What do you think the Amazon Kindle means for the Sony Readers?

[sindget41]

Originally Posted by Amothea
Since what I'm mostly reading is fan fiction the Kindle just isn't going to work for me.

And HarryT replied:

Sorry - I'm completely baffled by what you're saying. There are LOADS of free tools out there to completely trivially convert pretty much any format you care to name into MobiPocket format

I hate to argue with HarryT, in that he has taken me to task on this before... BUT, when it comes to Fanfiction, I still disagree. I find tons of MobiPocket encoded fiction on the net, but while it is not DRM'ed, (they load fine into my T/X) it won't convert using the common tools we keep refering to -- of course who knows what converter was used to put a .TXT into MobiPocket in the first place? Maybe others have had more success, but I have tried every tool listed in Wiki for Mobi conversion, and they don't work on the files I want.

So, I'll put my shields up, and state that Sony and BookDesigner are still the best open source solution I have found.

[Amalthia]

Originally Posted by sindget41

And HarryT replied:

I hate to argue with HarryT, in that he has taken me to task on this before... BUT, when it comes to Fanfiction, I still disagree. I find tons of MobiPocket encoded fiction on the net, but while it is not DRM'ed, (they load fine into my T/X) it won't convert using the common tools we keep refering to -- of course who knows what converter was used to put a .TXT into MobiPocket in the first place? Maybe others have had more success, but I have tried every tool listed in Wiki for Mobi conversion, and they don't work on the files I want.

So, I'll put my shields up, and state that Sony and BookDesigner are still the best open source solution I have found.

I haven't had the need to convert any of my stories into mobi but why would I want to read a story without italics, or bolded words? TXT is okay if you have NO OTHER OPTION but really RTF is kind of nice and it's very easy to load a html document into word and save as RTF. No need for any other converters. I'm also able to format my text via Word.

I am interested in trying Book Designer to convert my RTF files into LRF because I found that LRF files seem to load faster than RTF.

[HarryT]

Originally Posted by sindget41

And HarryT replied:

I hate to argue with HarryT, in that he has taken me to task on this before... BUT, when it comes to Fanfiction, I still disagree. I find tons of MobiPocket encoded fiction on the net, but while it is not DRM'ed, (they load fine into my T/X) it won't convert using the common tools we keep refering to -- of course who knows what converter was used to put a .TXT into MobiPocket in the first place? Maybe others have had more success, but I have tried every tool listed in Wiki for Mobi conversion, and they don't work on the files I want.

So, I'll put my shields up, and state that Sony and BookDesigner are still the best open source solution I have found.

You and Amothea seem to be talking at cross purposes. She (?) is saying that she considers the Sony to be more "open" than the Kindle; you are saying that most FanFic you come across is in Mobi format. DRM-free Mobi files can be read directly by the Kindle, so if most FanFic is indeed in Mobi format, wouldn't that make the Kindle a more suitable device for it than the Sony?

I entirely agree with you about BD, by the way. GREAT tool!

[sindget41]

HarryT replied:

you are saying that most FanFic you come across is in Mobi format. DRM-free Mobi files can be read directly by the Kindle, so if most FanFic is indeed in Mobi format, wouldn't that make the Kindle a more suitable device for it than the Sony?

My fault for typing faster than thinking.. First, there is only one site, in the Netherlands, that has taken the time to take chapter by chapter fanfic, and converted it to Mobi, LIT, and sometimes, Acrobat. Over 3gb of content! You are right, the Kindle should read this site's conversions -- but for some reason, the mobi conversion tools do not work on this site's output -- needed for the Sony. It's my only hangup with the Sony, because normally, I use BD, and am extremely happy with that tool. Sri for the confusion.

[Amalthia]

Originally Posted by sindget41

HarryT replied:

My fault for typing faster than thinking.. First, there is only one site, in the Netherlands, that has taken the time to take chapter by chapter fanfic, and converted it to Mobi, LIT, and sometimes, Acrobat. Over 3gb of content! You are right, the Kindle should read this site's conversions -- but for some reason, the mobi conversion tools do not work on this site's output -- needed for the Sony. It's my only hangup with the Sony, because normally, I use BD, and am extremely happy with that tool. Sri for the confusion.

I really had no idea that there was a site for mobi formatted fan fiction. most of what I'm finding is through Livejournal and sometimes fanfiction.net