Adobe reader? - Page 2

igorsk · 09-27-2007, 05:28 AM

Granted, Fictionwise are not using official Sony tools, so they didn't need to wait until Sony "enables" them

. And somehow I don't think eBooks.com is going to offer non-DRMed books any time soon, especially considering this little piece of FUD:

Quote:

Although there's quite a lot of material out there on the web that is not protected, those ebooks are often of dubious quality, from unknown authors and publishers.

So if it doesn't have DRM it's not "good", eh?

Oh, and Sony's store is up to 20,000 books now according to their recent press release.

jasonkchapman · 09-27-2007, 06:53 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Stephen Cole

Although there's quite a lot of material out there on the web that is not protected, those ebooks are often of dubious quality, from unknown authors and publishers.

I see that igorsk beat me to mentioning this, but I think it can stand a "me too." Someone seriously needs to do his homework about the current state of the e-book industry. Here are some of the folks that were tarred with that "dubious quality" brush:

Baen
Fictionwise
MobileRead
Steve Jordan

There are more, but I think I've made my point. Igorsk hit it on the head. It's FUD, and ham-handed FUD at that, considering the audience of this site.

yvanleterrible · 09-27-2007, 08:40 AM

And not to forget, the beautiful formatting work that is being done here.

fishcube · 09-27-2007, 10:30 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Stephen Cole

Hi there,

I'm new to this forum and just noticed your post concerning getting PDF ebooks onto Sony Reader. I've copied below a statement that we publish concerning this issue that might clarify things. Hope this helps.

Recently there has been unconfirmed speculation that Sony will at some point enable retailers like FictionWise, eBooks.com, etc to sell ebooks in their proprietary format. But, like I said, that's not confirmed.

Best wishes,

Stephen Cole
CEO
eBooks.com

Sony has announced that their own ebook-store "is currently the only store where you can purchase books for your Sony Reader". If you buy a Sony ebook reader, you need to buy ebooks from their own ebook-store.

Almost all the ebooks that are published by well-known publishers are "copy protected". To read a copy protected ebook on the Sony device, it needs to be in their proprietary BBeB format. As far as I'm aware, only Sony sells ebooks in the proprietary BBeB format. Therefore, for all practical purposes, if you buy a Sony ebook reader, you'll need to shop at their site for commercially published ebooks.

Although there's quite a lot of material out there on the web that is not protected, those ebooks are often of dubious quality, from unknown authors and publishers.

Sony's content web site seems to have about 10,000 published ebooks (ours has 100,000), so there is already a range of titles to choose from there.
I suggest you write to Sony or check their web site to clarify and confirm the facts.

Why don't you fix it on your side, by offering the ebooks in other formats such as txt etc like fictionwise does?

Steven Lyle Jordan · 09-27-2007, 10:34 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by jasonkchapman

I see that igorsk beat me to mentioning this, but I think it can stand a "me too." Someone seriously needs to do his homework about the current state of the e-book industry. Here are some of the folks that were tarred with that "dubious quality" brush:

Baen
Fictionwise
MobileRead
Steve Jordan

There are more, but I think I've made my point. Igorsk hit it on the head. It's FUD, and ham-handed FUD at that, considering the audience of this site.

Thanks for defending my honor! It was a pretty crappy thing for Sony to say, at that.

RSaunders · 09-27-2007, 11:34 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by fishcube

Why don't you fix it on your side, by offering the ebooks in other formats such as txt etc like fictionwise does?

I hope you have misunderstood what Mr. Cole is proposing to do. Certainly publishers can sell unprotected books in the Sony format. Fictionwise and others are examples, and the toolsmiths at MobileRead would no doubt assist any who wish to do so.

Mr. Cole's statement "To read a copy protected ebook on the Sony device, it needs to be in their proprietary BBeB format." means to me that eBooks.com might be pursuing agreements with Sony that would lead to the availability of books where the publisher is unwilling to publish the book without some DRM. We often argue that DRM is something that publishers should not want as much as they do, but it's really not our decision to make. If a publisher wants to use the Sony DRM scheme to make a book available to us there is currently no scheme other than to sell through Sony CONNECT. The experiences seen in the forum tend to be so negative on CONNECT that I'd welcome an alternative. I think eBooks would be a great alternative, and I think we should congratulate Mr Cole for pursuing it.

jasonkchapman · 09-27-2007, 11:45 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Steve Jordan

Thanks for defending my honor! It was a pretty crappy thing for Sony to say, at that.

