How many use Calibre and / or Apprentice Alf [POLL ENDED]

[jgaiser]

Originally Posted by jgaiser

Then again, like most conspiracy theorists, he won't believe the results and will continue to warn us about self-destructing ebooks and the worthlessness of calibre.

Originally Posted by sirmaru

Of course, this poll only reflects the folks who voted. It doesn't reflect the millions who buy Amazon eBooks. Maybe Amazon should do a valid statistical poll among their eBook customers and see if the results apply to all of them.

'Nuff said...

[AnemicOak]

Originally Posted by sirmaru

I believe Amazon should end DRM on eBooks just as they have ended it on MP3 song files.

Not up to Amazon. They offer DRM as some publishers and authors insist on it. If the demands from them go away it won't matter if Amazon offers it or not.

They should go to just inserting a serial number as they do on the songs.

Which is still DRM, albeit one found more acceptable by many.

If DRM stripping is this easy and widespread, then attaching the DRM is a wasted effort.

If only the publishers would figure this out. Still, it does stop casual sharing among friends with the average user, which is why I suspect they still want to use it. I'd say it's removal is widespread among enthusiasts (hobbiests, whatever you want to call them), but not the general user populace. I'd say the majority don't even know what DRM is (at least until they want to do something it prevents). However this is changing somewhat as more book review blogs and reader forums and the like are making their readers aware of such things.

Some of you folks should post exactly what you do with the Calibre since it almost seems a necessity to use it. I used to use MadiaMonkey to customize my metadata in my songs but stopped even using that. I just don't get it why metadata needs to be customized for songs or eBooks.

I don't do much personally. Just make sure all of my authors are in the same format (instead of some lastname, firstname and others firstname, lastname) and adding series info (series name, order number) and having consistently named genres. Makes it easier to find things once a library starts getting big.

[Terisa de morgan]

Originally Posted by sirmaru

Some of you folks should post exactly what you do with the Calibre since it almost seems a necessity to use i

I'll try to explain:
1.- Metadata edition
2.- ebook conversion
2.a.- Original format => html/css/opf
2.b.- html/css/opf => epub/lit
3.- Custom columns for collections/annotations store/positions store (more than an ereader).
4.- Sending ebooks to my reader

[pidgeon92]

Originally Posted by sirmaru

Some of you folks should post exactly what you do with the Calibre since it almost seems a necessity to use it.

I use it as an ebook catalog and backup. Nothing more, really. If the Alf tools were unavailable, I'd still use Calibre to backup DRMd files. While I get the vast majority of my ebooks from Amazon, I do have a couple hundred from other sources, and I want them all accessible in one central application on my iMac. One of the most important things to me is to being able to search in one spot so I don't accidentally buy the same book twice from two different retailers.

[shanghaichica]

I buy 99% of my books from amazon and use calibre and alf to liberate them.

[speakingtohe]

I'm saving up to buy a dungeon to keep my ebooks in so I could liberate them if I felt the urge.

Helen

[nynaevelan]

Originally Posted by sirmaru

I just don't get it why metadata needs to be customized for songs or eBooks.

And this my friend is why you will never understand the need some of us have. Which is interesting since you say you used to do it for your music files.

But it is this misunderstanding is why you should not try to fit us all into your mold, as the saying go "different strokes, different folks."

If for no other reason, your involvement in this forum should prove to you we are all different and use different tools for different reasons. How about we all spend 2014 learning to embrace our differences and stop trying to force-feed us your way...

[nynaevelan]

Originally Posted by eschwartz

(1 book a year, and a worse Amazon fanboy than the most rabid apple fanboys)

I was thinking the same thing and I know some rabid isheep.

[cadele]

Originally Posted by pidgeon92

The vast majority of the ebook I purchase are from Amazon, I store them in calibre, and do strip the DRM and do some minor metadata customization. I very rarely bother messing with an ebook's formatting.

This describes me too. I couldn't live without calibre, although I only really use it for storage and basic functions (just not savvy enough ).

