Will K2PC 1.19 and KFX alter your ebook purchasing habits?

[pdurrant]

Many thanks for your investigations.

[lkmiller]

Originally Posted by jhowell

I have been doing some experimenting with the new version of Kindle for PC that supports KFX.

...............

This seems good, but there is a problem. Many of those books are delivered in a split format with text in the .azw file and images in a .azw.res file. This appears to be the same as the .azw3/.azw6 split sometimes seen on e-ink devices. As far as I know there isn't any existing software that can combine these into a single working file.

Even if KFX is cracked the books delivered in split KF8 format will still need to be dealt with.

As a workaround for now, those with E-ink Kindles can download from the website for transfer via USB.

Thanks for bringing it to our attention.

[ratinox]

Originally Posted by Katsunami

I will never, ever, place a large library of digital media into someone else's complete control. If Steam decides you did 'something wrong' and they block your account, all of your games are gone.

This statement caused me to question my relationship with Valve and Steam. The answer I came up with is: so what?

I buy a lot of computer/console games. I play all of them, eventually. When I'm done with a game I'm done with it. Out of the hundreds of games I've bought I've gone back and replayed fewer than a dozen. Replay is not a value to me.

I'm not a fan of the used games market. While I do firmly believe in the rights afforded by the first-sale doctrine those are rights I choose not to exercise. Creators don't get paid for secondhand sales. Resale is also not a value to me.

So what if I lose my Steam library? I've already obtained whatever value from it that I want so losing it would be little more than an inconvenience.

[Pajamaman]

Originally Posted by jhowell

I have been doing some experimenting with the new version of Kindle for PC that supports KFX.

Many books published on Amazon still do not support enhanced typesetting and so are delivered to K4PC in KF8 (or MOBI) format.

I have also found that some books that are delivered to a Kindle device in KFX are delivered in KF8 format to K4PC. I have seen this in comics and other assorted books. It is likely that the K4PC implementation is missing some KFX features resulting in fall back to KF8.

This seems good, but there is a problem. Many of those books are delivered in a split format with text in the .azw file and images in a .azw.res file. This appears to be the same as the .azw3/.azw6 split sometimes seen on e-ink devices. As far as I know there isn't any existing software that can combine these into a single working file.

Even if KFX is cracked the books delivered in split KF8 format will still need to be dealt with.

The split file approach of KFX sounds like a pita to decompile.

[jhowell]

Originally Posted by Pajamaman

The split file approach of KFX sounds like a pita to decompile.

Both encrypted KFX and the split variant of KF8 use multiple files per book. This is a problem for the existing DRM tools and calibre, both of which were developed with the idea that the contents of an e-book are all contained in a single file. The work to combine a split .azw3/.azw6 KF8 book could have been done a long time ago, but since there were easy ways to avoid the split format no one ever bothered.

The extra work needed to deal with this is just one more factor pushing toward the dropping of K4PC and just using download & transfer for USB instead.

[Katsunami]

Originally Posted by ratinox

This statement caused me to question my relationship with Valve and Steam. The answer I came up with is: so what?

I buy a lot of computer/console games. I play all of them, eventually. When I'm done with a game I'm done with it. Out of the hundreds of games I've bought I've gone back and replayed fewer than a dozen. Replay is not a value to me.

I'm not a fan of the used games market. While I do firmly believe in the rights afforded by the first-sale doctrine those are rights I choose not to exercise. Creators don't get paid for secondhand sales. Resale is also not a value to me.

So what if I lose my Steam library? I've already obtained whatever value from it that I want so losing it would be little more than an inconvenience.

That is one way to look at it.

You play a game once, and then don't care what happens to it. I play some games on and off for 15 years before I decide that it's my last playthrough, just as I reread books.

So, after your first playthrough, it doesn't matter if you lose the game. After my first playthrough, there could potentially be many more, so I don't want to lose the game. Two years ago I decided to replay all of my old games once more before shelving them (probably) forever, and some of them were as old a 1994-1995. So I can see myself doing a Witcher 3 run in 2035.

[DiapDealer]

I'm the same way with (e)books. I don't re-read that often. But if there's a book that I actually love enough to re-read, I won't mind (the least little bit) throwing more money the author's way when I'm ready to re-read a few years down the road (if my previous purchase becomes unavailable, or unusable for whatever reason). There were countless times I wore out/replaced physical copies of books in my youth. Loved buying/reading those new versions just as much.

