New eTextbooks limited to newest version of Kindle for PC/Mac

[HarryT]

I think it's the publisher who has to check the box that makes it appear as "Print Replica" when they upload the book, so it sounds as if they messed up in this case.

I play the piano myself, and so buy quite a lot of books of sheet music. That's one thing I'd always buy as a paper book!

[stumped]

Originally Posted by HarryT

I think it's the publisher who has to check the box that makes it appear as "Print Replica" when they upload the book, so it sounds as if they messed up in this case.

I play the piano myself, and so buy quite a lot of books of sheet music. That's one thing I'd always buy as a paper book!

yep. I sort of get the attraction though, having stuff like the jazz fake books on an ipad instead of lugging around a full set of 20+ fat books - a heavy suitcase full...
I have some of those which have been indexed in pdf so on a PC the index volume will open the correct other volume at the correct page on one click, but I could never get that to work on tablets. I tried lots of mobile PDF readers but none could act on a link to load a different file AND open it on a specific page

last time i looked, the Jamey Aebersold jazz playalong series : 120+ books with CDs are not available in any mobile versions either

there are guitar tab apps e.g. songsterr, that will resize, reflow, and sync playback. I am not aware of any that work for traditional staved music but as the top end programs for that are priced in hundreds of pounds, its not something I can afford to get into anyway!

e.g. finale printmusic
Retail $600
Academic/Theological $350
windows only - no mobile versions

what amazon are doing is just pushing out "kindle versions" of music , with no real thought to useability. Fine if you are one of the few folks who can study and memorize an entire score in advance, but useless for play as you read
i guess there not enough demand for anyone to develop a full on music + audio delivery mechanism to a mobile device, complete auto scroll or with a foot operated bluetooth "page turner" gizmo

[Paperbackstash]

That really bites. I can't study or read long on the computer, there's no way I could study a course like that. Then again I prefer books for studying non-fiction anyway - seem to absorb the information better and get to play with the highlighters.

[CharlieSummers]

All of this is interesting, but I would like to return to discussing Pearson's textbooks on Amazon, and whether there is any way to remove the DRM from them. I found a book I need to buy that is over 50% off the price of a used textbook (!) in eTextbook format, but really don't want to use the Kindle app.

Are we sure this is really a Kindle book, and not the same eTextbook that can be purchased elsewhere ( https://www.ecampus.com/etextbooks , https://www.vitalsource.com/ , Pearson's own https://www.pearsonhighered.com/etextbooks/ , et al)? Is it possible Amazon just added the eTextbook reader routines to the Kindle app at 1.26 so they could grab part of the sale for pre-existing eTextbooks?

And the real question - anyone know of a really cheap eTextbook that can be purchased from Amazon and used for examination? If there's an inexpensive one out there, I'll take one for the team...

[jhowell]

Originally Posted by CharlieSummers

Are we sure this is really a Kindle book, and not the same eTextbook that can be purchased elsewhere ( https://www.ecampus.com/etextbooks , https://www.vitalsource.com/ , Pearson's own https://www.pearsonhighered.com/etextbooks/ , et al)? Is it possible Amazon just added the eTextbook reader routines to the Kindle app at 1.26 so they could grab part of the sale for pre-existing eTextbooks?

The e-books Amazon sells are in proprietary Kindle formats. These particular books are only available on platforms that support Amazon's KFX format with secure DRM that cannot currently be cracked. They would have to be read within one of the supported Kindle apps.

(I verified that KFX is used for these books by looking at the free samples.)

I don't know what Pearson sells directly, but the other two sites you mentioned (ecampus and vitalsource) also use proprietary formats locked to their particular apps.

[CharlieSummers]

Originally Posted by jhowell

(I verified that KFX is used for these books by looking at the free samples.)

Yeah, maybe, but let me detail what I see.

Purchased a Pearson eTextbook from Amazon at standard (red: silly high) pricing. Installed the latest version of Kindle for PC to clean laptop (my "real" install is...an older version of Kindle for PC which can not download, or even see in the library, this eTextbook). Connected that program to the account used to purchase the eTextbook. Saw all of the books in that account including the eTextbook. Downloaded only the eTextbook, then quit the program before opening the book.

The result was the creation of a subfolder in the My Kindle Content folder named {ten characters}_EBOK. Inside that folder is one smallish .azw file, one .klo file, one .md file, a whole buttload of .res files (.md and .res file names all start with the same three characters), and a not-so-friendly-looking DRM .voucher file.

I don't have calibre and associated tools on clean laptop, so I can't do much else with it. I did copy the EBOK folder to place on my install (which does have said program/tools) sometime when I get the chance just to verify it will completely ignore the thing.

So there's that.

[jhowell]

Originally Posted by CharlieSummers

The result was the creation of a subfolder in the My Kindle Content folder named {ten characters}_EBOK. Inside that folder is one smallish .azw file, one .klo file, one .md file, a whole buttload of .res files (.md and .res file names all start with the same three characters), and a not-so-friendly-looking DRM .voucher file.

All of that is compatible with the book being delivered in KFX format. The clincher is the voucher file, only present for KFX.

The only file type there that I don't recognize is ".klo". I wonder what that is for.

Originally Posted by CharlieSummers

I don't have calibre and associated tools on clean laptop, so I can't do much else with it. I did copy the EBOK folder to place on my install (which does have said program/tools) sometime when I get the chance just to verify it will completely ignore the thing.

I am curious about what you will find.

[CharlieSummers]

Originally Posted by jhowell

The only file type there that I don't recognize is ".klo". I wonder what that is for.

Took a VERY brief peek in Notepad++ - looks like a JSON file with lots of possibly indexed data on the topic of the book? It's all non-binary, text and numeric, ~670K.

Originally Posted by jhowell

I am curious about what you will find.

Was going to copy it in this morning, but discovered the book is now visible in the 1.16.0, so started a download. Received the error:

Your Kindle requires a software update to receive this content. Please visit (web URI) for instructions on how to install the update for your device.

So, copied it into the My Kindle Content folder, removed the .apnx/.lpr added (assume this is the library placeholder, as they were the only files updated today), and relaunched Kindle for PC. It still sees the book, still errors on open or download, so I suspect I missed an index file or other. Since that machine has an older version of calibre plugins, pretty sure no point in opening there until I get a solid backup of that VM (yeah, I know, paraniod) and update.

[jhowell]

Originally Posted by CharlieSummers

Took a VERY brief peek in Notepad++ - looks like a JSON file with lots of possibly indexed data on the topic of the book? It's all non-binary, text and numeric, ~670K.

It seems that the .klo file is related to X-Ray for Textbooks:

X-Ray for Textbooks gives you instant access to all the most important terms and concepts in a book, with glossary definitions, links to relevant textbook pages, and related content from Wikipedia and YouTube.

[haertig]

Originally Posted by HarryT

I play the piano myself, and so buy quite a lot of books of sheet music. That's one thing I'd always buy as a paper book!

I hate turning pages! I've always wanted on of those large screen displays with a foot pedal for page turns. One that you can annotate on also. They are out there, but they are super expensive.

Not only do I buy my music in paper form, but I usually take the book to my local office supply store (that has a professional printing shop inside) and have them cut the binding and rebind the pages into a spiral bound book - so I can use it and have pages "lay flat". This only costs about $5-$10, depending on if you want additional protective covers or stiffeners added or not.

Like this (the book originally came with a standard glued binding, and those always want to close on you):