In Europe! Help please!

[aceflor]

Originally Posted by FlorenceArt

I agree. Competing formats, stupid DRM policies, and geographical restrictions create unnecessary complications to buying and reading e-books. Hopefully the situation will improve in the next few years.

Basically, you have to choose between Amazon and other stores. I hate Amazon for forcing us to make that choice, but I have to admit that for English language books, they have an incredible selection, and their website, search engine, and reader feedback functionalities are unequalled. However, I do not not how many of the huge number of books offered at Amazon.com are actually available for European buyers.

On the other hand, European publishers and resellers are now very quickly building up their e-book inventories. I heard that Danish language e-books are incredibly expensive, so maybe it's not really a plus for you. But keep an eye on the British booksellers (except amazon.co.uk), they have a lot of books available to the rest of Europe. In ePub format of course. With Adobe DRM, yuck.

Well said !
I usually try amazon.com first but am now comparing the price with waterstones.co.uk and whsmith.co.uk since there are sometimes (of course most of the time with brit authors) nice deals to be done.
And I always de-DRM, but that's me (french expat so not in France) and not an advice.

[Sweetpea]

Originally Posted by aceflor

Well said !
I usually try amazon.com first but am now comparing the price with waterstones.co.uk and whsmith.co.uk since there are sometimes (of course most of the time with brit authors) nice deals to be done.
And I always de-DRM, but that's me (french expat so not in France) and not an advice.

I noticed that the prices between amazon and waterstones are about the same. whsmith doesn't sell a lot of books to me...

[aceflor]

Originally Posted by Sweetpea

I noticed that the prices between amazon and waterstones are about the same. whsmith doesn't sell a lot of books to me...

Not always for english (british) books, it is worth checking. Very often, amazon doesn't even have them if they are just new in the UK. I remember having had that problem with Rose Tremain and Julian Barnes, and others (which I can't rememember right now). Plus I don't need to convert azw (or worse, tpz !!!) to epub after de-drming...

[fjtorres]

Originally Posted by FlorenceArt

Basically, you have to choose between Amazon and other stores. I hate Amazon for forcing us to make that choice, but I have to admit that for English language books, they have an incredible selection, and their website, search engine, and reader feedback functionalities are unequalled.

1- The reason the Kindle environment is so smoothly integrated and simple to use is because it is a closed environment. TINSTAAFL. Everything has a price.

2- People forget Amazon set their business model in place and started shipping Kindles *before* there was an ePub annointed "standard". Unlike Sony, they've seen no reason to abandon a business model that works just to get people to "like" them. So far, there doesn't seem to be much reason to change either. Being liked or hated doesn't much matter to them.

It's not as if they are going out of their way to annoy anybody (except maybe Adobe--but that's a common sport these days, just ask Apple) or to *force* anybody to do anything. They're just running their business in a way that works for them, counting on consumers to buy or not buy as makes sense for *them*.

They have a good ebookstore with a great catalog at decent prices that is easily accessible from a variety of different devices and a decent enough dedicated reader at a decent enough price. For some people, that is enough to commit to the Kindle environment.

Others have other needs that are best served elsewhere. Which helps competitors survive. One size does not fit all in any market. Variety is good.

It is up to us to identify our needs and distinguish between must-have's and like-to-have's and nice-but-no necessary's.

[FlorenceArt]

Originally Posted by fjtorres

1- The reason the Kindle environment is so smoothly integrated and simple to use is because it is a closed environment. TINSTAAFL. Everything has a price.

I don't disagree, and that's fine for Kindle owners, but it doesn't explain why Amazon refuses to sell me e-books, when I have a reader that is compatible with Mobi, and with their DRM.

And before anyone mentions it, yes, I can install Kindle for Mac and buy books for it. But I don't read books on my Mac. I read books on my Opus.

[stardustshadow]

Originally Posted by FlorenceArt

I agree. Competing formats, stupid DRM policies, and geographical restrictions create unnecessary complications to buying and reading e-books. Hopefully the situation will improve in the next few years.

Basically, you have to choose between Amazon and other stores. I hate Amazon for forcing us to make that choice, but I have to admit that for English language books, they have an incredible selection, and their website, search engine, and reader feedback functionalities are unequalled. However, I do not not how many of the huge number of books offered at Amazon.com are actually available for European buyers.

On the other hand, European publishers and resellers are now very quickly building up their e-book inventories. I heard that Danish language e-books are incredibly expensive, so maybe it's not really a plus for you. But keep an eye on the British booksellers (except amazon.co.uk), they have a lot of books available to the rest of Europe. In ePub format of course. With Adobe DRM, yuck.

I have looked at Waterstones, and, unfortunately, their selection of available titles is MUCH smaller than Amazon.

I have (potential) ways of getting around the problem of books being offered to European buyers. I am American and I have family living there. I could buy a Kindle there, with an American credit card, and in theory download whatever I like...unless they are going to limit IP addresses which means I would need to do it over a proxy server.

We run into problems like this all the time. I have an iphone and many applications are impossible to get because of similar restrictions. There are of course ways around this (I plan on getting the itunes gift card when in the states that allows purchase of these aps) but when is the world truly going to 'go global'? Those of us already living globally are tired of the roadblocks!

[stardustshadow]

OK so in theory i could buy an ebook from Amazon and de-DRM it and read it on an Opus, right? Is this hard/complicated/legal?

