Aura Never sign out of Kobo....

[cybmole]

Originally Posted by eschwartz

An important distinction to make.

I did a kindle for PC test- it actually worked like what you said about the kindle hardware:
I donloaded abook into kindle for PC , opened book, cloed program. went to amazon, manage my kindle, deleted that book from my owned books ibrary.

reopened kindle for PC - book was still there. forced re-sync - book was still there. ( i expected the book to vanish after a forced sync - but I was wrong)

I did not test un-register/ re-register of the software,
a proper version of that test would be to populate the kindle-for-PC app with a mix of bought books , downloaded free Amazon samples, & side-loaded calibre conversions, then un-register, close, open, check, re-register, close, open check...

I did not test library loans. The borrow a book for free because you are an Amazon prime member wil not send said book to PC app. I did, just as a challenge, puzzle out where a free prime loan book goes on Kindle Fire & it is placed into some very obscure folder - DRM free, but I am not going to give the folder location a) 'cos I've forgotten it b) 'cos it could be construed as a piracy aid.
but at one book max per calendar month that would have to rank was one of the slowest piracy exploits ever found

My UK library/ overdrive does not do kindle books. I did once loan one through my USA FLP library membership & that did get delivered ( via amazon.com) to my Kindle-for-PC, but that has been returned already

[eschwartz]

On e-ink Kindles, both types of loan (as well as through ebookfling/lendle/friend loans) show up just like any other book. Though I believe according to the MR wiki info about mobi headers that there is an internal meta field to differentiate loaned vs purchased books, that is probaly the only difference. They won't even delete it until you sync so who knows why they bother anyway.

[cybmole]

kindle lending is really a poor deal. the only positive feature is no return date - keep the books forever if you like...
but it's limited to ONE book per calendar month max, return the previous one in order to choose another - 1 a month does not feed the average reading habit, & there is now obvious search facility for finding prime rental books.

The USA kindle library loan system is more interesting. I joined a USA library & I took one book as Kindle, since there was no epub on offer. now with epub you just get a licence ascm licence file when works in DADE or direct to an authorised e-reader. with Kindle loans you get re-routed to amazon.com for the download ( & here I'm thinking this is where it will fail, because I am an amazmon Uk person)- but voila, I od have an amazon.com login from previous imports so it gives me the book - no quibble. Now that book does have a return date on the library site. return it manually was not intuitive, btu I found an option for that in the manage my kindle section of amazon site I did an early return to free up a library slot, so I never got so see if the loan book auto-deletes , or how/if it locks you out once expired.

going more on-topic, I wonder if Kobo will ever get into the lending books business. it would be a tasty incentive if each new reader was bundled with some lending deal, even a crappy 1 per month like amazon's. They could go one better, make it 1 book per 14 days & proclaim FREE BOOKS for a year in the device marketing blurb.

as they apparently know all about tying books to accounts & zapping as needed !, it shoud be simple for them to implement ?

[eschwartz]

The Amazon.com loan fail is entirely up to the fact that you are "cheating" the georestrictions inherent in the loan. Which is pretty unfair, but still has nothing to do with the underlying tech and integration

I agree, it would be quite nice to return book directly from the Kindle. And on that note, returning early just changes the date on which they message your Kindle to auto-delete the book.

I doubt Kobo will integrate directly with OverDrive. Amazon only does because they don't support ADE encryption. Pity... it is very pleasant to manage everything from the browser, no messing around with Yet Another Useless Program.

[cybmole]

Originally Posted by eschwartz

The Amazon.com loan fail

my point was it didn't fail!

Free Library of Philadelphia told amazon.com to lend me a named book for a given period - & they did ! [ I dunno how they managed the link , unless it worked because I have the same email address for both sites ? - neither site knows my log in password for the other site ]

I expected it to fail , somewhere along the line. but it all worked.

PS $50 for a year at FLP, borrow up to 6 books at a time, is an excellent deal from overseas

What Kobo would need to do is leave overdrive / ADE for the public libraries, & do their own rival lending system with their own DRM, only for purchasers of Kobo hardware + books in their store. Could be that the showstopper is not the technology , it's the prospect of having to sort out all the publisher permissions & royalties

( unlike trying to view.com prime instant movies - I have the .co.uk the prime package but I can only watch what they allow me over here - & the new exclusive deal they did with HBO is for USA only :-(.

What Kobo would need to do is leave overdrive / ADE for the public libraries, & do their own rival lending system with their own DRM, only for purchasers of Kobo hardware + books in their store. Could be that the showstopper is not the technology , it's the prospect of having to sort out all the publisher permissions & royalties

PS I wonder how many of the folks watching Amazon Prime's exclusive pirates saga - Black Sails Season 1 - are watching pirated copies