Amazon and DRM changes

[ZodWallop]

Originally Posted by Josieb1

I exclusively read on a kobo... but I still buy books from Amazon.

Me too. I wonder if we all wouldn't have been better off buying from Kobo all along.

[hleo12]

Originally Posted by ZodWallop

Me too. I wonder if we all wouldn't have been better off buying from Kobo all along.

My favorite authors are sadly locked up by Amazon. I'd rather throw some cash towards Amazon's way than not read their books.

And if Kobo made their ereader prices competitive and more widely available, it would've made switching back a non-issue for me. Clara HD and PWSE are the same price here, which is just ridiculous. I just can't justify that purchase.

[ownedbycats]

If you can find an email for the authors, it might be worth asking whether they have plans to withdraw from KDP Select once the term is done. Be nice about it though; KU reads makes up a good bulk of some author's royalties.

[j.p.s]

Originally Posted by ZodWallop

Me too. I wonder if we all wouldn't have been better off buying from Kobo all along.

Could be. I was amazon onlt until a few weeks ago. But instead of supplying illustrations that do justice to 300 dpi and the zooming capibiliy of newer readers, they downsize the resolution from what gets supplied on EPUB and eviscerates the quality on top of that. Just finding a book with known title and author keeps getting more awkward, and all the flashing, movingthings around, and autoplaying video is worse than watching a commercial on TV.

All the above has been getting worse and I stewed over it, but didn't stray because of X-ray and inertia. But WordDumb makes better X-ray files than amazon delivers and illustrations in EPUB are much better, so I've been pushed over the edge, no more books from amazon unless there is no alternative. If they hadn't made USB transfer such a PITA and did a better job on X-ray I might have only switched to EPUB for illustrated books. But why research whether a book has illustrations when it's easier to buy the EPUB, convert to azw3, and generate a X-ray file?

(And if they hadn't ruined the web experience and had delivered decent illustrations I wouldn't have even looked into switching to EPUB.)

[tx2005]

I haven't read the entire thread, just mostly the first page, but if I understand correctly, no matter if you have an e-ink Kindle or not, books published after Jan 3 cannot have DRM removed. Is that correct?

I buy lots of books on Kindle but it might be time to look elsewhere. I guess Kobo is best option but like others here have said, I have some authors I read that are Kindle exclusive. Also, I use Overdrive/Libby quite often with my public library, and I'm not sure if that's something that works with Kobo.

[ownedbycats]

Originally Posted by tx2005

I haven't read the entire thread, just mostly the first page, but if I understand correctly, no matter if you have an e-ink Kindle or not, books published after Jan 3 cannot have DRM removed. Is that correct?

The date restriction is only for older versions of Kindle for PC.

If you have an e-Ink Kindle, you can still use "Download & Transfer" on purchased books to get a format that can be DeDRM'd. Certain older models of Kindle also still store the files in that format.

Originally Posted by tx2005

Also, I use Overdrive/Libby quite often with my public library, and I'm not sure if that's something that works with Kobo.

Overdrive works on Kobo devices. Multiple libraries is a pain.

[tx2005]

Originally Posted by ownedbycats

The date restriction is only for older versions of Kindle for PC.

If you have an e-Ink Kindle, you can still use "Download & Transfer" on purchased books to get a format that can be DeDRM'd. Certain older models of Kindle also still store the files in that format.

Does the download and transfer option still work for purchased books published after Jan 3 via an e-ink Kindle?

Originally Posted by ownedbycats

Overdrive works on Kobo devices. Multiple libraries is a pain.

That's unfortunate (the multiple libraries part). I am lucky enough to have 3 big public library systems in my area that I use in Libby, and to be honest, the Libby app makes it pretty seemless.

Then again, it's probably not the end of the world if I want to switch given Kobo does work with Overdrive.

[ownedbycats]

Originally Posted by tx2005

Does the download and transfer option still work for purchased books published after Jan 3 via an e-ink Kindle?

Unless the book is only available in KFX format (Hindi-language ones, for example), yes.

[Aleron Ives]

Originally Posted by ownedbycats

Overdrive works on Kobo devices. Multiple libraries is a pain.

Somebody recently posted a workaround, where you enter your Libby/Overdrive credentials on the Kobo, and then it can see all the books checked out to your Overdrive account, even if you use multiple libraries. This removes the need to change the credentials on the Kobo over and over, as long as you're willing to use a PC to do the library checkouts from the individual libraries.

[ZodWallop]

Originally Posted by hleo12

My favorite authors are sadly locked up by Amazon. I'd rather throw some cash towards Amazon's way than not read their books.

Not favorite authors (Steinbeck and King will never be Amazon exclusive), but I have bought books from a bunch of Amazon exclusive authors. But when the book isn't Amazon exclusive...

Something I was thinking about is with this change, if there is a catastrophic failure where the hard drive and back-up both fail, I won't be able to get copies from Kindle any longer.

And if Kobo made their ereader prices competitive and more widely available, it would've made switching back a non-issue for me. Clara HD and PWSE are the same price here, which is just ridiculous. I just can't justify that purchase.

In the US, Kobo and Kindle hardware are very competitively priced.

[Sirtel]

Originally Posted by ZodWallop

Something I was thinking about is with this change, if there is a catastrophic failure where the hard drive and back-up both fail, I won't be able to get copies from Kindle any longer.

Make more back-ups then. Why limit yourself to only one?

[ownedbycats]

Also, backup practices aren't too good if a "catastrophic failure" short of a worldwide failure of all electronics (in which you'll have more problems than lost Kindle books) takes out both computer and backup. You'll want one backup off-site.

[DuckieTigger]

Originally Posted by ZodWallop

Something I was thinking about is with this change, if there is a catastrophic failure where the hard drive and back-up both fail, I won't be able to get copies from Kindle any longer.

Why would that be if the older titles are published last year or earlier?

[JSWolf]

Originally Posted by hleo12

My favorite authors are sadly locked up by Amazon. I'd rather throw some cash towards Amazon's way than not read their books.

And if Kobo made their ereader prices competitive and more widely available, it would've made switching back a non-issue for me. Clara HD and PWSE are the same price here, which is just ridiculous. I just can't justify that purchase.

The prices for Kobo are competitive.

Kobo Libra 2 32GB - $189
Amazon Kindle Oasis 32GB with ads - $279
Amazon Kindle Oasis 8GB with ads - $249
Without ads, add $20 to the prices for the Kindles.

Now you tell me how that is not competitive?

[ownedbycats]

Originally Posted by DuckieTigger

Why would that be if the older titles are published last year or earlier?

If they remove the other methods of getting DeDRMable files. Who knows with Amazon?