why so emotional about the kindle? - Page 3

Greg G · 11-20-2007, 12:38 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by edsohsmith

A reason that people are so passionate about the Kindle offering is because of the bookstore not the device. Upon entering the ebook arena, Amazon immediately becomes the largest ebook seller in the world. If you do not own a Sony Reader, then the Sonny connect bookstore is irrelevant. This is not true of the Amazon bookstore. This is what makes Amazon's decision to ignore epub standards and to go with another proprietary DRM format tied to a single device so disappointing. Not unexpected, but disapointing.

I agree. I was hoping for the epub standard and an extension to the Sony Reader that would allow me to purchase books from Amazon for my Sony Reader 505. I want to be able to jump to the next cool reader without leaving my book collection behind. You would think that Amazon would be interested in selling their e-books to Sony Reader users. I suspect that the problem is more with the publishers need to protect their content than Sony and Amazon wanting to lock people into their stores. I still hope that ebup makes it to prime time.

Zoot · 11-20-2007, 02:14 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by zartemis

Well I really got a bum deal from Amazon. I ordered well before Noon with overnight shipping while it was still in stock.

You have my sympathy as I know how painful that sort of thing is.

But, he who hesitates is backordered

Z.

tsgreer · 11-20-2007, 02:37 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by zartemis

Well I really got a bum deal from Amazon. I ordered well before Noon with overnight shipping while it was still in stock.

Oh wow, that does suck. Sorry that happened to you. I thought that would happen with me because it took forever to get the shipping confirmation email. But mine is out for delivery so I get in a few hours

Did you pay for overnight shipping? Maybe they can at least refund the shipping charge--you have a valid argument for it

HarryT · 11-20-2007, 02:44 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by edsohsmith

Then now Amazon owns the two largest ebookstores in the world, each with their own incompatible DRM. Terrible.

No, they both use the same DRM. Kindle files are Mobipocket files. They just have a different extension.

zartemis · 11-20-2007, 02:56 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by tsgreer

Oh wow, that does suck. Sorry that happened to you. I thought that would happen with me because it took forever to get the shipping confirmation email. But mine is out for delivery so I get in a few hours

Did you pay for overnight shipping? Maybe they can at least refund the shipping charge--you have a valid argument for it

Yeah, I'm sure they will refund overnight shipping. The part that really bites is the fact that instead of just bumping me to the next available shipping date (Nov 21), they put me at the END of the line, behind people who ordered after me! Heck, the next shipping date is currently the 28th, and yet even with overnight shipping I'm listed as not getting it until the 30th. Very poor treatment.

I'd be sympathetic if they said they made a mistake and listed it in stock even when they didn't have any more (maybe they miscounted or some of them were damaged), and were instead shipping it in the next batch, but to bump me way to the end of the line? It's really poor service. I've gotten no response to my question to them asking why.

edsohsmith · 11-20-2007, 03:01 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by HarryT

No, they both use the same DRM. Kindle files are Mobipocket files. They just have a different extension.

Correct me if I am wrong, you cannot read your old DRM'd Mobipocket books on the Kindle and cannot read Kindle files on older Mobipocket readers. Functionally this is a new DRM.

AnemicOak · 11-20-2007, 03:06 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by edsohsmith

Correct me if I am wrong, you cannot read your old DRM'd Mobipocket books on the Kindle and cannot read Kindle files on older Mobipocket readers. Functionally this is a new DRM.

No, you're right. There may be many similarities between .mobi & .azw files, but for all practical purposes they are different files.

HarryT · 11-20-2007, 03:22 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by AnemicOak

No, you're right. There may be many similarities between .mobi & .azw files, but for all practical purposes they are different files.

Nope, Kindle files are MobiPocket files. Rename a Kindle ".azw" file to ".prc" or ".mobi" and load it into MobiPocket Reader. It will happily show you the cover of the book, and tell you that it's not registered to your device. ie it recognises it as a MobiPocket file.

I agree with you that the practical effect of it is that you cannot currently read previously-purchased Mobi content on the Kindle, but that's (probably) simply because you don't know the Kindle's PID. If someone finds a way to prize the PID out of the Kindle, you'd (probably) to able to enter that PID at the bookstores where you'd previously bought Mobi books and download new versions that the Kindle would read.

All the indications are that the Kindle uses exactly the same Mobi DRM as any other Mobi store does - it just hides the device PID from you and does it all automatically.

AnemicOak · 11-20-2007, 03:26 PM

It doesn't matter how close they are if they don't work interchangeably they're effectively different IMO.

