Amazon and DRM changes

[Sirtel]

Originally Posted by DiapDealer

That's why you do it. I'm surprised at the number of people who might feel as you do. Kindle Unlimited is an Amazon product. I would expect most people to use it as it was intended or to not use it.

I'm pretty sure most people do use it as it was intended. The MobileRead users are a minority. People who know how to remove DRM or bother to do it are also a minority.

[Terisa de morgan]

Originally Posted by Sirtel

I'm pretty sure most people do use it as it was intended. The MobileRead users are a minority. People who know how to remove DRM or bother to do it are also a minority.

I agree, MobileRead users, as it has been told for another matters, is a small minority, and the behavior you get from here is not a common behavior.

[Terisa de morgan]

Originally Posted by DiapDealer

That's why you do it. I'm surprised at the number of people who might feel as you do. Kindle Unlimited is an Amazon product. I would expect most people to use it as it was intended or to not use it.

There is a difference here. To use Kindle Unlimited is using an Amazon product. The question is that, even if you are not involved in Kindle Unlimited, and you're not using the product, you cannot purchase the book at other place (some exceptions apply, but not for the majority).

[DiapDealer]

Originally Posted by Sirtel

I'm pretty sure most people do use it as it was intended. The MobileRead users are a minority. People who know how to remove DRM or bother to do it are also a minority.

I agree. But even in this small sampling, I'm still surprised at the number of people willing to go to such great lengths to buy something locked to one ecosystem and read it in another. Kindle Unlimited aside, when does one just "read the book"? Especially if some of the practices of the store where one buys the books makes them nauseous?

[haertig]

I don't consider removing DRM from the books I buy as curating a library. Although that is indeed an aspect of it I suppose.

I am more worried about preventing the thing that happened to me with B&N. I started out with a Nook. I bought EPUBS. Encrypted. But the Nook displayed those just fine. All was good. Then some years later I switched to a Paperwhite. Those display AZW3 (and other Amazon formats), but not EPUBs. Yes, NOW Amazon has a converter you can use, but they did not THEN. So I learned about de-DRM and converting book formats. That was required to use my new Paperwhite. That, or throw out the books I had already purchased and buy them all over again.

So now, I could go the way of my old B&N thinking and buy (and keep) nothing but encrypted AZW3 files. But then, if my Paperwhite dies and I decide to try a Kobo instead, I'd be stuck again. Since Kobo's can't display AZW3 files to my knowledge, let alone encrypted ones.

So every book I buy now I assure that if it's an AZW3, that I can de-DRM it and convert it to an EPUB. And the reverse for EPUB files that I buy. Even if I don't technically need that converted file right now, I make sure I have it immediately after purchase because you just never know when my Paperwhite might blow up and I find a great sale on Kobo's that makes them more attractive than a replacement Paperwhite.

I don't call this curating a library. But I guess it kind of is. Additionally, I thought it would be a good idea to have a few spare books sitting at the ready, so I would still have things to read if I go bankrupt and have no money to buy books on a just-in-time as-needed basis. Well, over the years "a few spare books" kind of snowballed into a ludicrously sized TBR hoard. "A few spares" was the original intention, but that's not how it (embarrassingly) turned out. Now, I could fund my way out of a bankruptcy if I could find a legal way to sell "those few spare books". Oh well. The money is spent, and it's not coming back. But I am indeed truly set for life when it comes to reading material. So there is some benefit to my madness. There was a point during my buying spree that I realized I was way past a few spares. And then I started justifying my continuing purchases as "buying for life". Not a very good justification I'll admit, but when you're bordering on insane you find lots of ways to justify your bizarre purchasing habits. Am I still buying books? Yes, but very infrequently. My madness is on a path to being cured, or at least mitigated.

[Sirtel]

Originally Posted by haertig

Spoiler:

I don't consider removing DRM from the books I buy as curating a library. Although that is indeed an aspect of it I suppose.

I am more worried about preventing the thing that happened to me with B&N. I started out with a Nook. I bought EPUBS. Encrypted. But the Nook displayed those just fine. All was good. Then some years later I switched to a Paperwhite. Those display AZW3 (and other Amazon formats), but not EPUBs. Yes, NOW Amazon has a converter you can use, but they did not THEN. So I learned about de-DRM and converting book formats. That was required to use my new Paperwhite. That, or throw out the books I had already purchased and buy them all over again.

So now, I could go the way of my old B&N thinking and buy (and keep) nothing but encrypted AZW3 files. But then, if my Paperwhite dies and I decide to try a Kobo instead, I'd be stuck again. Since Kobo's can't display AZW3 files to my knowledge, let alone encrypted ones.

So every book I buy now I assure that if it's an AZW3, that I can de-DRM it and convert it to an EPUB. And the reverse for EPUB files that I buy. Even if I don't technically need that converted file right now, I make sure I have it immediately after purchase because you just never know when my Paperwhite might blow up and I find a great sale on Kobo's that makes them more attractive than a replacement Paperwhite.

I don't call this curating a library. But I guess it kind of is. Additionally, I thought it would be a good idea to have a few spare books sitting at the ready, so I would still have things to read if I go bankrupt and have no money to buy books on a just-in-time as-needed basis. Well, over the years "a few spare books" kind of snowballed into a ludicrously sized TBR hoard. "A few spares" was the original intention, but that's not how it (embarrassingly) turned out. Now, I could fund my way out of a bankruptcy if I could find a legal way to sell "those few spare books". Oh well. The money is spent, and it's not coming back. But I am indeed truly set for life when it comes to reading material. So there is some benefit to my madness. There was a point during my buying spree that I realized I was way past a few spares. And then I started justifying my continuing purchases as "buying for life". Not a very good justification I'll admit, but when you're bordering on insane you find lots of ways to justify your bizarre purchasing habits. Am I still buying books? Yes, but very infrequently. My madness is on a path to being cured, or at least mitigated.

