Amazon and DRM changes

[lkmiller]

Originally Posted by DNSB

From some of the numbers that I've seen—though they are often contradictory—I would guesstimate that over 80% of Kindle ebooks are read on devices other the Kindle eInk ereaders.

I mean I'm surprised at the people here and over at the GitHub who are just now looking to get E-ink Kindles because of the recent changes. People who read on their phones haven't even noticed!

[ownedbycats]

Originally Posted by lkmiller

I mean I'm surprised at the people here and over at the GitHub who are just now looking to get E-ink Kindles because of the recent changes. People who read on their phones haven't even noticed!

I've been monitoring Reddit and it feels like most of the posts about these changes are from piracy subreddits. I'm surprised there aren't more people who want to even just backup.

[DiapDealer]

Originally Posted by Sirtel

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.

Originally Posted by ownedbycats

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

You're both missing the point. I was responding to John F's notion that DRM removal is a "one time" setup. This very thread's existence show's that's not exactly true.

I've not looked at the summary. I'm sure it's great. But as Sirtel noted, I'm no longer interested in DRM removal.

[slm]

Originally Posted by ownedbycats

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

Your summary is excellent. Many thanks.
But there are a lot of people on this thread who have additional or alternate observations.

[John F]

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...

Originally Posted by DiapDealer

You're both missing the point. I was responding to John F's notion that DRM removal is a "one time" setup. This very thread's existence show's that's not exactly true.

I've not looked at the summary. I'm sure it's great. But as Sirtel noted, I'm no longer interested in DRM removal.

I just don't see it as the hassle that you seem to. I had to setup once for epub, once for lit, and once for Kindle, in the past 10 years, as I recall. If I want to purchase newer Amazon exclusives, I'll need to do another setup. For how much I've read, and being able to pick the device I like and the formatting I like, I don't see it as a hassle.

And if someone thinks it is worthwhile for them to try and do a little future proofing, to each their own.

[JSWolf]

Originally Posted by issybird

IThe flip side of future proofing is buying a recent device because it will be supported the longest. You’re making a lot of assumptions about Amazon going forward that might or might not obtain, and most certainly won’t in the long run.

but the flip side is also an assumption. There's no real way to know what's going to happen next. That's the problem. I'm going with the Amazon will drop Download and Transfer before stopping support for older devices such as the Kindle Touch.

[DiapDealer]

Originally Posted by John F

I just don't see it as the hassle that you seem to. I had to setup once for epub, once for lit, and once for Kindle, in the past 10 years, as I recall. If I want to purchase newer Amazon exclusives, I'll need to do another setup. For how much I've read, and being able to pick the device I like and the formatting I like, I don't see it as a hassle.

You're moving the goalposts. You went from "one time setup" to "not that much of a hassle."

How much of a hassle it is (or isn't) is of no concern to me. I merely thought it ironic that you were claiming "one time setup" in a thread that was created clearly because it's not a one time setup. That is all.

[JSWolf]

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.

But given that once you are setup to remove DRM, it's just a simple matter of adding the eBooks to your Calibre library.

[Sirtel]

Originally Posted by JSWolf

But given that once you are setup to remove DRM, it's just a simple matter of adding the eBooks to your Calibre library.

Yes, but the majority of Kindle users out there don't care. They buy, download and read, end of story.

[DNSB]

Originally Posted by DiapDealer

I'm pretty sure the message Issy was driving at is that is that it's surprising the number of people who seem want to buy books from Amazon to read on a device that is tied to another store's format/ecosystem.

Can you give a few examples of a device other than Amazon's that are tied to a store's format. As an example, ePub is not tied to a store so that eliminates epub capable ereaders. Ecosystem might be arguable though I tend to find that quite a few of the people I've talked to who use ereaders that read ePub ebooks tend to purchase from multiple sources.

[JSWolf]

Even if you don't edit the eBooks, removing the DRM is good in case you need to convert format. If I was reading on a Kindle and it died and I decided to buy a Kobo or Pocketbook, I'd need ePub. So I'd be able to convert.

[DNSB]

Originally Posted by JSWolf

Even if you don't edit the eBooks, removing the DRM is good in case you need to convert format. If I was reading on a Kindle and it died and I decided to buy a Kobo or Pocketbook, I'd need ePub. So I'd be able to convert.

Even if you are not converting the format, removing DRM helps to protect you from the DRM servers being shut down. When Microsoft shut down the DRM servers for the .lit format ebooks, ConvertLit saved my collections of .lit ebooks from becoming a waste of storage space.

[DiapDealer]

Originally Posted by DNSB

Can you give a few examples of a device other than Amazon's that are tied to a store's format. As an example, ePub is not tied to a store so that eliminates epub capable ereaders. Ecosystem might be arguable though I tend to find that quite a few of the people I've talked to who use ereaders that read ePub ebooks tend to purchase from multiple sources.

I meant format as in EPUB vs Kindlebook. And yes, I meant Kobo ecosystem/store vs other ecosystems/stores. In other words ... it's surprising to me (and apparently issybird) that so many people would buy books from Amazon to read on a device that a) doesn't support KindleBooks natively and b) has its own integrated store with which to buy books that don't need to be diddled and converted first.

[JSWolf]

Originally Posted by DiapDealer

You're both missing the point. I was responding to John F's notion that DRM removal is a "one time" setup. This very thread's existence show's that's not exactly true.

I've not looked at the summary. I'm sure it's great. But as Sirtel noted, I'm no longer interested in DRM removal.

DRM removal for some can be a one-time setup. But even still, it's not difficult to set up DeDRM for a new setup (new Reader, new login for ADE, etc.).

[JSWolf]

Originally Posted by Sirtel

Yes, but the majority of Kindle users out there don't care. They buy, download and read, end of story.

I agree with this. But for users like us, it's best to be prepared just in case.