Boy am I now confused

[HappyMartin]

I have been watching in a vague way the the development of ebook readers for a few years. By vague I mean the press releases and so on in Time, Fortune and other magazines. The latest press releases for the Iliad got me all excited and I was hot to buy one. It is expensive and so I thought that more research was needed. Perhaps that was my first mistake.

I want to be able to read outdoors in bight daylight as I would a normal book. I often go places where there is no electricity and for time periods of a couple of weeks. I need to be able to read Pdf manuals in the field.

The world of DRM took me by surprise. I would never buy a pirated movie or music nor would I pirate the same. I don't pirate or crack software. I would never steal a book. I do however buy a lot of books and I lend them to friends. My wife and I often read the same books. When I am finished with a book I will give it away or swop it at a second hand book store. Al this is I believe legal. If I buy an ebook however my wife cant read it unless I give her my reader, is this correct? I will also not be able to sell this book or give it away. This would seem reasonable if the price difference between ebooks and normal books was greater than it is. I am also concerned about books being automatically erased after a period of time. Do Mobipocket books expire? What books have this nasty characteristic? If I buy a new reader what of all the books I downloaded for my old reader?

I am wondering at the moment if I should just give up on the whole idea. I am simply not interested in getting involved in something that sounds as complicated as ebooks. I want to buy a book, stick it on a reader and read it. I am a digital photographer and spend enough time on the computer negotiating formats.

Am I missing something? The whole idea of ebooks sounds like a dream come true on many levels. The convenience, no paper, cool little devices. Will I be able to lose myself in a good read with an ebook or will I lose myself in the technology? HELP

[HarryT]

Hi Martin,

First of all, there are lots of DRM-free eBooks you can get. If you like SF/Fantasy, Baen publish all their books DRM-free. Fictionwise also have a very wide range of more general books (mostly older books) and magazines which are DRM-free.

Most "big name" books, however, are DRM protected. The iLiad has a reader for MobiPocket books which have a pretty good and "easy-going" DRM system. Each device with MobiPocket reader has a unique ID which you enter at the site selling the book. You then get a book "locked" to that device. You can, however, enter IDs for up to 4 devices and the book will work on all those, so it's not a problem for you and your wife each to have a device - you could read on an iLiad and your wife on a Pocket PC, for example, and you can share books. If you get a new device, you need to go back to the site you bought it from, enter your new device ID, and re-download the book.

No "expiry" of eBooks; the only issue is if, for example, the seller goes out of business so you can no longer download the books for a new device.

[HappyMartin]

Thanks Harry

I was thinking about giving up but have spent the past hour at mobipocket and now I am all excited again. All those books, we just do not have decent bookstores here, our literate economically active population is just too small.

Think I am just going to have to go for it. Next thing will be to figure out how to get the device out here.

[HarryT]

The nice thing about MobiPocket is that they have a version of the reader for practically everything with a microprocessor in it. If you have any type of PDA, there's a probably a MobiPocket Reader for it, so you don't have to wait until you get an iLiad (excellent though it is!).

A site I'd thoroughly recommend, in addition to MobiPocket themselves, is FictionWise. They offer a somewhat different selection of books to MobiPocket and have lots of "special offers". They also, as I mentioned earlier, have a large selection of books which don't have DRM.

[HappyMartin]

OK, I checked out that site and now I am into the logistics. I need to make a final decision on the reader and though it is expensive I think the Iliad will be the thing. Very exciting I think. It was the DRM thing that worried me but as you kindly explained it Harry it does not seem too onerous. Also I love the classics and they seem to be cheaper, not DRM protected and easily available. Yeehaaa.

[HappyMartin]

Well thats the most money I ever spent on the internet, my palms are sweating. Decided on the Iliad, now I wait for its arrival.

[HarryT]

Wonderful! I'm sure you'll enjoy it. I've had mine for about a month now, and find it great for reading on.

Note that you can obtain all the out-of-copyright classics free from "Project Gutenberg" and a number of other sites too, and they can easily be converted to MobiPocket format. Check out the "Book Uploads" section here for a large number of books nicely formatted for the iLiad.

[rlauzon]

Originally Posted by HappyMartin

I want to be able to read outdoors in bight daylight as I would a normal book. I often go places where there is no electricity and for time periods of a couple of weeks. I need to be able to read Pdf manuals in the field.

You will most likely be disappointed then.

PDF is not an eBook format. It's a page-layout format. Unless the PDF is formatted for the size of your eBook reader (which it probably won't be), it will be unreadable (at worst) or very cumbersome to read (at best).

Originally Posted by HappyMartin

The world of DRM took me by surprise. I would never buy a pirated movie or music nor would I pirate the same. I don't pirate or crack software. I would never steal a book.

But the real purpose of DRM is to lock users into a particular company. It has nothing to do with the "protection" of the content. All DRM is either cracked or circumvented.

Originally Posted by HappyMartin

I do however buy a lot of books and I lend them to friends. My wife and I often read the same books. When I am finished with a book I will give it away or swop it at a second hand book store. Al this is I believe legal. If I buy an ebook however my wife cant read it unless I give her my reader, is this correct? I will also not be able to sell this book or give it away.

That is correct. A DRMed eBook is basically "read once and throw it away". The DRM vendors do not guarantee that you will be able to read your eBook in the future and I've yet to see any that support transfer of the license.

