Ebook availability

[DMcCunney]

Originally Posted by markgladding

Hello TadW,

Oops. MobileRead is now on the list.

Cheers,

Mark.

Add another: http://www.munseys.com

Munseys is the current incarnation of Blackmask.com, mentioned elsewhere here. Most of the source material is Project Gutenberg, but the proprietor is a big pulp fiction fan, and has a variety of stuff that hasn't hit PG. Files are available in HTML, Adobe PDF, ebookwise EB1150, iSilo, MobiPocket, Microsoft Reader, Plucker, Sony Reader and (in beta) Amazon Kindle formats.

Note that neither Manybooks nor Munsey include illustrations, even if they are available in the original PG sources. Neither site has come up with a good automated way of handling them.
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Dennis

[Krystian Galaj]

When it comes to non-fiction, I found courses that can be bought from http://www.teach12.com/ very entertaining.

That may be a bit off topic though, as they're audiobooks.

[leekeen]

Thank you for the links rlauzon. I checked them out and, what do you know, I was indeed pleasantly surprised by the diverse (even though served piece meal and somewhat unorganized) selection of books. I really wish I could say the same thing about non-fiction, but I suppose we're forced to take what we can get.

That's true sonnyred. I'm glad you clarified that it's a selection of dedicated readers; things like PDA's, laptops, and the like are primarily used for other purposes. When I've mentioned that I own an "e-reader" though, people immediately ask what it is and what it's used for. The very presence of dedicated readers in the market, and even more so competition due to multiple readers, translates into more exposure for the industry, benefiting the industry as a whole. The other aspect, which you mentioned, is of course format, or lack thereof currently. Will it go the way of betamax vs vhs, or will an open format develop which allows all involved to enter into the market relatively cheaply. I really, really hope it's the latter, but like I stated above, I'll take what I can get. Unfortunately, considering the entry cost of the average dedicated reader, shousa has hit the bottom line square on the head, "a new technology that is unsatisfactory for the average reader."

[leekeen]

Mark - I'm trying to open my eyes to the possibilities available. I'm actually not a huge best-seller fan anyway, but I find it's much more difficult to find quality material without some useful measuring stick. Thats one reason I'm so glad to have found this great community; some of the leg work has already been done for me

Justin

[Ordinaryuser]

Originally Posted by sonnyred

Hi leekeen, I think the important phrase here is dedicated readers. In the past I think it was a mish-mash of PDA's or PocketPC's but now with the dedicated readers I feel the publishing industry has to take notice. More people like me who are not that good with computers finally have a product that is easy to understand. And with the demand of both the Sony and the CyBook then they must be taking notice. I feel that the next step would be one format that could be understood by all readers. I've got a huge amount of LIT books on my PC but why should I have to convert them to LRF or the Mobipocket format? I should just be able to buy a book and put it on any e-reader device I want without converting anything (maybe for the future?). Anyway I think it's an expanding market and if I had any capital to invest I would probably put it into eBooks.

Just a comment on your "huge amount of LIT books on your PC". I had quite a few books for Microsoft Reader on my Windows XP computer that recently crashed. I bought a new computer with Vista on it. Then I had to reformat the XP to recover the computer. I had put copies of my purchased ebooks from Amazon on CDs as backups for a crash eventuality. The Vista computer will not open these lit files on CD's. So I tried on the reformated XP. Had to download the Microsoft Reader and activate it. Still no luck. I didn't realize that these books DRM on them when I purchased them (silly me) and thought that since I had purchased them legally through Amazon a while back that they would be available to me on CD. Looks like I'm out of luck!! No more DRM site's for me. I've been bitten enough. Lots of luck on your lit files and hope your computer doesn't crash!!!

[JSWolf]

What I do with MS Reader (LIT) format ebooks is as soon as I purchase and download them, I strip the DRM right away so I am not stuck with the DRM. That way, I can then convert the LIT to LRF for reading on my 505. If I ever needed to reinstall MS Reader, I could still read all I've purchased as they now have no DRM.

[DaleDe]

Originally Posted by JSWolf

What I do with MS Reader (LIT) format ebooks is as soon as I purchase and download them, I strip the DRM right away so I am not stuck with the DRM. That way, I can then convert the LIT to LRF for reading on my 505. If I ever needed to reinstall MS Reader, I could still read all I've purchased as they now have no DRM.

that works but it is also true that after activating the new program you can use it to read your old eBooks. You can have several devices activated at a time. You may need to redownload them. I am not sure if that is necessary or not.

Dale

[bshar489]

I was wondering if anybody knows what is happening with this site? A day or two ago when I tried to go to it I got a "down for repairs" [or something to that effect] message, now I'm not even getting that.

Is the site having problems or is it just me?

Bergette

[Patricia]

Originally Posted by bshar489

I was wondering if anybody knows what is happening with this site? A day or two ago when I tried to go to it I got a "down for repairs" [or something to that effect] message, now I'm not even getting that.

Is the site having problems or is it just me?

Bergette

No, it's happening for me also. HarryT has noticed it too. Let's hope that it's temporary.

[Liviu_5]

Originally Posted by DaleDe

that works but it is also true that after activating the new program you can use it to read your old eBooks. You can have several devices activated at a time. You may need to redownload them. I am not sure if that is necessary or not.

Dale

It depends on how you activate your MsReader (user name, e-mail, version of original activation).

[bshar489]

Originally Posted by Patricia

No, it's happening for me also. HarryT has noticed it too. Let's hope that it's temporary.

Thanks for the reply, Patricia. I was rather hoping that it was just me, and that it was something I could fix. I'm keeping my fingers crossed that it's nothing serious.


Bergette

[DMcCunney]

Originally Posted by bshar489

I was wondering if anybody knows what is happening with this site? A day or two ago when I tried to go to it I got a "down for repairs" [or something to that effect] message, now I'm not even getting that.

Is the site having problems or is it just me?

Bergette

Not just you, and it's a topic of discussion elsewhere. There's a suspicion it might have been hacked, as a couple of other sites were experiencing problems, too.

I have a query in to the web master. We've corresponded before, and I expect I'll hear something when he's out from under whatever put the site down.
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Dennis

[HarryT]

Nothing so sinister; just a disk crash, apparently. The site is back up and running now, although with some missing content still.

[DMcCunney]

Originally Posted by HarryT

Nothing so sinister; just a disk crash, apparently. The site is back up and running now, although with some missing content still.

Disk crash plus missing backup plus extra work in the site owner's "real life" job, that delayed fixes.
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Dennis

[HarryT]

Good to see it back, anyway!