Amazon dropping support for more Kindles

[DNSB]

Originally Posted by nabsltd

You can buy a book from Kobo, download the ACSM file, and read it with any Adobe-DRM compliant reader. That's a pretty low "wall" compared to Amazon.

About 70% of the books I download from Kobo come as a DRM free ePub which makes the wall something that a toddler could hop over.

In Canada, the options shown for a book seem to be:

Download options: EPUB 2 (DRM-Free)
Download options: EPUB 2 (Adobe DRM)
Download options: EPUB 3 (DRM-Free)
Download options: EPUB 3 (Adobe DRM)

Rumour has it that in Europe, you also get a LCP DRM option for some books.

[DiapDealer]

Originally Posted by nabsltd

You can buy a book from Kobo, download the ACSM file, and read it with any Adobe-DRM compliant reader. That's a pretty low "wall" compared to Amazon.

Depending on how you read, the height of the garden walls are pretty flexible everywhere. I can buy a book from Amazon, and read it (or listen to it) on any tablet or phone I own (or will own). In fact, I can buy a book from Kobo, OR Amazon and read it on any device I own. So how walled in am I, really?

[JSWolf]

Originally Posted by DNSB

About 70% of the books I download from Kobo come as a DRM free ePub which makes the wall something that a toddler could hop over.

In Canada, the options shown for a book seem to be:


Rumour has it that in Europe, you also get a LCP DRM option for some books.

eBooks.com now gives you an option for LCP or Adobe's Adept. You are not stuck with your initial DRM choice. You can download LCP and then download Adept, I bought something from eBooks.com recently and I tried the LCP version and was able to remove the DRM.

[JSWolf]

Originally Posted by DiapDealer

Depending on how you read, the height of the garden walls are pretty flexible everywhere. I can buy a book from Amazon, and read it (or listen to it) on any tablet or phone I own (or will own). In fact, I can buy a book from Kobo, OR Amazon and read it on any device I own. So how walled in am I, really?

I can buy an eBook from Kobo and read it on a Kindle. We may not be able to buy DRMed eBooks from Amazon and read them on a Kobo.

[ZodWallop]

Originally Posted by JSWolf

I can buy an eBook from Kobo and read it on a Kindle. We may not be able to buy DRMed eBooks from Amazon and read them on a Kobo.

The thing is (as others mentioned) those Kindle exclusive books still wind up on pirate sites, so what is the DRM protecting?

All it really does is block nerds like us from buying Kindle exclusive titles to read on non-Kindles. But you can get the book for free elsewhere. So who is the DRM really harming?

[DiapDealer]

Originally Posted by JSWolf

I can buy an eBook from Kobo and read it on a Kindle. We may not be able to buy DRMed eBooks from Amazon and read them on a Kobo.

Wow. That's heavy Ogre.

[JSWolf]

Originally Posted by ZodWallop

The thing is (as others mentioned) those Kindle exclusive books still wind up on pirate sites, so what is the DRM protecting?

All it really does is block nerds like us from buying Kindle exclusive titles to read on non-Kindles. But you can get the book for free elsewhere. So who is the DRM really harming?

But will the pirates still be able to remove the DRM after the new version of K4PC?

[Aleron Ives]

Originally Posted by DNSB

In Canada, the options shown for a book seem to be

There are also some books that can't be downloaded at all and are only available in the Kobo app, although this is generally not the case.

[Sirtel]

Originally Posted by ZodWallop

I like how Kobo tells you whether a book is DRM-free or not. You have to scroll to the bottom, but at least it is there.

Amazon doesn't want you to think about DRM. They want you to just download and read the book on a Kindle or in the Kindle app, period.

[Sirtel]

Originally Posted by DiapDealer

Depending on how you read, the height of the garden walls are pretty flexible everywhere. I can buy a book from Amazon, and read it (or listen to it) on any tablet or phone I own (or will own). In fact, I can buy a book from Kobo, OR Amazon and read it on any device I own. So how walled in am I, really?

Legally? No, I can't buy even a DRM-free Kindle book and read it on my Kobo, unless the author has enabled the epub download. I can buy a DRM-free epub from Kobo or Google Play and convert it to a Kindle-compatible format without any shenanigans.

I don't read books on phones, tablets or computers.

[ZodWallop]

Originally Posted by Sirtel

Amazon doesn't want you to think about DRM. They want you to just download and read the book on a Kindle or in the Kindle app, period.

Right. But it does kinda kill the whole 'you can download DRM-free ePubs' thing. Why even offer it?

[Sirtel]

Originally Posted by ZodWallop

Right. But it does kinda kill the whole 'you can download DRM-free ePubs' thing. Why even offer it?

Presumably some publisher who sells DRM-free threatened to sue them for putting DRM on their books. So they decided to offer a token DRM-free download to avoid that.

[DNSB]

Originally Posted by ZodWallop

Right. But it does kinda kill the whole 'you can download DRM-free ePubs' thing. Why even offer it?

But Amazon can point to those files and say 'See, we have DRM-free downloads for non-Amazon apps and devices so we are not trying to force everyone to use Amazon apps and devices.'

[DiapDealer]

Originally Posted by Sirtel

Legally? No, I can't buy even a DRM-free Kindle book and read it on my Kobo, unless the author has enabled the epub download. I can buy a DRM-free epub from Kobo or Google Play and convert it to a Kindle-compatible format without any shenanigans.

I don't read books on phones, tablets or computers.

Of course legally. But I was talking about me not you. I can read from any store on any device I read on without considering drm. Just another reason I choose not to limit myself to dedicated reading devices.

Don't get me wrong... I understand why some people stick to eink, but that doesn't change the fact that a lot of people create their own walls/limitations with their preferences/choices.

[Sirtel]

Originally Posted by DiapDealer

Of course legally. But I was talking about me not you. I can read from any store on any device I read on without considering drm. Just another reason I choose not to limit myself to dedicated reading devices.

Don't get me wrong... I understand why some people stick to eink, but that doesn't change the fact that a lot of people create their own walls/limitations with their preferences/choices.

I would want to remove DRM anyway, for other reasons than devices and formats. That has never even been the main reason for me. I just made the comparison to show that Amazon's walls are in fact higher for people reading on non-Kindle eink devices than epub garden walls are for people reading on eink Kindles.

And of course reading on phones/tablets/computers is less limiting. I've just never been able to read long form stuff (i.e. books) on them - I find it very unpleasant. For short form (articles, blog entries, forum posts) LCD is fine. Plus, I hate proprietary apps, so I'd want to remove DRM even if I didn't read on eink.