Sorry Kindle, You're Not Invited

[ApK]

Originally Posted by kennyc

No the topic is checking out library books on a kindle. WTF?

ApK

[edit: <-- this is a really unsatisfying 'sticking your tongue out' graphic. It's way too happy looking]

[kennyc]

Originally Posted by covingtoncat73

Yeah, but I don't want to read on my computer. It is a laptop but it is old and 10lbs. Maybe if I get a netbook.

I know I don't care for it either, but it is one way to get access that you mentioned.

[wyndslash]

speaking of ereaders, i was walking to my next class yesterday when i saw a guy, leaning against the railing and holding a 'real' ereader. i did a double-take, but upon closer inspection it was an ipad. my first thought was, 'how can you read with the glare?' (it was high noon and the sun was directly behind him.)

sorry for OT :P

[faithbw]

Originally Posted by CRussel

Sorry, but it really IS easy. There are no scripts involved, no non-gui things to do, and it isn't even hard to find any more. Any user who can use Calibre can add the plug-ins required to remove DRM and read library books.

For you, it's easy. For others, it may not be. For my husband or my mother, it would definitely NOT be easy. The most they do on a computer is word processing and internet surfing. Here's an example of why it wouldn't be easy for someone like my husband.

My husband has a podcast and I do all the work for it. It's easy for me. I simply upload his sermon from his digital recorder to the computer, convert it to an mp3 using a program called Audacity and then upload to the site that hosts the podcast. Now, if I were to explain that process to him, he would give me a blank look and then say "Okay, Faith. Can you put my sermon on the computer now?" Do you think someone like him would find it easy to download a library book, download a program like Calibre, download the plugins to strip the DRM and then download it to a Kindle? I can tell you right now, a person like him would not find it easy and would not bother with the process.

There's are lots of people like him. If they use a Kindle, they're not getting library books because they're not going to go through that hassle. Getting a person like that to use Adobe Digital Editions might be pushing it since it requires a USB cord, downloading ADE, going to the library website, downloading the book and then drop and dragging it to the device. Easy for me and you, not so easy for lots of other people.

[Victoria]

[QUOTE
Happily, there is a cheap solution for everyone interested in a great ereader, (arguably) the best selection of commercial ebooks, library books from your local library system and have the option to live outside of the United States: use a Kindle 3 Wifi and buy a Kobo (or similar device) for library access and to save money on ebooks where the same title is cheaper in an ePub store than at Amazon.[/QUOTE]

Good point. Now that prices for the hardwear have dropped, they are just an appliance . It's the purchase of the books which are our real $ investment over time. Why not take advantage of more than one device? Most of us has more than one pair of shoes. No wasted time on arguments over which pair is the best - the best is always the pair that addresses our needs that day (snow, rain, dressy, etc)

[covingtoncat73]

Originally Posted by faithbw

For you, it's easy. For others, it may not be. For my husband or my mother, it would definitely NOT be easy. The most they do on a computer is word processing and internet surfing. Here's an example of why it wouldn't be easy for someone like my husband.

My husband has a podcast and I do all the work for it. It's easy for me. I simply upload his sermon from his digital recorder to the computer, convert it to an mp3 using a program called Audacity and then upload to the site that hosts the podcast. Now, if I were to explain that process to him, he would give me a blank look and then say "Okay, Faith. Can you put my sermon on the computer now?" Do you think someone like him would find it easy to download a library book, download a program like Calibre, download the plugins to strip the DRM and then download it to a Kindle? I can tell you right now, a person like him would not find it easy and would not bother with the process.

There's are lots of people like him. If they use a Kindle, they're not getting library books because they're not going to go through that hassle. Getting a person like that to use Adobe Digital Editions might be pushing it since it requires a USB cord, downloading ADE, going to the library website, downloading the book and then drop and dragging it to the device. Easy for me and you, not so easy for lots of other people.

Oh, I agree. I have actually done recordings for Librivox.org on Audacity and successfully converted them to MP3 and uploaded them to Librivox and I wouldn't feel comfortable stripping DRM. I am not even clear on what a "Plug-in" is. Plus, since it is illegal or quasi-legal, depending on who you ask, any instructions are very cryptic. I don't know how so many people seem to find it so easy.

However, I was able to download ADE and get library books on my Kobo with alacrity and success. If anyone has a closing Borders near them, the Kobos are $60 or so now. Get the Kobo and use that for your library books. If you really need Amazon, buy the cheapest Kindle, which I may or may not do. I'm still thinking about it.

[ApK]

Originally Posted by faithbw

Do you think someone like him would find it easy to download a library book, download a program like Calibre, download the plugins to strip the DRM and then download it to a Kindle?

Could a person like him install configure and use ADE and copy the ADE books to his device?

Probably a lot of people can't.

