What's with the Paranoia?

[John F]

Originally Posted by JSWolf

Very well said!

Another question is why by a Kobo Forma just for public domain/creative commons/fan fiction eBooks?

I assume people buy ereaders to read. I'm not sure why you buy a different reader for PD vs non-PD.

[haertig]

Now the people who willingly give up their privacy are implying that those who do not are pirates, questioning where they get their eBooks. This is amazing and sad to watch. It is quite disturbing that a simple - and very minor - difference in people's way of thinking degrades into "You don't think like me, therefore I will denigrate you".

Of all places, a forum dedicated to reading books is the last place I'd expect to see this happen. Yet here we are (again).

Some people care about their privacy, some don't. It's fine to leave that one sit, without starting to question motives for being in one camp or the other. It's perfectly fine to say why you're in one camp, and to give examples to support your position. What's not OK is to start putting down those in the other camp by questioning their integrity.

[Sirtel]

Originally Posted by haertig

Now the people who willingly give up their privacy are implying that those who do not are pirates, questioning where they get their eBooks. This is amazing and sad to watch. It is quite disturbing that a simple - and very minor - difference in people's way of thinking degrades into "You don't think like me, therefore I will denigrate you".

Of all places, a forum dedicated to reading books is the last place I'd expect to see this happen. Yet here we are (again).

Some people care about their privacy, some don't. It's fine to leave that one sit, without starting to question motives for being in one camp or the other. It's perfectly fine to say why you're in one camp, and to give examples to support your position. What's not OK is to start putting down those in the other camp by questioning their integrity.

We don't question every person who don't want to register their ereader. Just the one who said they never buy ebooks. Like, at all. That's a bit strange, given that they probably don't use the library either. If they said they only buy DRM-free ebooks or only read fanfiction, for example, like many here do, no one would have questioned that. Ditto if they said nothing at all. But to announce they never buy and expect the others to just accept that without any questions is a bit much.

[John F]

It just seems that there are such huge jumps in logic, not to mention false/misleading statements, projections of personal preference, FUD, ...

Starting with the first post:

"If you want to read commercial eBooks, you do need to be registered someplace."

https://baencd.thefifthimperium.com/

And...

"... I just want to read and organize my books the way I want them organized. Nothing else. "

"But to organize your books, you do need to be registered. That's how Readers work. ..."

"I don't need to be registered to make a collection with a kindle. I make, name and add books to my collection directly in my kindle as I finish each book."

And

"Yes you can edit the SQL database to fake register. But there is no guarantee that a future firmware update won't change that and you'll lose it all. "

And there is no guarantee that a future firmware will/won't do anything.

And

As far as "There are only so many public domain books out there and many people are more interested in newer material so stating you don't buy ebooks is a bit strange for someone who is asking about how to not register his Kobo Forma."

Personally, I would be happy to only read public domain ebooks, or free ebooks. Does the majority of my reading include "newer material" sure, but if I got pissed off, I would be content to only read PD books.

In the end, I'm not willing to jump to the conclusion that someone is paranoid, or a pirate, just because they don't want to register there device.

I see nothing wrong with not wanting to register with every Tom, Dick, and Harry service out there just because I register with some other services.

And FWIW, I'm registered with a lot of services.

[Sirtel]

Originally Posted by John F

In the end, I'm not willing to jump to the conclusion that someone is paranoid, or a pirate, just because they don't want to register there device.

Again, no one has been called a pirate just because they don't want to register. It's when they say they don't want to register AND they never buy ebooks that the hints about piracy start. And that's perfectly logical, not a huge leap.

[John F]

Originally Posted by Sirtel

Again, no one has been called a pirate just because they don't want to register. It's when they say they don't want to register AND they never buy ebooks that the hints about piracy start. And that's perfectly logical, not a huge leap.

Not calling, but strongly implying?

Originally Posted by JSWolf

Piracy is what comes to mind when people say they want to bypass the registration. It's really no different properly registering as it is to buy eBooks. You have to give the same information. Kobo, Amazon, and others do not care that you've side loaded eBooks. So that's not an issue. Also, using the library to get eBooks also gives out your information. In fact, more then you have to give to register.