You're more than welcome. You've earned it.

But I don't think those were Sony's words. I got the impression those were ebooks.com's words. Stephen Cole, CEO of ebooks.com wrote:

Quote:

I've copied below a statement that we publish concerning this issue that might clarify things.

It was a crappy thing to say, and crappier still to say it here, in front of an audience that knows better. Personally, I think two apologies are in order: One for taking a swipe at one heck of a lot of small publishers and independent authors, and another for insulting the intelligence of MobileRead's participants.

The only part that looks like it might have come from Sony is this: "is currently the only store where you can purchase books for your Sony Reader". It's wrong, but it could also a year old. Who knows?

If Stephen Cole would like to clarify things, so much the better. If not, I've certainly learned where not to buy e-books.

kacir · 09-27-2007, 11:59 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Azayzel

While many eBooks in PDF format are crippled by DRM, if the rights to print a hard copy are enabled you can print it out to another, non-DRM'd, PDF using a PostScript or PDF print driver.

My favourite trick is to install a "generic printer" under windows, connect it to the port "file" and print such pdf files to that ... aehm ... "printer". It basically just creates text file with .prn extension on the disk.
Also try installing gsview - http://pages.cs.wisc.edu/~ghost/gsview/ It is a graphical front end for ghostcsript. Ghostscript is postscript AND pdf interpreter. I have been able to print some DRM protected pdf files with an "unprintable" flag set using gsview. You might have to change something in a configuration file in ghostscript directory for this unprintable printing ;-)

gmanacsa · 09-27-2007, 01:27 PM

WOWIO books are PDF, and I read them on my Sony Reader (in landscape orientation) without any problem.

(disclosure: I work for WOWIO)

......
Gerry Manacsa
wowio.wordpress.com

Stephen Cole · 09-28-2007, 03:18 AM

Harry,

My mistake. I was referring to "protected" -- DRM'd ebooks. You're quite right.

Stephen

HarryT · 09-28-2007, 03:25 AM

No problem.

Don't you think, though, that it's a little disingenuous to suggest that DRM-free e-Books are of somehow "dubious" quality? With respect, one will find many highly reputable publishers and authors available in such formats. Fictionwise especially seem to be selling the "back catalogs" of a number of big-name publishers in their multi-format, DRM-free, offerings, as well as many high-reputable magazine such as "Analog", "F&SF", "EQMM", etc. These are hardly publications which can be described as "dubious", are they?

Best wishes,

Stephen Cole · 09-28-2007, 04:22 AM

OK, well I can see that my first post left a lot to be desired. In many ways.

The quote, "is currently the only store where you can purchase books for your Sony Reader" did indeed come from Sony's site about 6 months ago. But that's no reason to be reproducing it if it's patently wrong.

How does this sound as an alternative response to people who contact us wanting books for their Sony Reader:

Many of the books that are released by publishers as ebooks are "copy protected" with digital rights management (DRM) controls. This is true of almost all the ebooks available from eBooks.com.

As we understand it, the only copy-protected ebooks that can be read on a Sony Reader are books that are issued in Sony's own proprietary format. At the present time, you can only get these books from Sony's own online ebookstore.

There are however many thousands of ebooks that you can read on your Sony Reader in other formats that don't have DRM. You can find a wide range of great ebooks at these sites:

Missing anyone here?

And, yes Harry. The implication of the comment regarding non-DRM'd ebooks was thoughtless and plain wrong.

Stephen

Stephen Cole
Managing Director
Ebooks Corporation Limited

HarryT · 09-28-2007, 04:45 AM

Thanks, Stephen, that's a lot more "fair and balanced". The other site you really can't miss off your list is "Project Gutenberg" - http://www.gutenberg.org - they are the "grandaddy" of all free book sites!

Thanks for your consideration in this matter.

Stephen Cole · 09-28-2007, 05:05 AM

Ah, of course. Done. Thank you Harry.

jasonkchapman · 09-28-2007, 07:36 AM

I realize you were specifically addressing Harry, but I'd like to thank you, Mr. Cole, for your response. Actually including the list in your statement is really quite generous of you.

