Sideloading: Own content or "from somewhere else"

[alecE]

Very much as others have already said, I sideload to protect my investment, modify the metadata and repair the seemingly omnipresent typos (sigh). Where necessary, I format shift from Kindle to epub as well. Obviously I remove the DRM, but I refuse to acquire pirated titles.
I suspect that when the time comes to replace my much-loved Sony e-readers I'll probably go for a Kobo.

[rixte]

Originally Posted by mgmueller

I still don't see, how --->your own content or "from somewhere else"<--- could be misleading.

Because I read "your own content" as having been written BY me?

[mgmueller]

Originally Posted by GeoffR

Why would sideloading be more important to pirates than to anyone else? After all, pirated books are DRM-free already, so they can be downloaded direct from the pirate site to the ereader no sideloading necessary.

Technically, it certainly can be done.
But I haven't seen anyone doing that.
Even pirates (the few I know) bring some structure to their files.
Batch-download, rename, put in folders.
The friend I've mentioned before downloaded 20.000 books before buying his first reader. Download was quick enough, but then he filtered for damaged files, wrong labels and such. So those few pirates (humble ones and not considering themselves that way) I know still use the old fashioned way: Website --> PC ---> File management ---> via USB to the reader respectively SD card.

From that, my (admittedly simplified) conclusion:
If someone legally obtains content, it's normally a few books per day and easily can be processed in multiple ways.
If someone illegally obtains content, it quickly can be in the hundreds and thousands and at some stage sideloading probably is the only way to go.

Yes, there will be exceptions.
Maybe someone downloads thousands of books legally from project Gutenberg.
But I've rarely seen such high figures for legal content as I've seen frequently for illegal content.

[CWatkinsNash]

Originally Posted by mgmueller

I still don't see, how --->your own content or "from somewhere else"<--- could be misleading.

For me, it was more the fact that you created basically two options - "buy" or "from somewhere else" in multiple sets of choices. This doesn't provide an accurate range of choices. For example, one can "sideload to save money" by getting perfectly legal free or low-cost books, and one can avoid paying for ebooks and still get legal content. It's not as simple as buying vs pirating, so your choices as stated are misleading.

[eschwartz]

Originally Posted by mgmueller

I still don't see, how --->your own content or "from somewhere else"<--- could be misleading.

Because it means

books that were not purchased for kesef

And your scare quotes imply that all such books are morally suspect.
It does not indicate that you are only speaking about pirated books... this is because there is a word for such things. "pirated".

If you had meant "pirated" you should have said so instead of confusing the issue.
Also, added an extra option instead of lumping together pirates and lovers of classics.

[mgmueller]

Originally Posted by rixte

Because I read "your own content" as having been written BY me?

Agreed, could be read that way.
But then it normally would be a few dozen titles and not the hundreds I raise in the thread.

And I had "Illegal" or something like that in one of the poll questions but it had been changed by a moderator to "free".

[mgmueller]

Originally Posted by eschwartz

..And your scare quotes imply that all such books are morally suspect.
It does not indicate that you are only speaking about pirated books... this is because there is a word for such things. "pirated".

If you had meant "pirated" you should have said so instead of confusing the issue.
Also, added an extra option instead of lumping together pirates and lovers of classics.

I only wanted to go for the morally suspect ones.
I had phrased it "illegal" or something like that and it had been changed to "free" by a moderator.
I didn't want to use the term "pirated", because the MR regulations wouldn't allow someone to admit to that.

And I didn't want to focus on lover of classics, project Gutenberg and the likes.
I was interested in the legitimacy of the content, not the sideolading per se.

[rixte]

Originally Posted by mgmueller

Technically, it certainly can be done.

The friend I've mentioned before downloaded 20.000 books before buying his first reader. Download was quick enough, but then he filtered for damaged files, wrong labels and such.

But I've rarely seen such high figures for legal content as I've seen frequently for illegal content.

Now you're getting into that weird space of pirate/ebook hoarders. I'm guessing they downloaded because they COULD - not because they intended to read those 20,000 books. (Which is the whole ... it doesn't make them less pirated, but it does mean they're not really 'lost sales' from the ebook market.)

