Funniest thread of the forums

[delphin]

Originally Posted by Piper_

Good post, Halk.
Just one note:

To be fair, Amazon lets Kindles connect and buy from compatible stores.

DRM is the only thing you have to watch for, just like when buying epubs for Sony at other stores.

You can't count the tiny number of struggling small publishing houses that are willing to sell non-drm protected titles for Kindle. They are not Kindle specific and will sell in ANY format to ANYONE to make a sale.

Unfortunately, NONE of the large reputable publishing companies will sell material that is still under copyright without DRM.

I don't think Kindle owners can buy books in AZW format with DRM protection from major publishers from anyone other than Amazon. Or did I miss something?

With the Sony Readers, the Nook, Dozens of Tablets and Smart Phones running Android, as well as many low cost readers in the $100 dollar range, you can easily buy from Sony, Kobo, or Google Books, and take advantage of other DRM protected services like public libraries using Overdrive.

So unless I missed something, I think that this is STILL a fundamental difference between Kindle devices and virtually everyone else with the possible exception of Apple.

Arguing that Amazon is no worse than Apple when it comes to locking down their devices so they can siphon money out of your wallet, is like arguing that compared to Hitler, Mussolini was actually a pretty nice guy.

[astra]

Originally Posted by Piper_

No... That's why I said "DRM is the only thing you have to watch for, just like when buying epubs for Sony at other stores."

Then,

To be fair, Amazon lets Kindles connect and buy from compatible stores

....it doesn't.
AFAIK, you can buy DRM-infected books from different shops for Sony. Kindle is Amazon only.
Unless you are reading classics only, all books are DRM-infected. Not only bestsellers, but any fiction published within the last 30-40-50-60 years. So, the capability to purchase books from other online shops, is only a theoretical feature. Probably we can find one niche or another, but in general that is the reality.

Not that I care.
Kindle store is the best in my opinion. It also provides the darknet with good quality ebooks. No need to scan pbooks and create inferior quality ebooks anymore To be fair, ePub stores contribute as well

[KNI]

I read a lot - and it is virtually all fiction. I read about 100 books a year. In a past life I was a small but successful publisher; two different firms and eventually sold both.

There have been some truly wonderful novels published in the last 200 years, and great numbers of them are available free on the various Gutenberg sites. The biggest problem is finding out which are the good ones - but if nothing else there are lists of best sellers available from earlier days. And there are more and more sites with lists of classic books and reviews of same.

I refuse to buy DRM'ed e-books when I can buy the same in a discounted hardback for about the same price, and when finished lend it out or take it to a used books shop and get half my money back. And if I buy a book and find it is a disaster, I can usually return it and get my money back as long as it is quick and the book is as new.

Frankly, few of the modern works will ever be considered classics. A lot of books published today from "name" authors are trash; badly written, completely un-edited and not at all entertaining, uplifting or whatever they were bought for.

My biggest complaint is all the great books of the last 50 years that simply are not legally available as e-books; yet most can be bought at book sales for a buck. Big publishers are going to go the way of Borders - and richly deserve to. They have EARNED it.

One recurring theme in Kindle versus Sony discussions is admiration for the Kindle font. This mystifies me - I think it is one of the ugliest book fonts I have ever seen, absolutely lacking grace and style. Although a lot of people would disagree, I am a big fan of Times-Roman. If you want maximum readability and efficiency of space use, you use Times-Roman as a publisher. Most of the other fonts in use are there partially to make the printed book look bigger because they take up more space for the same text. (And there are a lot of other tricks to making a short book look bigger and longer so you can charge more for it.) And of course, book designers don't get paid for specifying Times Roman. So they use something else, with a couple paragraphs at the end of the book to justify themselves.

I love my Sony PRS-650. And I love my money, at least enough that I refuse to throw it away in $10 increments to find out five minutes later I hate the book and I am STUCK. Can't send it back, can't get my money back, can't resell it. No thanks. No Kindle.

[SeaBookGuy]

Originally Posted by KNI

I love my Sony PRS-650. And I love my money, at least enough that I refuse to throw it away in $10 increments to find out five minutes later I hate the book and I am STUCK. Can't send it back, can't get my money back, can't resell it. No thanks. No Kindle.

Ummm ..... isn't that what the samples are for?