Icarus quietly goes out of business

[DiapDealer]

Walled gardens are a bunch of hooey. I buy DRM'ed ebooks from any vendor I want to and read them all on the very same device (without removing DRM or converting).

Originally Posted by DiapDealer

Walled gardens are a bunch of hooey. I buy DRM'ed ebooks from any vendor I want to and read them all on the very same device (without removing DRM or converting).

I'd have been impressed and intrigued had you said "read them all on the very same e-ink device..."

[ZodWallop]

Originally Posted by stuartjmz

The wall itself may be weak, but the Amazon infrastructure is more restrictive than Kobo's. The very first book I got for my Kobo was an epub from Smashwords, which of course opened fine. To load it on my Paperwhite would have required an extra step. A trivially easy extra step, but still an extra step - over the wall.

If I download The Corsican Brothers from Project Gutenberg in ePub for a Kobo or Mobi for a Kindle, what extra step is required to transfer the book onto a Kindle?

Checking Smashwords (to stick with your example), the books that I have bought from them are available as ePub and Mobi.

[HarryT]

Originally Posted by stuartjmz

I'd have been impressed and intrigued had you said "read them all on the very same e-ink device..."

There are a number of Android-based eInk devices on the market which allow you to install multiple reading apps.

Originally Posted by HarryT

There are a number of Android-based eInk devices on the market which allow you to install multiple reading apps.

Indeed, thanks for reminding me of that.

[DNSB]

Originally Posted by rcentros

I don't see that much difference in Amazon's modified mobi format (KFX, AZW3) and Kobo's modified ePub format (KePub). Both are based on an open format, both have modified the open formats for their own devices and neither will work on other devices until the the DRM protection is removed.

Hmmm... a few minor issues with your post. While you might want to argue the AZW3 or KFX are modifications of the proprietary mobi format, looking at the structure of those two formats says you're not going to win that argument. AZW3 is closer to a modified epub than mobi/AZW while KFX is in it's own playground being that it appears to be closer to the output of a compiler than an epub, AZW3 or AZW/mobi document.

Could you point me in the direction where I might find the standards document for Amazon's version of mobi format -- it had diverged quite enthusiastically from the Open eBook standard even before Mobipocket was purchased by Amazon. As the MobileRead wiki entry for Open eBook says about their sample file, "many of the MobiPocket specific package items are missing from the file". Other such items as the the Open eBook standard allowing for and preferring CSS while Mobipocket did not support CSS -- in-line styles only need apply.

By comparison, the Kobo modification of epub is about as compliant as you can get with the Epub3 standards document. One other point is that for compatibility reasons, the javascript, which is permissible under the Epub3 standard, found in early kepubs was removed making a kepub more readable with an Epub2 renderer.

As for DRM? Remove the DRM from a kepub and you can view it on another epub viewer with few if any visible results. Finding a non-Amazon app or device that would view a AZW3 or KFX file without conversion to a different format is a bit more difficult. And please note that DRM on KFX ebooks has been updated breaking the current tools.

For humour, you might want to check TechRadar's best free ebook readers for 2018. The number 1 benefit to using a Kindle app: compatible with all ebook formats. The number 3 choice for an ebook reader: Calibre. See The best free ebook reader 2018.

[fjtorres]

Originally Posted by HarryT

There are a number of Android-based eInk devices on the market which allow you to install multiple reading apps.

And they keep on coming:

https://the-digital-reader.com/2018/...lears-the-fcc/

https://the-digital-reader.com/2017/...droid-ereader/

https://the-digital-reader.com/2018/...oke-pro-video/

There's plenty more out there, in all sorts of sizes ranging from six to ten inches.

[DiapDealer]

I understand there's always going to preferences. But I honestly think it's time that people start owning up to the fact that they're at least partly responsible for their own "imprisonment." By falling too much in love with certain formats, branding, screen technologies, DRM status, reading apps, fonts, kerning, styles, evil empires, buttons, haptics, collections, blah de blah de blah. It'd be like someone only being able to read a hardcover with off-white, deckle-edged, recycled paper on the second and fourth Thursdays of a month with an "R" in it before ebooks came along.

I just want buy books and read them. A tablet and a handful of apps lets mash all those garden walls flat and do just that. I've been done with making it hard on myself for a long time, now. Y'all can carry that torch without me. *shrug*

EDIT: please note that I'm not dismissing the importance many of these choices/features can hold for those with disabilities or special needs.

[rcentros]

Originally Posted by stuartjmz

The wall itself may be weak, but the Amazon infrastructure is more restrictive than Kobo's. The very first book I got for my Kobo was an epub from Smashwords, which of course opened fine. To load it on my Paperwhite would have required an extra step. A trivially easy extra step, but still an extra step - over the wall.

I just checked some Smashword books at random, quite a few more that are sold in just ePub format than in multiple formats. Probably all that have DRM are sold only in ePub format. So I see your point there.

[rcentros]

Originally Posted by DiapDealer

Walled gardens are a bunch of hooey. I buy DRM'ed ebooks from any vendor I want to and read them all on the very same device (without removing DRM or converting).

Yes, but you're bereft of beautiful e-Ink screens. A high price to pay. Very high.

But, more seriously, I don't care if I have to jump through a few hoops to read on my e-Ink devices. It's really pretty trivial.

[DiapDealer]

Originally Posted by rcentros

But, more seriously, I don't care if I have to jump through a few hoops to read on my e-Ink devices. It's really pretty trivial.

Then you're not a prisoner.

[rcentros]

Originally Posted by DNSB

As for DRM? Remove the DRM from a kepub and you can view it on another epub viewer with few if any visible results. Finding a non-Amazon app or device that would view a AZW3 or KFX file without conversion to a different format is a bit more difficult. And please note that DRM on KFX ebooks has been updated breaking the current tools.

I just assumed that Amazon used mobi as the base for their newer formats. I guess I was wrong on that. But for all practical purposes it doesn't matter. I can't read KePub on non-Kobo ePub readers, nor can I read AZW3 on non-Kindle mobi devices. So both are proprietary and walled gardens. Removing the DRM on either allows me to convert both formats to whatever I want use.

[rcentros]

Originally Posted by DiapDealer

Then you're not a prisoner.

Not really. A prisoner has no control over his life. I do control mine. I wouldn't read nearly as much if I had to do it on a tablet. Too heavy and too uncomfortable on my eyes.

[DiapDealer]

Originally Posted by rcentros

Not really. A prisoner has no control over his life. I do control mine. I wouldn't read nearly as much if I had to do it on a tablet. Too heavy and too uncomfortable on my eyes.

And I wouldn't read nearly as much if I had to put down my tablet to go find where I left my ereader. We all do what we gotta do

[rcentros]

Originally Posted by DiapDealer

And I wouldn't read nearly as much if I had to put down my tablet to go find where I left my ereader. We all do what we gotta do

This is going to be a "forever thing" isn't it?

Choice is good. Personally I would have to go find my tablet if I wanted to read on it. My E-Ink Readers are always at hand.