I need to alf when converting format (and boy do I regret all of those PDF books I bought instead of EPub back in the day ), but mainly because I loathe DRM. I didn't buy a box for someone else to hold the key.

Too many stores have gone under and I don't want to lose what I have paid for.

[soulfuldog]

I'm with cadele and pidgeon92. Mainly buy from Amazon and use Calibre to store a back-up of my ebooks. Immaterial of anything else, Calibre allows for far easier organisation and selection of ebooks than any ereader can possibly give.

The fact there are additional tools you can use to remove DRM are secondary (and I'd look to do this independently of Calibre if needed), but I love that this allows me to convert my books to read them on whichever ereader I want, and buy books from any shop I want.

The ability to edit metadata and insert it at the start of each book so I can get a quick synopsis before I start reading it, and the plugboards that mean I can easily add the series info to the title of books listed on my Kindle are also a very nice feature for me personally.

If Calibre didn't exist, I wouldn't have taken to ereaders quite the same way, I'd certainly be less willing to spend money on ebooks.

[pdurrant]

What an odd poll. Since it's asking about claibre and alf, why split into Amazon/non-Amzon?

Since I had to choose one, I chose the non-Amazon option, as only 137 of my bought ebooks are from Amazon (I was surprised it was so few)

I'm not surprised that the vast majority of people at Mobileread (who have taken part in this poll) use both calibre and alf.

[Yapyap]

Originally Posted by AnemicOak

I don't do much personally. Just make sure all of my authors are in the same format (instead of some lastname, firstname and others firstname, lastname) and adding series info (series name, order number) and having consistently named genres. Makes it easier to find things once a library starts getting big.

Same here.

I use Calibre - and Alf's plug-ins - because I buy from various shops. Mostly Amazon these days as Amazon has lots of good deals (if I pretend to visit some other country), but occasionally Kobo, but in 2011, before deciding that country-hopping is something I don't feel much guilt over, I bought more from BooksOnBoard and Kobo than Amazon, as they were consistently much cheaper for me (compared to Amazon's $2 surcharge + 15% VAT on every book + surcharge).

So Calibre + Alf are needed to keep my library organised (I can keep track of genres and unread/read status of books via tags) and to convert from one format to another, for reading everything on my Kindle. I also prefer to have series information added and to have all author names in the same way (firstname lastname, sorted lastname, firstname), and I add/change covers for books that don't come with a cover/come with a generic cover/come with a really ugly cover.

Thanks to Alf, DRM gets removed the moment I add a book to Calibre, with zero extra effort on my side, and I'll have a book I can easily and instantly convert to read on my current reader of choice and back up for my own safekeeping.

If I read fewer books and bought them only from Amazon, I might not bother with all that (even though I've been burned before, years ago, when a handful of my Amazon-bought DRM-d .lit format books (I think they were .lit anyway) became unusable and by now no sign of them ever existing can be found on my Amazon account), but Amazon's Manage My Kindle area is all but useless for organising books when you have a few hundred or more, so that means Calibre anyway - and if I already use Calibre, having Alf liberate my books while I add them seems like the most reasonable thing to do.

Also, I had a Sony reader before my first Kindle, and I may well get a non-Amazon reader again in the future.

I should add that I also have some Estonian ebooks, which all use social DRM, i.e. watermarking, and while they also get added to Calibre, the DRM is not removed. I don't have any particular issue with that kind of DRM - it doesn't prevent back-ups or converting to any other preferred format, so it doesn't bother me (although I understand and respect the objections others have).

[pdurrant]

Wow. Currently 90+% of voters strip the DRM from their ebooks.

[speakingtohe]

The posts in this poll seem to paint a slightly different picture.

https://www.mobileread.com/forums/sho...&highlight=drm


Helen

Originally Posted by speakingtohe

The posts in this poll seem to paint a slightly different picture.

https://www.mobileread.com/forums/sho...&highlight=drm


Helen

Another nonsense poll that is obviously slanted. Not enough real world options, just "I hate DRM" options. How about a "I would hate the DRM but would read the DRMed books anyway" option, or the "It would make no difference in which eBooks I read" option?