Getting Kindle books without a Kindle

[davers]

I know I'm still very new here...and I apologize in advance if I sound like a noob or naive, or if I'm posting a view that's been posted countless times already, but if it is impossible to purchase e-books from Amazon without first purchasing Amazons reader, isn't that the same as saying you can't download music from iTunes unless you purchase our iPod, or you can't buy this DVD unless you buy our DVD player? I honestly don't understand why one would have to first purchase Amazon's reader before they can purchase ebooks from Amazon... I'm sure I'm just being a noob...but jeez...

I can walk into any grocery store and purchase "Oh Brother Where Art Thou" and play it in my Sony DVD player, or my computers DVD player, or even my Panasonic DVD player...I guess I'm being simplistic, but I fail to see the difference, and that is one of the main reasons I didn't buy the Kindle. You don't see Netflix saying you can rent all these cool movies...but only if you purchase the Netflix DVD player...

Ah well..I'm sure in "Daves" perfect world, there will be only one eBook format and it will work in any eReader...

Dave

[pilotbob]

Originally Posted by davers

Ah well..I'm sure in "Daves" perfect world, there will be only one eBook format and it will work in any eReader...

Dave

Stop being so practical. There are hundreds of threads here about this. But basically DRM is evil and about Vendor lock in. One the one hand, Bezos talks about how bad iTunes DRM lock in is, so Amazon opened a DRM free MP3 store to give customers choice. On the other hand he does the same think to lock in the Kindle store to Kindle owners that he says is so bad when Apple does it with iTunes.

It's really about what they "think" will make the most money.

BOb

[davers]

Very true...none the less, I've emailed Amazon and asked them to re-think their policy on only Kindle owners being able to download eBooks...I'm sure once they realize who I am they'll snap into line and start offering books to the general public at the same discounted rate... And for fun, I've included Amazon's response to my begging:

"Thank you for sending us your comments about eDocs and the Kindle reader.
Amazon.com does sell eDocs that are not associated with the Kindle and available
to read from your computer. I have included a link below to get you started.

http://www.amazon.com/gp/help/custom...?nodeId=515810

Strong customer feedback like yours helps us continue to improve the service we
provide, and we appreciate the time you took to write to us. I've passed your
feedback along to the Kindle team.

Thank you for your interest in Amazon Kindle.

Please let us know if this e-mail resolved your question:..."

It's a whopping 16 "books" so far that includes the likes of "The Bootstrappers Guide: Volume 1" Hopefully they'll take it a bit more seriously if more people email and ask? I've also asked them about their DRM policy, and they answered that it's the Publishers policy, not theirs...which makes sense.

On a side note, I'm at work, and I just received my BLUE SONY PRS 505!!!!! WOOHOO!!! Life is good! It's charging even as I type! :-) And the bonus is...I didn't realize it came with a BLUE COVER!!! JEEZ OH PETE!

Merry X-mas everyone!

Dave

P.S. pilotbob...am I to assume you're a Linux fan? :-)

[pilotbob]

Originally Posted by davers

P.S. pilotbob...am I to assume you're a Linux fan? :-)

I am a "choice" fan. So that makes me a Linux and Mac fan. Although I use Windows machines too. I would be very happy to move 100% to Macs and not look back. But, Linux is a great choice too. Teaching myself Ruby On Rails with the hope to move to a job which lets me work on a Mac eventually.

In the vein of choice I think device manufacturers should reconsider their Windows only attitude. For example, Sony reader could open up to Mac/Linux very easily if they allowed for purchasing right from the Web site and created a cross platform Plugin/Control to register your reader.

BOb

[Harry001]

in your case, i would send an email to amazon and kindly ask, if there is a way to buy ebooks from them, which you can use on your nokia.

everything else is like using the mule to get ebooks.

take care
harry

[beschuit]

Well, old thread, but it's still very frustrating if you a) do not have a Kindle and b) live outside the US. An example is the book Blindsight, from Peter Watts. Only available for Kindle, not to be found on mobipocker of Fictionwise. I reckon Amazon uses its power to forbid sales on any other platform.

And worse, just recently, Fictionwise and other vendors started geoblocking almost all SF books, seriously diminishing the number of books I'dlike to and can buy. Yes, bol.com started selling ebooks to, but not like Amazon.

Ah well, I guess in time I'll be able to buy any eBooks for my Cybook from local shops.

