community mobi-support for future firmware-releases

[HarryT]

Originally Posted by Shaggy

If they don't give you a choice of Mobi vs Adobe, then you'd also be losing any future updates/fixes. It would be nice if (hypothetically) 1.8 is the Adobe udpate, that it's optional. Then when 1.9 comes out there is a 1.9-mobi and a 1.9-adobe, so that customer's have the choice of which format they prefer.

I have no idea if they're going to do that though, just wishful thinking on my part.

That would certainly be the best option. That's exactly what Bookeen are doing with the new firmware for the CyBook (and the forthcoming Opus) - having separate "Mobi" and "ADE" versions of the firmware, with the user free to flash the machine with either.

[timezone]

People should write their congressmen or congresswoman to complain about exclusivity deals hurting the consumer. If the publishing industry demands DRM then they can't also decide which DRM product we use. This is where MobileRead can also take a stand. MobileRead refuses to allow any information on the board showing how to break DRM. Not even a link. That is not a criticism. Just stating a fact. However with that type of stand I believe comes some responsibility to also represent our interests. Am I off base or does this makes sense?

[JSWolf]

Originally Posted by timezone

People should write their congressmen or congresswoman to complain about exclusivity deals hurting the consumer. If the publishing industry demands DRM then they can't also decide which DRM product we use. This is where MobileRead can also take a stand. MobileRead refuses to allow any information on the board showing how to break DRM. Not even a link. That is not a criticism. Just stating a fact. However with that type of stand I believe comes some responsibility to also represent our interests. Am I off base or does this makes sense?

Actually, in this case, I think Mobipocket is doing us all a favor. Because what you will have happen is ePub will be the standard as Mobipocket goes away.

[timezone]

Originally Posted by JSWolf

Actually, in this case, I think Mobipocket is doing us all a favor. Because what you will have happen is ePub will be the standard as Mobipocket goes away.

I might agree but I now have a decent sized Mobipocket collection of books. I don't want to lose them. I believe people who did the conversions found the new formating at times to be poor. Maybe I am wrong. Not to mention the lose of using the dictionary, if true. For these reasons there is a cost with changing formats. I don't like it.

This also means new DRM epub books can in the future be vulnerable to a new format that doesn't even yet exist. Besides death and taxes another given is formats do change. Longevity for any media is less of an issue than whether it can be understood five, ten years from now. This is why this trend is very troubling to me. I am very concerned with how iRex and others are handling this issue.

[Lbooker]

Well, I just read on the BeBook forum that they are testing a beta firmware which supports DRM'ed epub (through ADE) and non-DRM'ed mobi/prc. So this is possible, at least.

[HarryT]

Originally Posted by timezone

People should write their congressmen or congresswoman to complain about exclusivity deals hurting the consumer. If the publishing industry demands DRM then they can't also decide which DRM product we use. This is where MobileRead can also take a stand. MobileRead refuses to allow any information on the board showing how to break DRM. Not even a link. That is not a criticism. Just stating a fact. However with that type of stand I believe comes some responsibility to also represent our interests. Am I off base or does this makes sense?

Sorry, but I don't think that it makes sense at all. There's nothing illegal about exclusive distribution deals, and in most of the western nations we live in, the government does not interfere in free trade.

It's not as if there's any shortage of books to read. If one book isn't available on the platform you want to read it on, read another.

[Lbooker]

Originally Posted by HarryT

Sorry, but I don't think that it makes sense at all. There's nothing illegal about exclusive distribution deals, and in most of the western nations we live in, the government does not interfere in free trade.

It's not as if there's any shortage of books to read. If one book isn't available on the platform you want to read it on, read another.

Except books are not any product.
Culture can not be reduced to the status of an unimportant industrial product.
If there are books that you need to read for your thesis, or for your culture, you should be able to do so without facing absurd commercial barriers.
Capitalism is clearly an enemy of culture, as philosophers have seen for a long time. First it replaced classical culture with utilitarian culture, now it brainwashes children with TV and commercials, dumbs people down...and publishers now sell 1 million new books every year, destroying any hierarchy among books, authors. We see the consequences on this forum: people here love books, they do not love geniuses. They read books like teenagers watch movies. For entertainment, not for becoming more intelligent. With the help of massive propaganda, capitalism does in the cultural field what it does everywhere: sell as much as possible. Quantity, not quality. And selling as many new books as possible is more important than selling great books, because copyright only lasts some time. Selling old books with no copyright becomes impossible with e-readers. Selling only great/important new books is impossible for greedy capitalists: they want to make as much money as possible. They can not limit themselves. They have no ethic.

[HarryT]

Originally Posted by Lbooker

Except books are not any product.
Culture can not be reduced to the status of an unimportant industrial product.
If there are books that you need to read for your thesis, or for your culture, you should be able to do so without facing absurd commercial barriers.

