Sony closes USA and Canada ebook store

[BearMountainBooks]

Originally Posted by Rev. Bob

Yes, there is indeed a thread about this.

Short form: As near as I can tell, the no-download-button books are in EPUB 3.0 format, there's no reason Kobo couldn't give a download button for them, but at present the only way to get at them is with a Kobo app or device.

Hmm. Different problem then. She has a kobo reader I think. I'll double check. Thanks for the link. Will peruse!

[6charlong]

Originally Posted by SoCalReader

Thanks As I say to my colleagues while they read those paper thingies, the advantage of e-readers is the ability to change font size. Aura HD looks promising, but SWMBO likes her Sony PRS-T2 because of the buttons - easier for single hand reading.

And one never crosses SWMBO.

(Another datum - Sony reader folks are cranky.)

I only have a T1 and the page buttons on it are on the left side so I take it SWMBO likes to page with her left hand. In "Settings" ""Reading settings" Kobo Aura lets you change the default page forward so that a touch on the left side of the screen pages forward and the right side pages back.

[yekim54]

Originally Posted by FizzyWater

It was the opposite for me - at least in the beginning. I bought very little from Sony. When Agency price-fixing was announced, my local Target also happened to put Sony Giftcards on sale (I think it was $25 cards for $15). I bought an embarrassing amount of cards! So I was able to continue to buy books "at a discount" because I got my discount on the gift cards. Once I used them all up, though, that was probably the last time I bought a book at Sony.

I still have one old $25 Sony gift card. When I got the email about the Sony Reader Store closing, I decided I'd better redeem that card. But the Reader Store would not accept the card number or PIN. I called Sony, gave them the card number and PIN. They said the card was still valid and I should just keep trying to enter it until it gets accepted. I explained I already tried 8 times on two different computers using both the store web site and through the Reader software, but no joy. Finally the customer service rep "escalated it to the billing department" and said they will add $25 credit to my account ... we'll see if it happens before the store closes on March 20.

[banjobama]

Originally Posted by Purple Lady

Make sure you download version 2.01 and not 3.0. There is going to be a new drm soon that older ereaders can't use. 2.01 is on the same download page as 3.0.

Heh... I'm still rocking ADE 1.7!

[benham]

Originally Posted by yekim54

I still have one old $25 Sony gift card. When I got the email about the Sony Reader Store closing, I decided I'd better redeem that card. But the Reader Store would not accept the card number or PIN. I called Sony, gave them the card number and PIN. They said the card was still valid and I should just keep trying to enter it until it gets accepted. I explained I already tried 8 times on two different computers using both the store web site and through the Reader software, but no joy. Finally the customer service rep "escalated it to the billing department" and said they will add $25 credit to my account ... we'll see if it happens before the store closes on March 20.

It took me awhile to figure it out too, because they don't give you any instructions. The Redeem Code is the number under the bar code. The PIN is the number under the scratch off.

I could not download ADE 2.01. It kept going back to 3.0. It also wouldn't allow me to authorize it for my Adobe ID. According to the instructions, that means anything I download with a DRM (which is everything) would only be able to be read on the PC, not on any other devices. Downloading directly to Calibre produce an unreadable ACSM file.

[PurpleStar]

Originally Posted by banjobama

Heh... I'm still rocking ADE 1.7!

I am as well. Version 2.01 crashed long ago and hasn't worked since.

[FacebookVirus]

Originally Posted by cassidym

Aren't Kindle books DRM protected?

Not as a rule. It depends on the publisher. As an example, Tor's titles purchased from Amazon are not DRMed.

Alf's tools are great, but not necessary if you purchase only from - as they used to say - *fine* book publishers everywhere.

[BearMountainBooks]

Originally Posted by benham

It took me awhile to figure it out too, because they don't give you any instructions. The Redeem Code is the number under the bar code. The PIN is the number under the scratch off.

I could not download ADE 2.01. It kept going back to 3.0. It also wouldn't allow me to authorize it for my Adobe ID. According to the instructions, that means anything I download with a DRM (which is everything) would only be able to be read on the PC, not on any other devices. Downloading directly to Calibre produce an unreadable ACSM file.

I was planning on downloading a particular book this month from there because I have the 50 percent off code and it works on that book (Jana DeLeon title). With all these problems I'm hearing of...I think I might just get it at Amazon. I didn't think it would be that difficult to get it on my kindle, but I know I couldn't make it work with a library book without a lot of pain and suffering. If it's going to be that hard to transfer the file I'm probably better of just buying it elsewhere.

[Lynx-lynx]

Originally Posted by benham

It took me awhile to figure it out too, because they don't give you any instructions. The Redeem Code is the number under the bar code. The PIN is the number under the scratch off.

I could not download ADE 2.01. It kept going back to 3.0. It also wouldn't allow me to authorize it for my Adobe ID. According to the instructions, that means anything I download with a DRM (which is everything) would only be able to be read on the PC, not on any other devices. Downloading directly to Calibre produce an unreadable ACSM file.

I'm not sure I understand why you didn't download it straight into Sony Reader for PC?

[sqdancer]

Originally Posted by yekim54

I still have one old $25 Sony gift card. When I got the email about the Sony Reader Store closing, I decided I'd better redeem that card. But the Reader Store would not accept the card number or PIN. I called Sony, gave them the card number and PIN. They said the card was still valid and I should just keep trying to enter it until it gets accepted. I explained I already tried 8 times on two different computers using both the store web site and through the Reader software, but no joy. Finally the customer service rep "escalated it to the billing department" and said they will add $25 credit to my account ... we'll see if it happens before the store closes on March 20.

I tried buying a gift card this afternoon and it wouldn't authorize (it wasn't the specific card - the extremely helpful clerk tried about a dozen different ones! and it wasn't a problem at the store's end - an itunes card authorized just fine). It seems there is problem in Sony's gift card system right now.

[benham]

Originally Posted by Lynx-lynx

I'm not sure I understand why you didn't download it straight into Sony Reader for PC?

Download ADE to Sony Reader or the books? I did download all of my Sony books to the Sony Reader for PC. People are talking about Calibre and ADE and I wanted a way to back up the files in case everything doesn't transfer to Kobo. Finally figured out that I could copy the entire Sony Reader desktop folder to the thumb drive. I spent all afternoon trying to get either Calibre or ADE to import the files.

[Lynx-lynx]

Originally Posted by benham

Download ADE to Sony Reader or the books? I did download all of my Sony books to the Sony Reader for PC. People are talking about Calibre and ADE and I wanted a way to back up the files in case everything doesn't transfer to Kobo. Finally figured out that I could copy the entire Sony Reader desktop folder to the thumb drive. I spent all afternoon trying to get either Calibre or ADE to import the files.

Oh ok, I just import all the books that I've downloaded into Reader for PC into Calibre by clicking on Add books and choosing one of the options.

Calibre then does it's cleaning thing, and I keep several copies of the entire cleaned Calibre library.

[benham]

I will try that, but I was sure I already had.

[Nev]

Love my TRS3, but use Kobo Glo more now with its frontlight. But.........

I am looking forward to Sony holding a closing down sale to dispose of unsold eBooks at a reduced price, (or doesn't it work like that?)

[Rev. Bob]

Originally Posted by Nev

I am looking forward to Sony holding a closing down sale to dispose of unsold eBooks at a reduced price, (or doesn't it work like that?)

Doesn't work like that. It's not like they have an inventory of ebooks that they have to liquidate; they have access that they can just switch off.