One Store to Rule Them All? or: Can Anyone Stop Amazon ? - Page 3

spindlegirl · 03-05-2012, 05:56 AM

I have never used Amazon to purchase any digital media because as a Linux user I find it impossible to use in a way that works for me. When I have "bought" a book offered for free, it only delivers it to my "Kindle Cloud", or my "Kindle for PC" (which every time I have tried to use it under wine it has frozen my computer), or my Kindle (which I have never bought and have no plans to own unless somebody wants to give me one). Never the option to just download it to my computer and convert it to an epub for use on calibre or my own reader. I cannot buy stuff which works on such limited resources.

So I have a handful of freebies sitting on the Kindle Cloud and I find the reader very cruddy (longest I have lasted is 90 seconds to consecutively read on it) as compared to my e-reader device and even calibre. But for a few months now I have not even snatched up the freebies. I get much more freedom from the epubs I collect and buy from other sources. Companies which aren't freaked that I have files that I have jurisdiction over.

avantman42 · 03-05-2012, 07:21 AM

@spindlegirl You can download Kindle books to your computer. Just under the "Buy now with 1-Click" button is a "Deliver to:" drop-down menu. Select "Transfer via Computer" from that drop-down and your browser will download a file. For books you've already bought, in the "Your Kindle Library" page in "Manage your Kindle" on the Amazon website, there's a "Download & transfer via USB" option when you click on the Actions button.

Also, I've found that the Kindle Reader app in Chrome works well on Linux.

ProfCrash · 03-05-2012, 07:37 AM

You can also go to your Manage my Kindle page and transfer everything to your computer.

spindlegirl · 03-05-2012, 07:58 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by avantman42

@spindlegirl You can download Kindle books to your computer. Just under the "Buy now with 1-Click" button is a "Deliver to:" drop-down menu. Select "Transfer via Computer" from that drop-down and your browser will download a file. For books you've already bought, in the "Your Kindle Library" page in "Manage your Kindle" on the Amazon website, there's a "Download & transfer via USB" option when you click on the Actions button.

Also, I've found that the Kindle Reader app in Chrome works well on Linux.

I am looking for the options you describe, and I don't see them.

The "deliver to" options are "kindle cloud reader" and "kindle for pc". I have the kindle cloud app on my Chrome. But I detest the cloud reader, and I don't see an option where I can separate the files themselves and convert them for the device of my choice.

Where do the files GO? and How can I make them truly MINE to read on whatever I fancy to read them on? If I ever do find the "Download and Transfer via USB" option, where do THOSE files go, and how much power do I have over my own files?

For no other digital media that I have bought, have I had to do THIS much research. I'd rather buy stuff that is mine after the receipt shows up.

spindlegirl · 03-05-2012, 08:05 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by ProfCrash

You can also go to your Manage my Kindle page and transfer everything to your computer.

How? The only option it gives me is the Kindle for PC. Is that what they think of as "to my computer"???

I honestly have no clue how to get the product off their shelf and into MY shelf...
They don't make their products usable for "just anybody".

Kumabjorn · 03-05-2012, 08:30 AM

I think you need to have a Kindle registered in order to get the transfer via USB option.

spindlegirl · 03-05-2012, 08:35 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Kumabjorn

I think you need to have a Kindle registered in order to get the transfer via USB option.

Exactly. I read it in the faq that it doesn't support any other device other than kindle products. Which is why I personally am not a patron of amazon's digital products. They simply are not applicable to my personal needs.

anamardoll · 03-05-2012, 09:52 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by spindlegirl

How? The only option it gives me is the Kindle for PC. Is that what they think of as "to my computer"???

I honestly have no clue how to get the product off their shelf and into MY shelf...
They don't make their products usable for "just anybody".

Once you download it to your Kindle for PC, the books should show up in My Documents/My Kindle Content.

Except... did you say you're not running Windows?

ETA: Ooh, yeah, you're Linux.

avantman42 · 03-05-2012, 10:04 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by anamardoll

Once you download it to your Kindle for PC, the books should show up in My Documents/My Kindle Content.

Except... did you say you're not running Windows?

ETA: Ooh, yeah, you're Linux.

Tgat's a good point, though. IIRC, wine puts anything for My Documents in the user's Linux home directory. If I'm right, you should have a ~/My Kindle Content directory, which will have your books.

spindlegirl · 03-05-2012, 10:08 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by anamardoll

ETA: Ooh, yeah, you're Linux.

Indeed. My husband has been using Linux since the mid 90s and he is a DD (Debian developer)

ProfCrash · 03-05-2012, 10:17 AM

Gotcha. I did not realize that the Linux thing was such a problem. I am sorry for passing on bad info. I thought everyone had the download to computer option.

For the record, I find it on the Manage my Kindle page. I find a book, I scroll to the far right and hover over the action button, I choose Download and transfer via USB. I don't know enough about computer programming to understand why this wouldn't work for a system running on linux.

avantman42 · 03-05-2012, 10:20 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by ProfCrash

Gotcha. I did not realize that the Linux thing was such a problem. I am sorry for passing on bad info. I thought everyone had the download to computer option.