Nate tried the PID thing @ Fictonwise, it's a no go (it shows up in Mobi's software with a PID)...
https://www.mobileread.com/forums/showthread.php?t=16322

Nate the great · 11-20-2007, 04:13 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by AnemicOak

It doesn't matter how close they are if they don't work interchangeably they're effectively different IMO.

Nate tried the PID thing @ Fictonwise, it's a no go (it shows up in Mobi's software with a PID)...
https://www.mobileread.com/forums/showthread.php?t=16322

I bet that the main difference is a few bytes in the file. Wait a week. Someone will release a hack to get around it.

bingle · 11-20-2007, 06:37 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Alisa

In regards to the looks, I was just listening to Bezos on All Things Considered and he was saying that it was beautiful and I did get the feeling he meant it.

Heh, I was listening to the same show. I laughed when he said that. The quote was something like, "You've taken a beating in the blogs about the aesthetics, what do you say about that?" And he said, "Oh, it's beautiful!" He really did sound totally sincere about it, but having seen all the pictures and heard a lot of comments, I couldn't help but chuckle.

tcv · 11-20-2007, 06:58 PM

Of course he would! What's he supposed to say, "Well, I really wanted something different but, you know, that's ME!"

JSWolf · 11-20-2007, 07:06 PM

Let's say you have 50 ebooks on your Kindle, how easy is it to find one?

I had a thought on the AZW books. Maybe they are mostly Mobi format books and books without a PID are the same. Maybe they've just flipped a few bits so even if you manage to get the PID you cannot do anything with it as mobi with PID and AZW with PID are not the same. This is all 100% speculation based on Nate's testing.

Alisa · 11-20-2007, 07:56 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by tcv

Of course he would! What's he supposed to say, "Well, I really wanted something different but, you know, that's ME!"

Oh I would expect him to say that, too, but either he's a really good liar or he sincerely thinks it's beautiful. It was the tone of his voice. He really did sound like he was in love with the way it looks. He wasn't really effusive about it or anything, but he sounded like he genuinely was fond of it.

ischeriad · 11-20-2007, 10:02 PM

I feel so lost. Can't you all please stop complaining about the design? Else I have to stop reading MR for a week or two, until everybody and his dog has got a kindle and has accoustomed to the look. I hope then discussion focuses on the more important things, like extracting the presumed PID, porting a pdf viewer, painting it black, or getting a terminal and vim onto it.

Actually, continue to complain if you have to, but put vim on that lovely designd device

.

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11-20-2007, 03:26 PM	#39
AnemicOak Bookaholic Posts: 14,391 Karma: 54969924 Join Date: Oct 2007 Location: Minnesota Device: iPad Mini 4, AuraHD, iPhone XR +	It doesn't matter how close they are if they don't work interchangeably they're effectively different IMO. Nate tried the PID thing @ Fictonwise, it's a no go (it shows up in Mobi's software with a PID)... https://www.mobileread.com/forums/showthread.php?t=16322

11-20-2007, 06:58 PM	#42
tcv Addict Posts: 330 Karma: 596 Join Date: Oct 2006	Of course he would! What's he supposed to say, "Well, I really wanted something different but, you know, that's ME!"

11-20-2007, 07:06 PM	#43
JSWolf Resident Curmudgeon Posts: 79,749 Karma: 145864619 Join Date: Nov 2006 Location: Roslindale, Massachusetts Device: Kobo Libra 2, Kobo Aura H2O, PRS-650, PRS-T1, nook STR, PW3	Let's say you have 50 ebooks on your Kindle, how easy is it to find one? I had a thought on the AZW books. Maybe they are mostly Mobi format books and books without a PID are the same. Maybe they've just flipped a few bits so even if you manage to get the PID you cannot do anything with it as mobi with PID and AZW with PID are not the same. This is all 100% speculation based on Nate's testing.

11-20-2007, 10:02 PM	#45
ischeriad Connoisseur Posts: 91 Karma: 28 Join Date: Apr 2007 Location: Germany Device: PB Pro 903, Kobo Touch [Past: Story, Clié N770C, SL-10, Palm IIIxe, V]	I feel so lost. Can't you all please stop complaining about the design? Else I have to stop reading MR for a week or two, until everybody and his dog has got a kindle and has accoustomed to the look. I hope then discussion focuses on the more important things, like extracting the presumed PID, porting a pdf viewer, painting it black, or getting a terminal and vim onto it. Actually, continue to complain if you have to, but put vim on that lovely designd device .

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