So given that the Reader companies do not care about your side loading and buying eBooks gives more information (you have to give payment details) and library books gives out more information as registering, what is the reason to not register?

I know it's possible, but I think it's highly unlikely that someone is just going to read public domain/creative commons eBooks and never read any other.

[haertig]

I try not to register at places if that does not preclude some feature that is important to me. For the places where I do feel the need to register, for feature access or whatever, I at least try to confuse the algorithms that aggregate data from multiple sites to try to pidgeonhole me for advertisements. On one site, I may appear to be a white supremacist from Botswana, on another I'm a black transvestite from Finland, and on the next I'm am illegal immigrant brain surgeon from Bora Bora. Yes, I do see some unusual advertisements from time to time.

[issybird]

There’s a coyness about “I don’t buy ebooks” that’s intentionally suggestive. Why not say, “I don’t buy ebooks; I only read public domain.” Or “fan fiction.” Or “my diary.” The poster is implying his/her piratical practices or is just trying to stir up controversy. Or both, of course.

The poster doesn’t have to spell out what he/she actually does. But I can’t read those posts without thinking that they are deliberately leading to a particular conclusion.

[Sirtel]

Originally Posted by John F

Not calling, but strongly implying?

That was after the post about never buying any ebooks, not before.

[Sirtel]

Originally Posted by issybird

There’s a coyness about “I don’t buy ebooks” that’s intentionally suggestive. Why not say, “I don’t buy ebooks; I only read public domain.” Or “fan fiction.” Or “my diary.” The poster is implying his/her piratical practices or is just trying to stir up controversy. Or both, of course.

The poster doesn’t have to spell out what he/she actually does. But I can’t read those posts without thinking that they are deliberately leading to a particular conclusion.

Yes, exactly. Why say such a thing in such a way at all, on a public forum, if you don't want to draw any attention to yourself?

I'm no angel and have done more than one murky thing in my distant past, including pirating. It would never have entered my head to announce somewhere publicly I never buy and expect the other posters just to nod and smile. Unless it was a pirate forum, of course, but then those are generally not public.

[John F]

Originally Posted by Sirtel

That was after the post about never buying any ebooks, not before.

I don't believe that matters. I believe he is generalizing.

Look at his first post. He makes sweeping generalizations, and calls people who don't want to register paranoid.

[Sirtel]

Originally Posted by haertig

I try not to register at places if that does not preclude some feature that is important to me. For the places where I do feel the need to register, for feature access or whatever, I at least try to confuse the algorithms that aggregate data from multiple sites to try to pidgeonhole me for advertisements. On one site, I may appear to be a white supremacist from Botswana, on another I'm a black transvestite from Finland, and on the next I'm am illegal immigrant brain surgeon from Bora Bora. Yes, I do see some unusual advertisements from time to time.

I've done that too, when I was younger and had more time on my hands, but I no longer care. Besides, I use Adblock almost everywhere online and rarely see any adverts at all. Those that come by email can be identified as such at a glance and I never open them, unless I'm interested. As to Amazon and Kobo book recommendations on their websites, I don't actually mind those. I've found more than one interesting book that way.

[gbm]

Originally Posted by JSWolf

I'm reading about more and more people not wanting to register their Reader because they are paranoid. What's with this growing level of paranoia?

When you don't register, you don't get all the features of your Reader and I know in the case of Kobo, the firmware can change such that fake registering fails and you have to start over.

I've been registered with Sony, Kobo, and Amazon. I've never had a single issue with being registered. And then there are all the eBookstores I've been registered with. If you want to read commercial eBooks, you do need to be registered someplace. You just cannot do otherwise.

So why the paranoia? What's the reason for it?

For some of us it is not "paranoia" but but training and skills needed for employment we once held that is now ingrain habits that are impossible to break.

e.g. I will occasionally take the Rube Goldberg route home to check my back trail.

bernie

[John F]

And now, for something completely different,

Happy Thanksgiving

[JSWolf]

If it's not paranoia to not register a Kobo or a Kindle, what is it then?

If you've bought a Kindle direct from Amazon, you already have an account and the same goes for Kobo.