Speaking only about the ease and not any other potential concerns, the hardest part of stripping DRM now is learning how to do the initial setup. Actually DOING the initial setup is easy, and once it is set up, the actual process of doing it is trivial and as easy as using any other book management software, be it the stuff that comes with a Sony reader, or Calibre, or ADE itself for that matter.

That being said, I'd expect that there is a certain part of the Kindle user base that can't handle even that much, and couldn't do it with the supported ADE systems either. They bought the Kindle because it had one-click Amazon shopping, no computer required.

[ApK]

Originally Posted by covingtoncat73

Oh, I agree. I have actually done recordings for Librivox.org on Audacity and successfully converted them to MP3 and uploaded them to Librivox and I wouldn't feel comfortable stripping DRM. I am not even clear on what a "Plug-in" is.

I find that very hard to believe. Audacity is heavily plug-in based.
http://audacity.sourceforge.net/download/plugins

Plus, since it is illegal or quasi-legal, depending on who you ask,

...or perfectly legal. Depending on who you ask.

any instructions are very cryptic. I don't know how so many people seem to find it so easy.

Yes, getting started from scratch is the hardest part still. But if you had someone to help get started, it's now much easier than doing ANYTHING in Audacity....and I say this as an Audacity fan.

[covingtoncat73]

Originally Posted by ApK

I find that very hard to believe. Audacity is heavily plug-in based.
http://audacity.sourceforge.net/download/plugins



...or perfectly legal. Depending on who you ask.


Yes, getting started from scratch is the hardest part still. But if you had someone to help get started, it's now much easier than doing ANYTHING in Audacity....and I say this as an Audacity fan.

No, seriously. I had no problems with Audacity. I haven't used it in awhile but I don't remember having to do any plug-ins. I just downloaded it and used it. I have proof! This is me reading Yeats...

http://www.archive.org/download/shor...s_ctc_64kb.mp3

I didn't do anything fancy with Audacity but I did find it easy to use.

[Giggleton]

If my local library has an event like this, which is an event of high probability, I would set up outside with a laptop, "calibre" and my Kindle and show people that it is indeed possible to read downloaded library books on said Kindle.

[ApK]

Originally Posted by covingtoncat73

If anyone has a closing Borders near them, the Kobos are $60 or so now.

Seriously? Wow..tempting...

Is the wifi on the kobo good for anything other than shopping in the kobo store? Can you side load or...you know...get library books with the wifi?

[Piper_]

Originally Posted by ApK

Not according to the fifth circuit court. They say other circumstances have to be true to trigger the DMCA...like a copyright violation.
And the copyright office lists various other situations where circumventing DRM would not be illegal.

But this has all been done in other threads. A lot.

ApK

Which is why, according to my lawyer, the last thing any book publisher wants is to charge someone with DRM stripping for personal use. They know it would fail in court, and they'd rather pretend the emperor has clothes.

Originally Posted by faithbw

Getting a person like that to use Adobe Digital Editions might be pushing it since it requires a USB cord, downloading ADE, going to the library website, downloading the book and then drop and dragging it to the device. Easy for me and you, not so easy for lots of other people.

Indeed, even I find all those things more "difficult" than installing calibre and the plugin. Definitely more tedious.

Originally Posted by ApK

But if you had someone to help get started, it's now much easier than doing ANYTHING in Audacity....and I say this as an Audacity fan.

Boy, that's for sure. Even with no help!

It's also easier than many other commonly done things, like setting up a printer or email ap. Just a couple downloads and clicks.

I have a Sony. I like it, but I prefer reading on my Kindle. (It's just most comfy to me, and I prefer its fonts.) I don't feel guilty about reading a library book on a kindle instead of the sony, during the time i am allotted, since I delete them when I'm finished.

But if someone wants to buy a Kindle and use the library, I would advise them to test out the software they'd need first, using K4PC and calibre + tools.

[covingtoncat73]

Originally Posted by ApK

Seriously? Wow..tempting...

Is the wifi on the kobo good for anything other than shopping in the kobo store? Can you side load or...you know...get library books with the wifi?

It is pretty much just for shopping from Kobo. However, it is super-easy to get the library books onto ADE on your computer, then put them on the Kobo that way. I even shop at the Kobo store on my computer and add those books without WiFi, too, though I do have WiFi at my house. I use it for books the same way I use my iPod for music, which was what I wanted.

I got my Kobo a couple of weeks ago for $70 - a $25 gift certificate I had for my birthday, so I got a great deal but they are even $10 less now. I am just bitter because there are a couple of books I want that are only on Amazon or, in one case, Amazon or B&N. I'm not too bitter, though. If more of that kind of thing crops up, I'll do as some smart people on this thread have suggested and get a Kindle and have 2 eReaders.

[kennyc]

Originally Posted by covingtoncat73

....I'll do as some smart people on this thread have suggested and get a Kindle and have 2 eReaders.

[JSWolf]

Originally Posted by RockdaMan

I think a lot of people use them (I'm among them), but that they aren't "most e-book reader users".

Probably not most. But enough to make it worth having for the libraries.