[eschwartz]

Originally Posted by rixte

Hahah, I was an English Lit major, if I don't read at least one pre-1900 book a month, I go into withdrawal ...

Did you vote for "other sources" in the poll?

[eschwartz]

Originally Posted by mgmueller

I only wanted to go for the morally suspect ones.
I had phrased it "illegal" or something like that and it had been changed to "free" by a moderator.
I didn't want to use the term "pirated", because the MR regulations wouldn't allow someone to admit to that.

And I didn't want to focus on lover of classics, project Gutenberg and the likes.
I was interested in the legitimacy of the content, not the sideolading per se.

And like I said, you did that SOOOOOOOOO well...

[mgmueller]

Originally Posted by rixte

Now you're getting into that weird space of pirate/ebook hoarders. I'm guessing they downloaded because they COULD - not because they intended to read those 20,000 books. (Which is the whole ... it doesn't make them less pirated, but it does mean they're not really 'lost sales' from the ebook market.)

Compared to HarryT with his 6.000+ books, I'm a tiny fish in a huge pond with my roughly 3.000 legally obtained books (all purchased, no freebies).
But in my group, this by far ist he biggest number of bought books. Most of the others have a few hundred at best.
But then there's the group of "pirates". They all are in the tens of thousands.
Confirmed, same for Nintendo games, MP3s and whatever.

Why stop at your actual demand?
If you download pirated content, why not download almost everything you may find?
The friend I've mentioned before stated:
"It takes way too much time, to actually filter through the content.
I don't look for some author or anything specific.
Sometimes I just download all the German ePUBs that have been uploaded to my usual source that day: Another 500 or so, downloaded in less than 3 minutes.
Actually checking them would take way longer.
I just archive them on my SD card - and there's plenty of books to store on 32GB or even 64GB"....

And then again - such vast numbers easiest can be sideloaded.
Would anyone download hundreds of MB of unmanaged data directly on their reader?
Going through your PC and some kind of content management seems more likely...

[rixte]

Oh and libraries! I don't use the ebook lending program (I'm too impatient) but my brother does all the time.

[shalym]

Originally Posted by mgmueller

Would anyone download hundreds of MB of unmanaged data directly on their reader?
Going through your PC and some kind of content management seems more likely...

It sounds to me as if your "friends" aren't book readers, they're book hoarders. I don't understand why anyone would download hundreds of MB of unmanaged data to anywhere, whether e-reader or PC.

Shari

[rixte]

Originally Posted by mgmueller

Compared to HarryT with his 6.000+ books, I'm a tiny fish in a huge pond with my roughly 3.000 legally obtained books (all purchased, no freebies).
But in my group, this by far ist he biggest number of bought books. Most of the others have a few hundred at best.
But then there's the group of "pirates". They all are in the tens of thousands.
Confirmed, same for Nintendo games, MP3s and whatever.

Why stop at your actual demand?
If you download pirated content, why not download almost everything you may find?
The friend I've mentioned before stated:
"It takes way too much time, to actually filter through the content.
I don't look for some author or anything specific.
Sometimes I just download all the German ePUBs that have been uploaded to my usual source that day: Another 500 or so, downloaded in less than 3 minutes.
Actually checking them would take way longer.
I just archive them on my SD card - and there's plenty of books to store on 32GB or even 64GB"....

And then again - such vast numbers easiest can be sidelaoded.
Would anyone download hundreds of MB of unmanaged data directly on their reader?
Going through your PC and some kind of content management seems more likely...

I guess I'm not understanding what you're trying to find out with your poll?

Yes, it's easier to sideload than directly download when dealing with large quantities of books. When my new Voyage comes next week, I am going to sideload my previous kindle's library over to it, rather than individually loading books.

But in terms of your friend, and this is a bit off topic, but it's what struck me about the 20,000 remark. There has to be sorting and choosing done at SOME stage, unless there's absolutely no interest in actually reading, only possessing.

[eschwartz]

Originally Posted by rixte

Oh and libraries! I don't use the ebook lending program (I'm too impatient) but my brother does all the time.

Good point! I don't sideload those because the Kindle is more direct. But Kobo owners who are library users should select that option, too.

And more room for Anti-Kindle biases.