[pchrist7]

Hi Tara.
Legal ? NO
Hard ? don't know - still waiting for my Kindle 3
Cheers

[Ea]

Originally Posted by stardustshadow

Would a Cybook Opus support a dictionary and how would that work? I have read that some ebook readers have convenient touch dictionaries...I would be interested in a Danish dictionary. I know it is obscure but I am sure it exists somewhere

If you find one, let me know

Originally Posted by fjtorres

There's a lot of research to do so be careful; define exactly what you want before you take the plunge. Choosing an ebook reader these days is a lot like marriage.
You are commiting to a long term relationship and changing your mind afterwards will be neither painless nor easy.

I'm already on my eight... And my fifth and seventh. And sometimes I cheat on them with my iPod Touch. The rest I've sold off

Originally Posted by FlorenceArt

On the other hand, European publishers and resellers are now very quickly building up their e-book inventories. I heard that Danish language e-books are incredibly expensive, so maybe it's not really a plus for you. But keep an eye on the British booksellers (except amazon.co.uk), they have a lot of books available to the rest of Europe. In ePub format of course. With Adobe DRM, yuck.

They are as expensive as books generally, but I trust that the libraries will follow up as soon as more publishers go digital. There is already a service; ebib.dk

As for the OP: there will be no problems about using a Kindle in Denmark, but getting content might be if you are interested in contemporary Danish fiction.

I remember reading 1 or 2 years ago that The Royal Library loaned out Sony PRS 505 readers. Don't know if was only for a trial period - or if they have upgraded by now - but if you haven't already, I'd go and ask them. I would also ask them if they have DRM on their material and in what file formats they have it in. If a lot of it is PDF, then perhaps a 5 or 6 inch screen will not cover you needs in this respect anyway.

[FlorenceArt]

Originally Posted by stardustshadow

OK so in theory i could buy an ebook from Amazon and de-DRM it and read it on an Opus, right? Is this hard/complicated/legal?

Simple: no
Legal: not in France, I don't know about Denmark (probably not)
Doable: at the moment yes, but Amazon may change things at any time to make it harder. And then somebody will come up with a new way of circumventing it, and you will have to figure out how to use the new tools. It's a major pain in the backside, but mostly it's doable. I just wish we didn't have to do this to read books we have purchased the way we want to. But this is not a problem specific to Amazon, in fact the publishers (and probably some authors) are to blame for the whole DRM headache.

To be quite honest, and it really pains me to say this, it is probably simpler to buy a Kindle and liberate Adobe ePubs to read them, than the other way around (buying an ePub reader and liberating Amazon books, I mean). For instance, if you have a Mac like me, there is still no way to remove DRM on Amazon books ought for the Kindle app on Mac. As far as I know. And that's why I still hate Amazon. And dream of buying a Kindle DX

[Ea]

Originally Posted by FlorenceArt

Simple: no
Legal: not in France, I don't know about Denmark (probably not)
...

While it's legal to format shift media you own, it's not legal to break DRM in order to do it - though it's okay to break DRM if it is the only way for you to access the content at all. From some close reading here (from the Ministry of Culture, in Danish) it's my impression that the intent of the law was to bother the ordinary user as little as possible. Hence I think breaking DRM might not necessarily be strictly within the letter of the law, but it is within the intent if you do it to files you have bought and own.

That law was made with a view of digital music and not literature though, so in some cases it doesn't quite make sense.

[Storm27]

Originally Posted by stardustshadow

I have (potential) ways of getting around the problem of books being offered to European buyers. I am American and I have family living there. I could buy a Kindle there, with an American credit card, and in theory download whatever I like...unless they are going to limit IP addresses which means I would need to do it over a proxy server.

I don't know exactly how Amazon enforce their restrictions, but I can tell you that as a logged in UK user or on a logged out UK based pc I can see kindle books but not their prices for virtually anything I would be interested in. (I think they have only ever had maybe 3 books I wanted which were also available to me which tbh did not make it worth my while to bother even downloading their desktop software). But if you can see prices it probably means they will sell to you.

I have heard that people may have had problems because of switching too frequently between US addresses (for ebooks) and overseas addresses (for physical goods) on the same account.

But it's definitely worth comparing the Amazon selection of books you would be able to buy (as opposed to their entire catalogue) to what is available at WHSmith, Waterstones, Books on Board etc. I also think that a US address and credit card would mean you could buy from the Sony store without problems.

[fjtorres]

Originally Posted by Ea

I'm already on my eight... And my fifth and seventh. And sometimes I cheat on them with my iPod Touch. The rest I've sold off

You might want to have Elizabeth Taylor as your avatar, then.

[Ea]

Originally Posted by fjtorres

You might want to have Elizabeth Taylor as your avatar, then.

thank you

Very good suggestion, too

[FlorenceArt]

Originally Posted by stardustshadow

I have (potential) ways of getting around the problem of books being offered to European buyers. I am American and I have family living there. I could buy a Kindle there, with an American credit card, and in theory download whatever I like...unless they are going to limit IP addresses which means I would need to do it over a proxy server.

Where and how you buy your Kindle doesn't come into play, as far as I know. It's the address you entered in the system that must be a U.S. address with a valid ZIP code, but if you keep connecting from a European IP they will get suspicious and start asking you questions.