Heh. I'm still mad as a hatter by that definition. But then, I've never justified my buying habits to myself or to others. I've always known what I'm doing, and it's pure greediness. I'm hoarding. There's no excuse. My insanity is incurable.

[ownedbycats]

Originally Posted by haertig

So now, I could go the way of my old B&N thinking and buy (and keep) nothing but encrypted AZW3 files. But then, if my Paperwhite dies and I decide to try a Kobo instead, I'd be stuck again. Since Kobo's can't display AZW3 files to my knowledge, let alone encrypted ones.

No. If you have an AZW3 in Calibre library and try to send it to a Kobo, Calibre will offer to convert it first. But it can't do this if it's DRM'd.

[haertig]

Originally Posted by Sirtel

I can state categorically that my tastes have never changed since childhood and teenage years.

That mostly describes me too. I have ADDED new genres that I now enjoy, but I have not SUBTRACTED any of the old ones. I can't think of any books, even from decades ago, that I would say "I'd never read that one again!" Except for some of the books I was required to read in college. I don't thing "The Canterbury Tales" in Middle English will be in my "to be re-read" pile any time soon...

[issybird]

Originally Posted by DiapDealer

I agree. But even in this small sampling, I'm still surprised at the number of people willing to go to such great lengths to buy something locked to one ecosystem and read it in another. Kindle Unlimited aside, when does one just "read the book"? Especially if some of the practices of the store where one buys the books makes them nauseous?

And…. Books are pretty fungible at that. Not entirely, of course (no, Goodreads, I’ll never want to read a cowboy romance, no matter how often you push them to me), but that’s mostly in the sense of, “I don’t want to read that” and not, “I must read that.” If you don’t want to read on a Kindle and if a book is only available at Amazon, why not just read something else? I’m spoiled for choices myself. And maybe the situation will change if you wait it out. Or maybe you won’t care anymore.

It seems simple to me: if the device is more important, read the books in the tied bookstore. If the books are more important, get the device tied to that bookstore. Or, given that most people here have indulged in more than one device, go agnostic.

[Sirtel]

Originally Posted by issybird

And…. Books are pretty fungible at that. Not entirely, of course (no, Goodreads, I’ll never want to read a cowboy romance, no matter how often you push them to me), but that’s mostly in the sense of, “I don’t want to read that” and not, “I must read that.” If you don’t want to read on a Kindle and if a book is only available at Amazon, why not just read something else? I’m spoiled for choices myself. And maybe the situation will change if you wait it out. Or maybe you won’t care anymore.

In certain genres, as was pointed out in another thread a while ago, too many authors are Amazon exclusives. Fantasy romance is one of them. I rarely read romances, but many members here do, and that might explain all the non-Kindle users here buying from Amazon.

It seems simple to me: if the device is more important, read the books in the tied bookstore. If the books are more important, get the device tied to that bookstore. Or, given that most people here have indulged in more than one device, go agnostic.

I won't buy a book I can't remove the DRM from, and it doesn't matter whether I have the device it can be read on or not. Aside from future-proofing my purchases, I want to change the formatting to what I prefer, and to do that the DRM must be removed. So even if I did still read on a Kindle and Amazon removed any way to circumvent their DRM, I would no longer buy from them.

[John F]

Originally Posted by DiapDealer

I agree. But even in this small sampling, I'm still surprised at the number of people willing to go to such great lengths to buy something locked to one ecosystem and read it in another. ...

I would think for this small sampling, there aren't any great lengths that need to be gone through. Besides a one time setup, whichever locked ecosystem you get an ebook from, the process of getting it onto your prefered reader is the same.

[DiapDealer]

Originally Posted by John F

Besides a one time setup, whichever locked ecosystem you get an ebook from, the process of getting it onto your prefered reader is the same.

But this very thread exists because that "one time" setup has changed, no? And probably will again, right? The first two thirds of the thread seems to be comprised of telling people who are asking what, exactly, needs to be done to accommodate those changes.

I'm not technically challenged at all, but even my eyes glazed over at the explanations/instructions. Dates, versions formats, yada...

[lkmiller]

Originally Posted by JSWolf

Why waste money on a Kindle when you are only buying it to be able to download from the Amazon website?

I say buy an older (older then PW1) KF8 compatible Kindle before people relize the vause and raise the price for used older Kindles.

Because it's going to die on you sooner. I say buy the newest model you're willing to spend the money on. If all else fails, you can read on it. Or just make a break from Kindle exclusives, buy books elsewhere, and don't worry about getting a Kindle.

[Sirtel]

Originally Posted by DiapDealer

I'm not technically challenged at all, but even my eyes glazed over at the explanations/instructions. Dates, versions formats, yada...

Your eyes glazed over because you're not interested in the DRM removal. I, on the other hand, am and not only because I want to buy something from a locked ecosystem and transfer it to another ecosystem. The DRM must go in any case, even when I buy within the same ecosystem. It's crucial for me to be able to remove the DRM from any book I purchase, no matter where I bought it or on which device I'll read it.

[ownedbycats]

Originally Posted by DiapDealer

But this very thread exists because that "one time" setup has changed, no? And probably will again, right? The first two thirds of the thread seems to be comprised of telling people who are asking what, exactly, needs to be done to accommodate those changes.

I'm not technically challenged at all, but even my eyes glazed over at the explanations/instructions. Dates, versions formats, yada...

I tried to summarize everything in the original post. Is it still too complicated?