Will K2PC 1.19 and KFX alter your ebook purchasing habits?

[Sweetpea]

Originally Posted by JSWolf

But if you mostly get KFX from Amazon and you want to make sure the eBooks you buy you will be able to use in the future, the best thing to do is buy ePub. The DRM can be removed and you can convert to KF8 very easily.

Did you even read what I wrote? I said I don't buy DRM-ed epubs as I find them way too troublesome. I prefer Kindle books, they are a lot easier (I don't need to continually log in into the application so I can even download the book, let alone cleanse it, I have 3 accounts with Adobe as it would never recognize the previous one, and I had 3 drm-ed epubs).

If I could only buy KFX (I had never even heard of that format before that thread that warned about it), and it couldn't be as easily cleansed, I'd simply not buy books from Amazon anymore, unless they were DRM free, just like I do with my epub books.

[haydnfan]

Originally Posted by JSWolf

But even though Tor is DRM free, if you get stuck with a KFX version, there's nothing you can do to liberate it from being KFX.

Thank you. That was the question I had. By default this means that Kobo has the most user friendly store (gasp!) because Tor ebooks can be just downloaded as DRM free epubs. Currently I have DRM free ebooks in both ecosystems (mostly ebooks from Tor and Deadite Press) and can download them, convert them and dump on my favorite ereaders. Soon it will just go one way.

[JSWolf]

Originally Posted by Sweetpea

Did you even read what I wrote? I said I don't buy DRM-ed epubs as I find them way too troublesome. I prefer Kindle books, they are a lot easier (I don't need to continually log in into the application so I can even download the book, let alone cleanse it, I have 3 accounts with Adobe as it would never recognize the previous one, and I had 3 drm-ed epubs).

You do not have to continually log into ADE. Once you are logged in and have the key, removing the DRM is as easy as adding the ePub to your Calibre library. It's no more difficult than removing the DRM from Mobi or KF8 eBooks from Amazon.

[Pajamaman]

Originally Posted by Sweetpea

If you only own kindles, there is no problem. I however, don't own a kindle, I only use my tablet once in a while, using the Kindle app. Disinfecting books from DRM is the only way I can read them on all my devices. I have bought 3 or 4 DRM infected epubs, years ago, and figured it was too much trouble cleaning them. I haven't bought one since. I either buy DRM-free epubs or Kindle books as those are easy to clear. If I cannot clean Kindle books anymore, I simply won't buy them. They'd be useless to me anyway.

I can see people not owning a Kindle will be less likely to buy KFX files. The only way to view them will be via the Kindle app, which I imagine is inferior to reading on an alternate e-reader using the e-reader's own interface.

[johnnyb]

Originally Posted by JSWolf

Real page numbers are a fantasy. There are no such thing. A hardcover, trade paperback, & mass market paperback all have different page numbers for the very same book. So which one has real page numbers?

With an eBook, all that matters is that the page numbers do not change when any of the settings change such as the font, font size, margins, & line height. ADE page number work plus, I don't need a second file to get these page numbers. The eBook is complete as is.

They aren’t though in real life Academia. For most publications I still need to be able to reference actual page numbers in specified editions.

[AnemicOak]

Originally Posted by Pajamaman

With the release of Kindle for PC 1.19, it is highly probable that it will soon only be possible to download non-KFX files if you have a pre-PW2 Kindle. This means that if you only have a Kindle newer than a PW1, you will not be able to remove DRM or convert your books to other formats.

Are you saying that people with a PW2 and newer can't download for transfer via USB? Are you saying they somehow get the multiple files for KFX if they do a download like that?

[Pajamaman]

I can see the Kobo store picking up some business as long as the DRM can be removed from their books. Here's a question: Would you pay (a little) more for an ebook that you can remove the DRM from? Personally I would. I like the ability to read on different platforms.

[AnemicOak]

Originally Posted by JSWolf

Looks like sales of ePub will be going up as sales of KFX drops.

Probably not by a significant enough amount to matter, if at all.