The lack of an eBook does not prevent you from reading it. Buy a paper version or go to the library. How would you have read it before the invention of eBooks?

You seem to be implying that you have some "right" to an eBook. Sorry, but that's not true. The copyright holder has an absolute right to control distribution in any way that they wish. That's what the word "copyright" means - the right to control the way in which the book is copied.

[Lbooker]

Originally Posted by HarryT

The lack of an eBook does not prevent you from reading it. Buy a paper version or go to the library. How would you have read it before the invention of eBooks?

You seem to be implying that you have some "right" to an eBook. Sorry, but that's not true. The copyright holder has an absolute right to control distribution in any way that they wish. That's what the word "copyright" means - the right to control the way in which the book is copied.

Did you know that capitalism and its capitalist legal system is a vast anal neurosis?

[Shaggy]

Originally Posted by HarryT

The copyright holder has an absolute right to control distribution in any way that they wish.

True, and they also have the absolute right to make stupid decisions on the control of that content that ends up losing them business.

Luckily, the solution to the problem is simple. Most (if not all) DRM systems have already been broken. If I had invested a lot of money in a format that I am no longer able to access, I would have no moral objections to using something to break the DRM so that I can convert the content. If the copyright owner doesn't like that, too bad.

The "absolute right" that you speak of is actually an artificial right that the public granted to the owner with the intent of encouraging more creation. It was not intended to be used purely for control/profit reasons.

[timezone]

Originally Posted by HarryT

Sorry, but I don't think that it makes sense at all. There's nothing illegal about exclusive distribution deals, and in most of the western nations we live in, the government does not interfere in free trade.

It's not as if there's any shortage of books to read. If one book isn't available on the platform you want to read it on, read another.

Not necessarily a clean win on your part. There are investigations on whether exclusive mobile phone deals like the iPhone with AT&T are legal. It may not turn into a case but still is considered worth investigating. Which would not be the case if your statement was considered to be law.

I don't agree with the government regarding Microsoft but that was about tieing the browser to the OS. People still were able to download other browsers but it was considered to be a disadvantage that warranted antitrust action. Here we can't even purchase a mobipocket book if iRex doesn't allow it. The reader was originally purchased with this function. Who said they can just take away a major function of the reader. Of course there is probably no case because iRex is not considered to have the kind of marketshare that would stifle competition.

Another Quote
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The lack of an eBook does not prevent you from reading it. Buy a paper version or go to the library. How would you have read it before the invention of eBooks?

You seem to be implying that you have some "right" to an eBook.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------

If I download the upgrade that offers epub and my Mobipocket books are now locked that has to be a problem. I purchased the reader for mobipocket books. I bought the books and iRex should not be able to say never mind you don't have to load the ROM. Because one day a new ROM will come around with very compelling improvements and are you going to tell me, if you want the Mobipocket books then I cannot download the ROM. I can't use the reader with all the bug fixes and enhancements that others are enjoying. This is not right. I bought the reader with the expectations of being able to download the new operational improvements and continue to buy mobipocket books.

A hypothetical that can't happen but I am sure there are better examples of real situations. This is to ask what if companies could make a change when it was to their liking.

What if one day you take your car into repair and they change it to an electric vehicle. You live in the city, in an apartment where you cannot plug in and there are no gas stations in the area that provide electrical battery charging. Your car is now a brick. But who said you had a right to a gas car?

[Shaggy]

Originally Posted by timezone

If I download the upgrade that offers epub and my Mobipocket books are now locked that has to be a problem. I purchased the reader for mobipocket books. I bought the books and iRex should not be able to say never mind you don't have to load the ROM. Because one day a new ROM will come around with very compelling improvements and are you going to tell me, if you want the Mobipocket books then I cannot download the ROM. I can't use the reader with all the bug fixes and enhancements that others are enjoying. This is not right. I bought the reader with the expectations of being able to download the new operational improvements and continue to buy mobipocket books.

Let's wait and see what actually happens before getting too mad at iRex about something they haven't done yet. So far, all of this is just based on a sticker on somebodies box. We've heard nothing from iRex about what their plans are, or if there will be options the user can pick... etc.

[timezone]

Originally Posted by Shaggy

Let's wait and see what actually happens before getting too mad at iRex about something they haven't done yet. So far, all of this is just based on a sticker on somebodies box. We've heard nothing from iRex about what their plans are, or if there will be options the user can pick... etc.

I agree but it is also good for iRex to see how the public is going to respond. They may not have anticipated a large backlash and maybe this thread will give them pause. There also was a recent article suggesting Amazon may in the future consider opening up Amazon to other readers. Especially with Barnes & Noble starting to threaten them. This might also suggest they are willing to consider removing the exclusivity agreements for Mobipocket. One can only hope.