The only ebooks I "worry" about losing to DRM changes (or store buyouts/closures) are the books I wish I'd never purchased in the first place. The ones I love will ALWAYS be available to me: via my library, the public library, or a new (and utterly unbegrudged) purchase.

[jhowell]

Originally Posted by jhowell

Amazon is now delivering version 1.19.1 of Kindle for PC from their download page.

It looks like Amazon is back to delivering K4PC version 1.17.1 from the main download page again.

I guess there was a problem with 1.19.1.

(I ran across some bugs in my own usage of it.)

[rjcroy]

I think a similar kind of software and ebook format change has been made for Kindle for Android. A few days ago I installed the Kindle app on my phone and downloaded a book (enhanced typesetting enabled) and started reading.

Then the next day I went to open the book on the phone when I was not connected to the internet. When I opened the Kindle for Android app I got a new Terms and Conditions acknowledge title screen (after an update?), and when I went to open the book I got an error message say 'Book format not supported' and to download the book again.

The Kindle for Android version I now have is 7.7.0.123.

[odamizu]

Originally Posted by jhowell

The work to combine a split .azw3/.azw6 KF8 book could have been done a long time ago, but since there were easy ways to avoid the split format no one ever bothered.

Ditto on the thanks for all the work you've done investigating KFX!

What are the workarounds for dealing with split .azw3/.azw6 books, other than to download for USB transfer to an eink Kindle? i.e., what do people who don't have eink Kindles do?

[stumped]

Originally Posted by DiapDealer

I'm the same way with (e)books. I don't re-read that often. But if there's a book that I actually love enough to re-read, I won't mind (the least little bit) throwing more money the author's way when I'm ready to re-read a few years down the road

But that assumes the author, and his book are still around.

not so much with books, but with older TV shows I've been in that black hole of I want it, I'll pay for it even, but I can't have it as it ain't on the markets ( white or black) in any form

actually, with books even, if I sit and recall titles from the sci-fi heyday of yellow covered Gollanz, ( that used to be in my public library ) then try to find them on-sale, the less famous ones seem gone forever. Yes, they reprinted a few, with the authentic original typos lovingly preserved in most cases, but there are gaps. Most never made it into any legit e-form

[lkmiller]

Originally Posted by odamizu

Ditto on the thanks for all the work you've done investigating KFX!

What are the workarounds for dealing with split .azw3/.azw6 books, other than to download for USB transfer to an eink Kindle? i.e., what do people who don't have eink Kindles do?

Stick with K4PC 1.17 or earlier as long as it works. These are things like comics or similar where most or all pages are images. Personally, I usually buy them elsewhere.

ETA: Not sure if they're always available to download to K4PC. And even if you had an E-ink Kindle, I'd worry they might give you black and white images for that.

[jhowell]

Originally Posted by lkmiller

Stick with K4PC 1.17 or earlier as long as it works. These are things like comics or similar where most or all pages are images. Personally, I usually buy them elsewhere.

I have found in my testing that the new K4PC uses the split KF8 format for most regular books that include any images besides the cover, not just comics.

For example this fantasy book with maps that doesn't have enhanced typesetting: The Dragonbone Chair by Tad Williams. (Looking further in this case the main .azw file contains low resolution map images and the additional .azw.res file contains higher resolution versions of the same images.)

[odamizu]

Originally Posted by jhowell

I have found in my testing that the new K4PC uses the split KF8 format for most regular books that include any images besides the cover, not just comics.

Thanks for this info.

So here's my Amazon DRM Apocalypse question:

I'm looking to buy an older Kindle, probably a K5 (the one with the 5-way controller). Let's say Amazon does away with download-for-transfer-via-USB. I know I can still download to the Kindle itself and retrieve the ebook that way. But what if the battery dies, since it's an old Kindle. If I plug an old Kindle with a dead battery into a/c, will it work? Or will I need to replace the battery?

[pdurrant]

Originally Posted by odamizu

Thanks for this info.

So here's my Amazon DRM Apocalypse question:

I'm looking to buy an older Kindle, probably a K5 (the one with the 5-way controller). Let's say Amazon does away with download-for-transfer-via-USB. I know I can still download to the Kindle itself and retrieve the ebook that way. But what if the battery dies, since it's an old Kindle. If I plug an old Kindle with a dead battery into a/c, will it work? Or will I need to replace the battery?

Kindles work when plugged in even if the battery can't hold a charge.

But really, if things get that bad, just stop buying from Amazon!

(All your previously bought books are already de-DRMed, aren't they?)