Remember that you do not "buy" a DRMed eBook. You license it. You have no rights with a DRMed eBook.

Originally Posted by HappyMartin

This would seem reasonable if the price difference between ebooks and normal books was greater than it is. I am also concerned about books being automatically erased after a period of time. Do Mobipocket books expire? What books have this nasty characteristic?

I've seen very few expiring DRMed eBooks. Mostly from libraries (where expiry would be appropriate).

However, no DRMed eBook vendor guarantees that you will be able to read their eBooks too far in the future or on the next eBook reader device.

Originally Posted by HappyMartin

If I buy a new reader what of all the books I downloaded for my old reader?

They might work. They might not. There's no guarantee.

If they don't work, you have no recourse. You are stuck.

Originally Posted by HappyMartin

I want to buy a book, stick it on a reader and read it.

First, if the book has DRM, you can't "buy" it. You license it. But, other than that, you can (with certain restrictions) do that.

What you can't do is transfer that eBook to someone else or plan on reading that eBook next month.

The last time I checked, Fictionwise was offering a license for "Spook Country" for $26. A non-transferrable, not guaranteed to be able to read next month, DRMed eBook.
Amazon.com offered the paper version (transferable, guaranteed to be readable in the next decade), for only $16.

Very poor value for any intelligent person.

[rlauzon]

Originally Posted by HarryT

The nice thing about MobiPocket is that they have a version of the reader for practically everything with a microprocessor in it.

No. They don't.

And since they won't publish the full specifications for their eBook format, it's doubtful that they will have a reader for everything (or even most devices).

[HarryT]

I am well aware of your views on the subject of DRM, Lauzon, and you know that I disagree with you. Let's just "agree to differ" - it's pointless to go round and round in circles with the same tired old argument again and again. I am happy to buy MobiPocket DRM-protected eBooks. I know that you aren't. We are both happy with our choices.

[HappyMartin]

Gee guys, all this spoils my fun and sense of anticipation . Anyway the deal is done and we will see. Seems to me there are lots of free books and non DRM books around. I am not much of a best seller reader anyway. Also if you could see what we pay for books in South Africa and if you saw the choices in the stores you would see that my situation here is a bit different. Yes we can ship books but we still get hit with duties and shipping is very high. Not to mention the waiting period being very irritating.

I ordered the car charger with my reader so I will be able to charge the thing when out in the bush and the mountains.

On the pdf problem. Is there no way I can change the pdf formatting to suit my reader? Its not like I have 100's of manuals or anything.

I dont have an opinion on DRM at the moment but I suppose I will form one soon

[Adam B.]

Originally Posted by rlauzon

You will most likely be disappointed then.

PDF is not an eBook format. It's a page-layout format. Unless the PDF is formatted for the size of your eBook reader (which it probably won't be), it will be unreadable (at worst) or very cumbersome to read (at best).

I disagree. The iLiad is an absolute joy to read PDF's on, especially after you do the initial zoom and use the full screen viewer.

[rlauzon]

Originally Posted by HarryT

I am well aware of your views on the subject of DRM, Lauzon, and you know that I disagree with you. Let's just "agree to differ" - it's pointless to go round and round in circles with the same tired old argument again and again. I am happy to buy MobiPocket DRM-protected eBooks. I know that you aren't. We are both happy with our choices.

This is not a matter of disagreement on the matter of DRM. It's a matter of correct representation of what DRM does and what it prohibits.

If you wish to spend money on a DRMed eBook, knowing full well what you get (and what you lose), that's fine. It's your money.

But, by your own admission, you have no knowledge and experience with DRM (since you recently stated that you just purchased your first DRMed eBook), I simply want to make sure that new people get the full story on what DRM does, and what it prohibits.

Then Martin, and everyone else, can make an intelligent, informed decision about whether or not to spend their money on a DRMed eBook.

[HarryT]

Originally Posted by rlauzon

But, by your own admission, you have no knowledge and experience with DRM (since you recently stated that you just purchased your first DRMed eBook), I simply want to make sure that new people get the full story on what DRM does, and what it prohibits.

Please don't confuse "never having bought a DRM-ed book" with "lack of knowledge", Lauzon. I've been reading eBooks for something like 20 years, and am very well aware of precisely what DRM does and does not permit one to do. I am very much an "informed buyer".

[rlauzon]

Originally Posted by HappyMartin

Gee guys, all this spoils my fun and sense of anticipation . Anyway the deal is done and we will see. Seems to me there are lots of free books and non DRM books around. I am not much of a best seller reader anyway.

Then you will probably find plenty of good stuff at places like Fictionwise, Manybooks, Project Gutenberg and more.

Originally Posted by HappyMartin

On the pdf problem. Is there no way I can change the pdf formatting to suit my reader? Its not like I have 100's of manuals or anything.

Not really. It depends on the PDF and how it's formatted. You can zoom and scroll a PDF on the Iliad, but if zooming it causes the text to be off the screen, you have to scroll to read everything - rather cumbersome.

PDFs don't contain the information to allow reflowing/reformatting of the content. So there's not much you can do.

I have a few O'Reilly PDFs that fit nicely (but a little small on the print). But the fast majority of PDFs that I've seen assume an 8.5"x11" page and fairly small print. Once the Iliad's scaled down the page, the print is pretty much unreadable.