Grace may not be my long suit, but I do recognize it when I see it.

09-27-2007, 01:27 PM	#24
gmanacsa Enthusiast Posts: 36 Karma: 10 Join Date: Sep 2007 Device: Sony Reader PRS-500, X61T Tablet, iPhone, OLPC XO-1	WOWIO books are PDF, and I read them on my Sony Reader (in landscape orientation) without any problem. (disclosure: I work for WOWIO) ...... Gerry Manacsa wowio.wordpress.com Last edited by gmanacsa; 09-28-2007 at 01:27 PM.

09-28-2007, 04:22 AM	#27
Stephen Cole New Member Posts: 21 Karma: 739 Join Date: Sep 2007 Location: Perth, Western Australia Device: Samsung Galaxy S7	OK, well I can see that my first post left a lot to be desired. In many ways. The quote, "is currently the only store where you can purchase books for your Sony Reader" did indeed come from Sony's site about 6 months ago. But that's no reason to be reproducing it if it's patently wrong. How does this sound as an alternative response to people who contact us wanting books for their Sony Reader: Many of the books that are released by publishers as ebooks are "copy protected" with digital rights management (DRM) controls. This is true of almost all the ebooks available from eBooks.com. As we understand it, the only copy-protected ebooks that can be read on a Sony Reader are books that are issued in Sony's own proprietary format. At the present time, you can only get these books from Sony's own online ebookstore. There are however many thousands of ebooks that you can read on your Sony Reader in other formats that don't have DRM. You can find a wide range of great ebooks at these sites: Baen Fictionwise MobileRead Steve Jordan Missing anyone here? And, yes Harry. The implication of the comment regarding non-DRM'd ebooks was thoughtless and plain wrong. Stephen Stephen Cole Managing Director Ebooks Corporation Limited

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09-27-2007, 08:40 AM	#18
yvanleterrible Reborn Paper User Posts: 8,616 Karma: 15446734 Join Date: May 2006 Location: Que Nada Device: iPhone8, iPad Air	And not to forget, the beautiful formatting work that is being done here.

09-28-2007, 03:18 AM	#25
Stephen Cole New Member Posts: 21 Karma: 739 Join Date: Sep 2007 Location: Perth, Western Australia Device: Samsung Galaxy S7	Harry, My mistake. I was referring to "protected" -- DRM'd ebooks. You're quite right. Stephen

09-28-2007, 03:25 AM	#26
HarryT eBook Enthusiast Posts: 85,544 Karma: 93383099 Join Date: Nov 2006 Location: UK Device: Kindle Oasis 2, iPad Pro 10.5", iPhone 6	No problem. Don't you think, though, that it's a little disingenuous to suggest that DRM-free e-Books are of somehow "dubious" quality? With respect, one will find many highly reputable publishers and authors available in such formats. Fictionwise especially seem to be selling the "back catalogs" of a number of big-name publishers in their multi-format, DRM-free, offerings, as well as many high-reputable magazine such as "Analog", "F&SF", "EQMM", etc. These are hardly publications which can be described as "dubious", are they? Best wishes,

09-28-2007, 04:45 AM	#28
HarryT eBook Enthusiast Posts: 85,544 Karma: 93383099 Join Date: Nov 2006 Location: UK Device: Kindle Oasis 2, iPad Pro 10.5", iPhone 6	Thanks, Stephen, that's a lot more "fair and balanced". The other site you really can't miss off your list is "Project Gutenberg" - http://www.gutenberg.org - they are the "grandaddy" of all free book sites! Thanks for your consideration in this matter.

09-28-2007, 05:05 AM	#29
Stephen Cole New Member Posts: 21 Karma: 739 Join Date: Sep 2007 Location: Perth, Western Australia Device: Samsung Galaxy S7	Ah, of course. Done. Thank you Harry.

09-28-2007, 07:36 AM	#30
jasonkchapman Guru Posts: 767 Karma: 2347 Join Date: Jul 2007 Location: NYC Device: Sony Reader, nook, Droid, nookColor, nookTablet	I realize you were specifically addressing Harry, but I'd like to thank you, Mr. Cole, for your response. Actually including the list in your statement is really quite generous of you. Grace may not be my long suit, but I do recognize it when I see it.

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