For the record, I find it on the Manage my Kindle page. I find a book, I scroll to the far right and hover over the action button, I choose Download and transfer via USB. I don't know enough about computer programming to understand why this wouldn't work for a system running on linux.

It works on Linux if you have a Kindle registered to your account (I run Ubuntu and Fedora, and it works on both for me). I guess if you don't have a Kindle then they don't give you the option, since it's intended to be used to give you a file that you can sideload to the Kindle.

spindlegirl · 03-05-2012, 10:22 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by avantman42

Tgat's a good point, though. IIRC, wine puts anything for My Documents in the user's Linux home directory. If I'm right, you should have a ~/My Kindle Content directory, which will have your books.

I see some of that, but again, being able to use the files is, at present, not possible for me. Kindle for PC crashes every time I open a book under wine, and what else can I do with an ambiguously named .azw file that will allow me to convert it, and then put it on my sony reader which reads epubs?

Ive googled apprentice alf and haven't been able to figure it out. The extensions don't work on calibre for linux, and I've spent hours trying to work it out.

End result, I have about 12 books I got for free, but I still can only read them on the cloud app. Which is fine by me at the end of the day. I got them for free. However, the format of the books is not something which is worth it for me to pay for.

Redcard · 03-05-2012, 10:27 AM

If you have linux, you can use read.amazon.com in Chrome.

spindlegirl · 03-05-2012, 10:35 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Redcard

If you have linux, you can use read.amazon.com in Chrome.

Yes, I like how the kindle app for Chrome works via linux. I think it works well for the free content I have obtained from Amazon.

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03-05-2012, 05:56 AM	#31
spindlegirl Wizard Posts: 1,594 Karma: 21245891 Join Date: Apr 2011 Location: Canada Device: Kobo Libra h20, Paperwhite 2017, Phone & Tablet w Moonreader	I have never used Amazon to purchase any digital media because as a Linux user I find it impossible to use in a way that works for me. When I have "bought" a book offered for free, it only delivers it to my "Kindle Cloud", or my "Kindle for PC" (which every time I have tried to use it under wine it has frozen my computer), or my Kindle (which I have never bought and have no plans to own unless somebody wants to give me one). Never the option to just download it to my computer and convert it to an epub for use on calibre or my own reader. I cannot buy stuff which works on such limited resources. So I have a handful of freebies sitting on the Kindle Cloud and I find the reader very cruddy (longest I have lasted is 90 seconds to consecutively read on it) as compared to my e-reader device and even calibre. But for a few months now I have not even snatched up the freebies. I get much more freedom from the epubs I collect and buy from other sources. Companies which aren't freaked that I have files that I have jurisdiction over.

03-05-2012, 07:21 AM	#32
avantman42 Wizard Posts: 1,090 Karma: 6058305 Join Date: Sep 2010 Location: UK Device: Kindle Paperwhite	@spindlegirl You can download Kindle books to your computer. Just under the "Buy now with 1-Click" button is a "Deliver to:" drop-down menu. Select "Transfer via Computer" from that drop-down and your browser will download a file. For books you've already bought, in the "Your Kindle Library" page in "Manage your Kindle" on the Amazon website, there's a "Download & transfer via USB" option when you click on the Actions button. Also, I've found that the Kindle Reader app in Chrome works well on Linux.

03-05-2012, 07:37 AM	#33
ProfCrash Tea Enthusiast Posts: 8,554 Karma: 75384937 Join Date: Jul 2010 Location: Somewhere in the USA Device: Kindle1, Kindle DX Graphite, K3 3G, IPad 3, PW2	You can also go to your Manage my Kindle page and transfer everything to your computer.

03-05-2012, 08:30 AM	#36
Kumabjorn Basculocolpic Posts: 4,356 Karma: 20181319 Join Date: Jul 2010 Location: Sweden Device: Kindle 3 WiFi, Kindle 4SO, Kindle for Android, Sony PRS-350 and PRS-T1	I think you need to have a Kindle registered in order to get the transfer via USB option.

03-05-2012, 10:17 AM	#41
ProfCrash Tea Enthusiast Posts: 8,554 Karma: 75384937 Join Date: Jul 2010 Location: Somewhere in the USA Device: Kindle1, Kindle DX Graphite, K3 3G, IPad 3, PW2	Gotcha. I did not realize that the Linux thing was such a problem. I am sorry for passing on bad info. I thought everyone had the download to computer option. For the record, I find it on the Manage my Kindle page. I find a book, I scroll to the far right and hover over the action button, I choose Download and transfer via USB. I don't know enough about computer programming to understand why this wouldn't work for a system running on linux.

03-05-2012, 10:27 AM	#44
Redcard Addict Posts: 235 Karma: 1202269 Join Date: Mar 2008 Device: Kindle	If you have linux, you can use read.amazon.com in Chrome.