Now I'm guessing here and have no evidence, but I'd guess that the majority of Amazon's marketshare are people who don't know anything or care at all about formats or DRM. They buy a book, read it, and likely never look at it again. If they do re-read it they likely just assume that since it's a Kindle book they need a Kindle or Kindle app to read it.

Aren't the majority of eBooks now read on phones & tablets? How many people that do that read a book in any app other than the one for the store they bought the book from (Kindle, Nook, Kobo, etc.)? Bet it's a small fraction.

[Josieb1]

Originally Posted by AnemicOak

Are you saying that people with a PW2 and newer can't download for transfer via USB? Are you saying they somehow get the multiple files for KFX if they do a download like that?

It's not like that yet. I have a Voyage and still download AZW, I think the worry is it might happen.

[ZodWallop]

If and when KFX becomes the only option and it remains unbreakable, I would stop buying from Amazon. I don't have a Kindle and don't want to read on an app.

Does Barnes and Noble remain strippable via Nook Study?

[ZodWallop]

Originally Posted by Sweetpea

If I could only buy KFX... and it couldn't be as easily cleansed, I'd simply not buy books from Amazon anymore, unless they were DRM free, just like I do with my epub books.

Right now, there isn't a DRM-free KFX file. As long as KFX is a proprietary format that can not be converted, it is its own form of DRM.

[NullNix]

Originally Posted by AnemicOak

Probably not by a significant enough amount to matter, if at all.

Now I'm guessing here and have no evidence, but I'd guess that the majority of Amazon's marketshare are people who don't know anything or care at all about formats or DRM. They buy a book, read it, and likely never look at it again. If they do re-read it they likely just assume that since it's a Kindle book they need a Kindle or Kindle app to read it.

Quite. Also, frankly, my Kindle is so much better than all other reading devices I own that my interest right now is in converting things to be read *on* the Kindle, not converting the other way. (Of course, this may change in the future!)

[AnemicOak]

Originally Posted by Josieb1

It's not like that yet. I have a Voyage and still download AZW, I think the worry is it might happen.

So in other words FUD. A lot of things might happen. Now that KFX is available on a PC platform it might get de-DRM'd and reverse engineered for conversion to other formats so that it's a non-issue for all I know. Amazon might change their DRM so that even the older formats might not be able to be uninfected (at least temporarily). Kobo might do away with ePub downloads and go straight kePub. Since I can't do anything about any of it, not gonna worry about it unless it happens.

[spindlegirl]

Originally Posted by Pajamaman

NVDA (NonVisual Desktop Access) and Kindle for PC 1.19

With the release of Kindle for PC 1.19, it is highly probable that it will soon only be possible to download non-KFX files if you have a pre-PW2 Kindle. This means that if you only have a Kindle newer than a PW1, you will not be able to remove DRM or convert your books to other formats.

Will this affect your ebook buying habits? Do you expect to go to vendors other than Amazon to get your books, and if so, what vendors will you use?

I'd more than likely buy far less than I do now. When a new format comes along I "buy" a freebie and test it out to see if I can really make it mine. If I cannot, then sayonara.

I will more than likely continue to read what I own on my kindle but definitely be relying more on Overdrive and borrowing in the future. It's not like I have too few books to read I have hundreds from MR and PG alone still waiting for (re) reading.

I've been less fussy about the cost of books (my max price is more flexible depending on the book) due to my ability to secure them as genuinely my own. My buying is always influenced by my ability to free it and store it on calibre.

[jackie_w]

Originally Posted by AnemicOak

So in other words FUD. <snip> Kobo might do away with ePub downloads and go straight kePub.

Why would that matter? Once Alf has liberated the kepub, it will look like a 'normal' epub to any epub reading device or app. To suggest otherwise would be FUD - at least currently.

To purists (including myself) who like to completely 'de-kepub-ify' their purchases before archiving/reading there's already an optional extra to do a couple of clicks in a calibre plugin to finish the job. It's even a plugin which can be discussed openly and in detail.

The added incentive for me is that I can also avoid ADE, that other ticking time-bomb. However, I do agree that the whole situation may change at any time.