No "open" ereaders? Shoud I buy the iPad Mini instead?

[Hrafn]

Originally Posted by FizzyWater

Pocketbook eReaders are "open", although if you're in the US, you'll have to buy from a reseller. (I got mine in Amazon's "marketplace").

As are Onyx Boox's (although you might have to import them), and probably a number of other small brands.

It's only the major players (Amazon and Apple being the most obvious examples) that are in a position to attempt to impose a walled garden on their offerings and tie their ebookstore to their own proprietary reader or app.

[ProfCrash]

And by walled they mean a fence about 2 inches high that you might trip on if you forget that it is there. Just to be safe, someone can PM you the map to the underground tunnels that burrow under the 2 inch high fence for Amazon and the 1 inch high fence for ADE EPubs. The tunnel system is really cool, the lanes are well marked, traffic flows freely, no real traffic jams or anything. No tools even.

[faithbw]

Originally Posted by ProfCrash

And by walled they mean a fence about 2 inches high that you might trip on if you forget that it is there. Just to be safe, someone can PM you the map to the underground tunnels that burrow under the 2 inch high fence for Amazon and the 1 inch high fence for ADE EPubs. The tunnel system is really cool, the lanes are well marked, traffic flows freely, no real traffic jams or anything. No tools even.

:lol: That's a good analogy for e-books. I thought freeing my books would be hard but it is quite easy. That's why I ultimately didn't worry about which e-ink e-reader I bought. I knew I could get books from any seller and put it on my reader once I freed my books and did the necessary conversion.

[Sgt.Stubby]

Originally Posted by faithbw

:lol: That's a good analogy for e-books. I thought de-DRMing books would be hard but it is quite easy. That's why I ultimately didn't worry about which e-ink e-reader I bought. I knew I could get books from any seller and put it on my reader once I removed the DRM and did the necessary conversion.

Keep in mind that the fence must be very small to start. The idea is to first transition the masses from paper books to e-books, which would be difficult (if not impossible) if the fence were high to start.

After the transition, and after authors stop producing works on paper, then we will see the fences grow. E-book licensing will become what shrink-wrap licensing is for software. It will become impossible to loan books, pass them on to your kids, borrow books, it will cost you extra to go back and re-read a page, you won't be able to buy an book anonymously, etc. Consumer rights will erode very gradually.

[DiapDealer]

Smells like FUD in here.

[faithbw]

Originally Posted by Sgt.Stubby

Keep in mind that the fence must be very small to start. The idea is to first transition the masses from paper books to e-books, which would be difficult (if not impossible) if the fence were high to start.

After the transition, and after authors stop producing works on paper, then we will see the fences grow. E-book licensing will become what shrink-wrap licensing is for software. It will become impossible to loan books, pass them on to your kids, borrow books, it will cost you extra to go back and re-read a page, you won't be able to buy an book anonymously, etc. Consumer rights will erode very gradually.

OK. I don't necessarily disagree with your post but I don't understand how it relates to what I wrote.

[Sgt.Stubby]

Originally Posted by faithbw

OK. I don't necessarily disagree with your post but I don't understand how it relates to what I wrote.

There's no contention.. my comment was just a natural extension of what you wrote. Many consumers are blind to what's going on, and it was a good opportunity to point out the future of the currently tiny wall.

Awareness is part of the battle. The literature industry does not want consumers as a whole to see this coming - because if they did, they could act to mitigate the damage (thus reduce publishers future profits).

Some people buy DRM'd material and then strip off the DRM - but of course that still financially supports the direction publishers are going in. Personally, I would not do that. I would only purchase non-DRM'd material, even though I'm quite capable of hacking the DRM off. I would not want to send a false signal that I'm okay with DRM.