iLiad Firmware with long-awaited Mobipocket Reader (almost)

[ali]

Can you tell me what's so exciting about mobipocket support? I've never used it, didn't know about it existence, but you guys freak out about it. So what's it about?

Is it more than a bookstore?

I've seen the books, but was not too enthusiastic. I checked my three favorite authors (Friedrich Dürrenmatt, Tom Robbins, Neal Stephenson), but found that they have none of their books in german, and only the two american authors in english.

Also the books seem to be nearly as expensive as paperbooks (Wild Ducks Flying Backward: $6.99 vs. $9.60 on amazon; Fierce Invalids Home from Hot Climates: $9.95 vs. $11.20).

So what is it that makes you guys so happy?

[deadite66]

i'm not bothered about the books just want the reader.
quicker to use the mobi creator than fiddle with pdfs

[vampyre]

I have never tried to upload an image as an attachment before so I hope I get this right. Me not very techie, me just love to read


I like mobipocket because I live in the middle of nowhere, everything is hassle to get and as a bad sleeper compulsive reader sometimes it's worth its weight in gold.

[Alexander Turcic]

I bet the Mobipocket format will get more attention when Amazon releases the Kindle devices. Remember, Mobipocket = Amazon, and should Amazon plan to enter the e-book biz for real, then there is no way to get around Mobipocket.

[vampyre]

Originally Posted by Alexander Turcic

I bet the Mobipocket format will get more attention when Amazon releases the Kindle devices. Remember, Mobipocket = Amazon, and should Amazon plan to enter the e-book biz for real, then there is no way to get around Mobipocket.

I hope so and that they will be in for the long haul, not if it hasn't been a smash in 6 months abandon it. And of course more mainstream best selling authors on board would be great.

Originally Posted by ali

Can you tell me what's so exciting about mobipocket support?
So what is it that makes you guys so happy?

An increase in content availability for one thing. Many of the more popular ebook sellers have Mobipocket as one of the DRM formats they sell in. This means a huge jump in what can be bought legitimately since so many different places sell using this format.

As for the author problem, that's probably more a publishing shortcoming than a format shortcoming. Publishers are still having trouble wrapping their accountants around this whole "digital" fad.

Have your found any store with the ebooks you are looking for in the language you want? If so you might see if they are offering Mobipocket support. It would be very surprising if they aren't since that format is used on PCs, PDAs, cell phones...I think I might have a pocky box that's Mobipocket compliant.

[vampyre]

Originally Posted by stxopher

An increase in content availability for one thing. Many of the more popular ebook sellers have Mobipocket as one of the DRM formats they sell in. This means a huge jump in what can be bought legitimately since so many different places sell using this format.

As for the author problem, that's probably more a publishing shortcoming than a format shortcoming. Publishers are still having trouble wrapping their accountants around this whole "digital" fad.

Have your found any store with the ebooks you are looking for in the language you want? If so you might see if they are offering Mobipocket support. It would be very surprising if they aren't since that format is used on PCs, PDAs, cell phones...I think I might have a pocky box that's Mobipocket compliant.

I can't believe things are still that way after all these years. Mobipocket is well encrypted and drm'ed (Boo!) and has been pointed out not much cheaper than paper editions. But these ultra conservative and obviously ignorant dinosaurs who pull the strings are depriving authors of sales and congratulating themselves for doing so. The music industry was slow enough to wise up, this is painful.

[vampyre]

@deadite66
Are you running vista?
If so that's the problem. Much to my own sadness the iliad is only recognised by XP.

[deadite66]

yeah vista :<

[rlauzon]

Originally Posted by ali

Can you tell me what's so exciting about mobipocket support? I've never used it, didn't know about it existence, but you guys freak out about it. So what's it about?

Mobipocket, unlike PDF, is an eBook format. (PDF is not an eBook format. It's a page layout format.)

A single Mobipocket eBook will display correctly on any device, no matter the screen size.

I don't really like Mobipocket since it has DRM and proprietary. But it's certainly a much better solution for eBooks than PDF.

[BACbKA]

Is there an option NOT to install mobipocket reader stuff on Iliad, when it gets distributed (w/o requesting the sh-hack and manually removing the associated files)? I'd like to keep my device completely DRM-free, and keep the space for whatever nice third party apps come up available. (Asked over at irex, but they haven't answered so far).

[wallcraft]

I am no fan of DRM-ed books, but given how expensive they are then if, like me, you want to reread books later (perhaps years later) the best options today appear to be either MS Reader, because its encription can be broken (more accurately it can be side stepped), or MobiPocket. The latter because they have a history of both providing wide device support in-house and (limited) licencing to 3rd parties for their reading devices. I suppose Abobe Reader is an option, but I have never even considered it because a multi-device format must be reflowable.

Mobipocket format is also a reasonable choice for non-DRM books because it is readable by 3rd party e-book reader software and if you have a Windows PC Mobipockets own software is "good enough" at converting HTML and RTF to the Mobi format (it seems to be less good with PDFs). The converted files are DRM-free and can be read by 3rd party software. By the way, Mobipocket files usually have the .prc extension and are often called PRC files, although Palm's .prc extension can be used for many purposes. Sometimes .prc files are actually in Apportis Doc format (also readable directly by the Mobipocket reader). The file command under Linux will correctly identify the file type, but some Mobipocket files incorrectly advertize themselves as Apportis files. This only matters if you have reader software that does not handle both e-book formats.

[wallcraft]

Originally Posted by BACbKA

Is there an option NOT to install mobipocket reader stuff on Iliad, when it gets distributed? I'd like to keep my device completely DRM-free, and keep the space for whatever nice third party apps come up available.

It is possible to use the Mobipocket Reader and never touch a DRMed e-book, but FBReader is certainly the purer DRM avoiding approach. It will be interesting to see how the Mobipocket reader compares to FBReader on DRM-free e-books. FBReader can read many more formats directly, but does not have dictionary or annotation capability. I don't know if there are any non-DRM dictionaries for Mobipocket though.

[Moonraker]

I have just been through the process of upgrading to 2.9.5 and it all went well with no apparent problems. It was also much quicker that I had anticipated -- about 10 minutes in all.

Before I started I did back up the folders from the iLiad to my PC - however, as I have never put any personal content on it I wonder if I have to copy and paste the backup folder back to the iLiad? My books are always stored on the MMC. I did remove both the SD card and the CF card before upgrading and when I replaced them both I was pleasantly surprised to find the device remembered the last page of the pdf book I had been reading.

I downloaded and installed Mobipocket Creator 4 on my pc and have just finished making a .prc file from an .rtf file. I was pleasantly surprised at how easy this was. I could only test the book on the pc (Windows XP) but I was pleased with the way I could increased the font size in the reader. I think I could press the plus button about 10 times in all, so somewhere inbetween will be suitable for my preference. Also, the text flowed very nicely. I am really looking forward to having this programme on my iLiad.

[wallcraft]

Originally Posted by Moonraker

I downloaded and installed Mobipocket Creator 4 on my pc and have just finished making a .prc file from an .rtf file. I was pleasantly surprised at how easy this was. I could only test the book on the pc (Windows XP) but I was pleased with the way I could increased the font size in the reader. I think I could press the plus button about 10 times in all, so somewhere inbetween will be suitable for my preference. Also, the text flowed very nicely. I am really looking forward to having this programme on my iLiad.

Version 6 of Mobipocket Reader for the PC does conversion for you if you "import" .rft or other supported file formats. Another way to view non-DRM Mobipocket files (on a PC or on the iLiad) is with FBReader.