[Sporadic]

Originally Posted by beschuit

Blindsight, from Peter Watts. Only available for Kindle, not to be found on mobipocker of Fictionwise. I reckon Amazon uses its power to forbid sales on any other platform.

This is the greatest for two reasons.

1) I haven't heard of one case of Amazon flexing its power to make certain books exclusive. Most of the time, it is just the publishers being lazy or worse, not even knowing there is another option.
2) Peter Watts' Blindsight, along with most of his work, has been released under Creative Commons License. You can download it for free from his website or most public domain websites

http://www.rifters.com/real/Blindsight.htm
http://feedbooks.com/book/976
http://manybooks.net/titles/wattspot...lindsight.html

[vivaldirules]

There appear to be thousands of books available from Amazon for the Kindle that are not legally available anywhere else. If you don't own a Kindle, you are out of luck. So, yes, this has been a major frustration for me since the Kindle came out.

[daffy4u]

Originally Posted by beschuit

Well, old thread, but it's still very frustrating if you a) do not have a Kindle and b) live outside the US. An example is the book Blindsight, from Peter Watts. Only available for Kindle, not to be found on mobipocker of Fictionwise. I reckon Amazon uses its power to forbid sales on any other platform.

And worse, just recently, Fictionwise and other vendors started geoblocking almost all SF books, seriously diminishing the number of books I'dlike to and can buy. Yes, bol.com started selling ebooks to, but not like Amazon.

Ah well, I guess in time I'll be able to buy any eBooks for my Cybook from local shops.

If you have an iPhone or iPod Touch you can use the free Kindle for iPhone app. If you search the forums, you'll see some folks outside of the U.S. have found ways around the country restrictions to use the app and are happily downloading Kindle books.

[thianliongpatpoh]

Originally Posted by daffy4u

If you have an iPhone or iPod Touch you can use the free Kindle for iPhone app. If you search the forums, you'll see some folks outside of the U.S. have found ways around the country restrictions to use the app and are happily downloading Kindle books.

Yes, very happy. I get the freebies, and when I like what i read, i go search for the author's other kindle-available titles and buy with 1-click setting OFF my iPhone. The only time i have to access amazon.com site with my laptop was when I first registered my kindle app to my amazon.com account.

[Kostas]

Originally Posted by daffy4u

If you have an iPhone or iPod Touch you can use the free Kindle for iPhone app. If you search the forums, you'll see some folks outside of the U.S. have found ways around the country restrictions to use the app and are happily downloading Kindle books.

Waiting for a BB Kindle app to do the same thing.

[SolRaven]

What Cynoclast is asking is not illegal. It's illegal for him to distribute what he purchases, but in these United States of America, it is perfectly legal to buy a book and do with it what you want, even if it means stripping the DRM and converting it. It's YOUR book. You OWN it, do what you like except make copies and sell it. Heck, I'm not even sure if letting someone "borrow" and ebook has been written in law as illegal.

I'll tell you what I think is illegal. Buying an ebook from Amazon on MY credit card and Amazon keeping it locked up on their server and not letting me download MY legally bought copy of a book onto MY personal computer so that I can read the book that I purchased on MY computer. What I think is illegal is that Amazon still has my $9.99 and I still haven't read the book that I purchased. I believe that's stealing. If I can't d/lo the book to my PC. Don't take my money.

[SolRaven]

Originally Posted by zelda_pinwheel

well, i suppose there is still the option of buying the broken kindle... although it seems rather silly to have to jump through all these hoops just to be able to buy books, doesn't it ?

Yes it does. I almost did the same thing. I registered my cousins iPod Touch onto my Amazon account and tried buying a book that way, but if you only register an iPod they won't let you d/l the book to your computer and keep telling you to "try again later." As far as I can see, they've just stolen $10 from me and I still haven't read the book that I purchased from them.

[SolRaven]

Originally Posted by vivaldirules

Yes, it does, ZP. My plan is to simply wait until the value of relieving my own frustration has reached about $400 and then I will break down and buy a Kindle to go with my Sony Reader. Incredibly senseless, but I forsee it happening next year.

I almost did this in July when I was looking for another reader for our household, but couldn't make myself buy a Kindle. I bought a Sony PRS-700 as my second reader in hopes that things would change soon.

[SolRaven]

Originally Posted by RickyMaveety

Oh, hell, VR .... by then I'll probably have a fourth or fifth Kindle, and I can loan one of them to you. It's not like you live all that far away ....

And lending your Kindle to someone so that they can buy books is legal in your world, how???