizard Posts: 1,178 Karma: 2431850 Join Date: Sep 2008 Device: IPad Mini 2 Retina	I have got Kindle for PC but I don't think that counts? I think you need a physical Kindle?

04-02-2016, 12:41 PM	#7
ballfresno Addict Posts: 248 Karma: 5774804 Join Date: Oct 2011 Location: UK Device: Kobo (Sage, Aura One, Aura HD, & Touch); reMarkable tablet.	I also have been using Nook in the UK to be able to subscribe to Analog and Asimov's and have been left high and dry by their retreat from the UK market. I wrote to Kobo a while back, asking why they could not make Analog and Asimov's available as epub books for the Kobo ereaders. Their response was to the effect that magazines were glossy and required colour screens and Kobo ereaders were not suitable. When I responded by telling them that these "magazines" were more like books than magazines, they never got back to me. I have also written to the publishers of Analog and Asimov's asking about direct epub purchases from them but they have not responded. I have now given up on Analog despite reading every issue since July 1973! It is depressing that a magazine on SF cannot move into the 21st century.

04-02-2016, 01:27 PM	#8
ShellShock Wizard Posts: 1,178 Karma: 2431850 Join Date: Sep 2008 Device: IPad Mini 2 Retina	And they are also ignoring the fact that these magazines were previously available as epub (on another platform).

04-02-2016, 04:22 PM	#9
barryem Wizard Posts: 2,459 Karma: 68781975 Join Date: Oct 2012 Location: Arkansas Device: Paperwhite 4	I'm not sure if this will help but I was curious so I just bought the current issue of Asimov's on my Paperwhite. It just downloaded and I've browsed through it a little and it seems just fine. It's definitely not a PDF. It reads with features similar to reading a book on the Kindle. The exact same control of fonts, etc. There's no scrolling like with a PDF. I also tried to download it in Kindle for PC and saw no way to do that. I'm not really sure I care. It was just an experiment. I also downloaded it to the Kindle app on my phone. Here it's a little more magazine-like till I get to an article and then it tells me to double tap to read. When I do it gives me a normal reading page just like a book would. On both the Kindle and the Kindle app reading is just fine. No different than a book. I'm not sure how I'd go about getting it into Calibre but on the devices itself it's a good reading experience. Barry

04-03-2016, 02:42 AM	#10
ShellShock Wizard Posts: 1,178 Karma: 2431850 Join Date: Sep 2008 Device: IPad Mini 2 Retina	Thanks for checking Kindle for PC. That confirms my experience several years ago - Amazon do not support downloading magazines to PCs. Neither do Google nor Kobo. The reading experience of the PDF magazine in the Kobo IOS app is poor (but better than Google Newsstand). I have to zoom to get the font big enough to read, so each PDF page requires several page taps to display and I tend to loose my place when the display jumps from the top to the bottom of the PDF page. I don't own any sort of Kindle so that is not an option for me.

04-03-2016, 02:59 AM	#11
AnemicOak Bookaholic Posts: 14,391 Karma: 54969924 Join Date: Oct 2007 Location: Minnesota Device: iPad Mini 4, AuraHD, iPhone XR +	Can someone in the UK buy from B&N US, maybe using a VPN? Just a thought for another possibility.

04-03-2016, 05:58 AM	#12
ShellShock Wizard Posts: 1,178 Karma: 2431850 Join Date: Sep 2008 Device: IPad Mini 2 Retina	I think using a VPN with a B&N US account is further than I am willing to go, but thanks for the suggestion. I have now subscribed to the magazine at Amazon UK (as well as Kobo UK), and downloaded the latest issue to Kindle for IOS, hoping it would be an epub, but just like Kobo and Google, the file is a PDF. The Kindle app zoom is worst than the Kobo app, as it zooms out every time you next page. I tried using IMazing to few the app files on the IPad, with the hope of copying the file to my PC and using Calibre to convert from PDF to epub. But I cannot find the physical ebook file anywhere on the IPad. I am getting close to giving up, and Asimov's will lose a subscriber of 20 years standing.

04-03-2016, 06:36 AM	#13
ShellShock Wizard Posts: 1,178 Karma: 2431850 Join Date: Sep 2008 Device: IPad Mini 2 Retina	I had another look at the Kindle IOS app, and I think it might be the solution. Apparently it downloads both PDF and epub-like (azw3?) formats, and you can switch between the two within the app (tap to display the menu bar, and in the top right there are two page icons which switch between them). In the "epub" format there are font options (brightness, font face, background colour, line height, and one, two or three columns). All very good. But no option to shrink the page margins, which are annoyingly very wide. Still, this is much better than the PDF view. Now, if I could also copy the ebook from the Kindle app to my PC, then I could import it into Calibre and convert to epub.

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04-03-2016, 10:43 AM	#15
ballfresno Addict Posts: 248 Karma: 5774804 Join Date: Oct 2011 Location: UK Device: Kobo (Sage, Aura One, Aura HD, & Touch); reMarkable tablet.	I think I may have to go buy a second hand Kindle just so that I can get Analog/Asimov's onto my Kobo (via calibre)... strange world we live in!