Mobipocket Issues affecting our customers - NOW RESOLVED

[Lemurion]

Originally Posted by Dave Berk

Yep. I know there are two types of mobi files : PX and OD. What's the difference between them??

There is another difference that people haven't mentioned. You don't always have to manually enter your PID at the store when using PX servers. They have a system where you download a file, then log in with your store credentials to authorize after the initial download.

It then downloads a working copy.

Personally I find this system's a HUGE pain and much prefer OD.

[KurtJohnson]

As of 9:10pm CDT no change in status.

To weigh in on the discussion here;
I like Microsoft Reader again for Windows Mobile devices since their updates in July although I prefer Mobipocket OD as an all around platform. Adobe is the best for graphics if you're going to read from desktop or laptop - or Sony. eReader's okay, too, but (and in consideration of what we are experiencing today a significant 'but' to consider) eReader format is single-sourced from Ingram whereas all the others have at least two sources.

Tonight, we are without PX but our customers may still access Mobipocket OD.

[Lemurion]

Originally Posted by KurtJohnson

As of 9:10pm CDT no change in status.

To weigh in on the discussion here;
I like Microsoft Reader again for Windows Mobile devices since their updates in July although I prefer Mobipocket OD as an all around platform. Adobe is the best for graphics if you're going to read from desktop or laptop - or Sony. eReader's okay, too, but (and in consideration of what we are experiencing today a significant 'but' to consider) eReader format is single-sourced from Ingram whereas all the others have at least two sources.

Tonight, we are without PX but our customers may still access Mobipocket OD.

For Graphics I prefer CDisplay - but that's another story. MS Reader was the first program I used, and I still like it. Mobipocket is solid, I shifted to it from MS Reader on my iPaq, but I find Ereader works the best on my current device, so I like it better. The single source is an issue, but I definitely prefer the idea of locking to the user not the device.

Thanks for keeping us updated. We do appreciate it.

[pilotbob]

Originally Posted by Lemurion

The issue comes from the fact that many companies which have used server-based DRM authentication systems have later found that their business needs required that they take those servers down permanently.

Should that happen with mobi, everyone is hooped for new devices.

Hey I am not saying I like DRM at all which is why I "liberate" my ebooks to make them a bit more future proof.

BOb

[Monteagle]

I guess we shouldn't be surprised that Amazon/Mobipocket has done it again, leaving customers holding the bag while they focus on Oprah.

Wonder if Oprah - who claims to speak for regular people and apparently endorsed the Kindle yesterday - knows that her latest corporate sponsor took down hundreds of thousands of customers ebookshelves in the interest of their corporate profits just a few short years ago - same management then as now. (These were bookshelves Amazon encouraged people to use as a virtual library and back-up, just as it's done with Kindle). Or does she know that Amazon let their Mobipocket customers go almost a month last September without being abel to download ebooks they purchased without warning, public statement or apology.

And they're doing more of the same today. Any wonder the publishers are frightened of Amazon's attempt at dominance. Amazon will continue to encourage creativity, of course, so long as it's on Amazon's terms.

I'm for the independents any day - I'll keep buying my ebooks from BooksOnBoard, or FWse.

It's hard to believe that the self-appointed champion of regular people has sold her soul to the big corporation and the quarterly income statement. (Maybe she needed some extra cash after getting massacred in the stock market. History will judge.)

As for me, I still like to think we have some thread of control over our decisions; I'll do everything I can to resist the hundreds of millions of dollars big outfits like Amazon spend to control me. That kind of "advertising and spin" strategy is the same kind of thing we see with the sub-prime mortgage thing and the bailout. Why can't ebooks - and books in general - be left out of that kind of politics and spin-meistering?

[daffy4u]

Originally Posted by Monteagle

I guess we shouldn't be surprised that Amazon/Mobipocket has done it again, leaving customers holding the bag while they focus on Oprah.

Wonder if Oprah - who claims to speak for regular people and apparently endorsed the Kindle yesterday - knows that her latest corporate sponsor took down hundreds of thousands of customers ebookshelves in the interest of their corporate profits just a few short years ago - same management then as now. (These were bookshelves Amazon encouraged people to use as a virtual library and back-up, just as it's done with Kindle). Or does she know that Amazon let their Mobipocket customers go almost a month last September without being abel to download ebooks they purchased without warning, public statement or apology.

And they're doing more of the same today. Any wonder the publishers are frightened of Amazon's attempt at dominance. Amazon will continue to encourage creativity, of course, so long as it's on Amazon's terms.

Maybe you could write her and let her know.

[bill_mchale]

Originally Posted by pilotbob

Hey I am not saying I like DRM at all which is why I "liberate" my ebooks to make them a bit more future proof.

BOb

Of course, by stripping DRM, you may be breaking the law (there seems to be some dispute about that), you are letting the publishers know there is a market for DRM'd books and you are justifying their arguments for DRM.

--
Bill

[pilotbob]

Originally Posted by bill_mchale

Of course, by stripping DRM, you may be breaking the law (there seems to be some dispute about that), you are letting the publishers know there is a market for DRM'd books and you are justifying their arguments for DRM.

Well... that is one opinion. The other is that I am proving to them how useless DRM really is.

BOb

PS: I also speed sometimes. Shhhh!

[donbrubaker]

It does seem like their web site is down as well. I was just trying to add a new PID for my new laptop on which I was going to be redownloading my books from fictionwise... but will have to wait until things are back up. You'd think a larger company like this would have multiple redundancies built into their servers...

[FizzyWater]

Originally Posted by JSWolf

They don't. It's just the servers these books are using to encode the PID into he Mobipocket file.

Actually, if you want to use a PID with both the OD and PX Mobi books, you do have to list the PIDs twice on BooksOnBoard's website.

The OD books require the PID entry. The PX don't, but if you don't, then the book makes you login to your BooksOnBoard account. So for the PX, if you plan to read them on a device that isn't connected to the web, it's suggested you also register PIDs as well.

[HarryT]

Originally Posted by Monteagle

Or does she know that Amazon let their Mobipocket customers go almost a month last September without being abel to download ebooks they purchased without warning, public statement or apology.

Lest we forget, Mobi took the extremely responsible step of taking down their servers last year because of a potential security breach which could have affected the security of customer accounts. They did apologise for the move, but decided that to take down the servers, while causing inconvenience, was in the best interests of their customers - something which I completely agree with.

As I recall, the outage lasted for about two weeks.

There is, however, not the slightest reason to suppose that this is anything other than a temporary server outage. Doing a "tracert" shows that the site is simply not there at the moment - I suspect they've had some kind of hardware failure.

[grayfox]

Grumble....

I was able to *buy* a book from Fictionwise yesterday but not
download the rascal....

This morning I was not able to even access the site

I wonder if they are going to extend their 'autumn' sale...

Jerry

[HarryT]

FW was up a couple of hours ago but you're right, they do seem to be off the air at the moment.

[JSWolf]

FW seems to not be fully functioning at the moment. I cannot log in.

[HarryT]

I just plain can't connect to Fictionwise at the moment, Jon!