Moving Away from iBooks

[canadadave]

Hi,

I am new to this forum.

I have decided to sell my iPad and plan to read books on laptop, android phone or future android tablet, possibly even a kindle reader.

I have about a dozen books on the iPad, I have backed them up to laptop, they have Apple DRM and can only open on ipad, iPhone or iPod Touch.

I do not plan to spend any more money on Apple hardware or content.

I have googled how to strip DRM from Apple iBooks, the best I could find was some Python stuff that was hard to follow for a non techie like myself.

Are there any applications or simple instructions to remove the iBook DRM?

[CHunter_Author]

Yeah, apple doesnt make it convienient for anyone outside of apple products, but books look great on the iPad. They must have really upset you. But if you are done with them, the nook or kindle is probably your best bet.

[sachinwalia]

Originally Posted by canadadave

Hi,

I am new to this forum.

I have decided to sell my iPad and plan to read books on laptop, android phone or future android tablet, possibly even a kindle reader.

I have about a dozen books on the iPad, I have backed them up to laptop, they have Apple DRM and can only open on ipad, iPhone or iPod Touch.

I do not plan to spend any more money on Apple hardware or content.

I have googled how to strip DRM from Apple iBooks, the best I could find was some Python stuff that was hard to follow for a non techie like myself.

Are there any applications or simple instructions to remove the iBook DRM?

You are asking in the wrong place about how to remove DRM. MR policies prohibit describing how to remove DRM so I'd say Google is your best friend.

[neilmarr]

Good to have your company, Dave. But don't let your disappointing experience with iPad put you off the e-reading device idea. After all, the iPad is a a jack of all trades machine, master of none. It is NOT primarily an ebook reader. And Apple is a hardware and software operastion. In their view content is hardlly king. They have no previous experience of publishing or even book retail.

And, believe me, they make it even tougher on publishers than on their poor readers.

There are many excellent and very flexible ebook readers out there ... and much cheaper. I don't know if you really need the bells and whistles and wifi and wotnot -- really isn't necessary, in my opinion. A simple single-fuction device in conjunction with, say, free Calibre library software on your PC or laptop will enhance your reading experience no end. This, I assure you.

Good luck and very best wishes. Neil

[jocampo]

I'm afraid we cannot give you specific instructions of how to remove DRM protection. That is illegal in USA and other countries.

Now, not sure if you sold it already, but I suggest using Kindle or B&N iOs applications.

iBooks is also good for reading non DRM or non Apple books. I do like the interface a lot. You don't need to buy books from Apple in order to use it. Actually, you can buy or own a Kindle and your books will be available on the Kindle for iOs.

[JSWolf]

Originally Posted by CHunter_Author

Yeah, apple doesnt make it convienient for anyone outside of apple products, but books look great on the iPad. They must have really upset you. But if you are done with them, the nook or kindle is probably your best bet.

Um.. not really... nook and Kindle are not good choices. After having an iPad with a really user friendly touch screen, the best choices for a reader would be a Sony Reader PRS-650 or PRS.950. The touch screen is every bit as friendly with a lot less issue with visible fingerprints.

[JSWolf]

You see, it's things like this why I say never ever buy any eBooks from Apple. Apple caused the agency model to come into being and we do not want Apple to think they've won. We want no sales at all via iBooks. In fact, we want iBooks to actually go away forever.

[jocampo]

Originally Posted by JSWolf

Um.. not really... nook and Kindle are not good choices. After having an iPad with a really user friendly touch screen, the best choices for a reader would be a Sony Reader PRS-650 or PRS.950. The touch screen is every bit as friendly with a lot less issue with visible fingerprints.

I would say it depends.

One of the strongest point of Kindle and Nook is the online bookstore which without doubts, is better than Sony's. Yes, you can buy from other online bookstores, but it is very convenient to download and read directly from the device's bookstore.

I like Sony eink readers a lot, but for being a mere eink, black and white ereader, they are too expensive.

[JSWolf]

Originally Posted by jocampo

I would say it depends.

One of the strongest point of Kindle and Nook is the online bookstore which without doubts, is better than Sony's. Yes, you can buy from other online bookstores, but it is very convenient to download and read directly from the device's bookstore.

I like Sony eink readers a lot, but for being a mere eink, black and white ereader, they are too expensive.

But if you use txtr or Bluefire then you don't need to buy from Apple.And the books are then not locked to an Apple device.

Use Dropbox to load epubs into IBooks (of course they need to be DRM-free) but then they aren't locked into Apple.

[MsAstoria]

Originally Posted by JSWolf

You see, it's things like this why I say never ever buy any eBooks from Apple. Apple caused the agency model to come into being and we do not want Apple to think they've won. We want no sales at all via iBooks. In fact, we want iBooks to actually go away forever.

Wow! Lots of people feel that way about Amazon too. I don't know who "we" are but guess I'm not one of them. I buy books from both but mostly download freebies cause I'm cheap,

[MsAstoria]

Originally Posted by emt

Use Dropbox to load epubs into IBooks (of course they need to be DRM-free) but then they aren't locked into Apple.

You can also click on the epub download link on a web page and iPad will ask where you want to open the book. For me that either iBooks or Stanza. Instantly downloaded and ready for reading!

[canadadave]

Thank You for the input.

I was hoping for a simple answer for how to remove DRM from ePub files.

I have googled it and have found a very complex solution.

I think I will take another route, look for the books I puchased from Apple in a PDF open type format.

For the people who weighed in on readers, I did have an Apple iPad 2 in hand ready to buy yesterday. I put it back.

I think my tablet like device moving forward for reading will be some sort of Android device, I can use most of the eReader clients, PDF formats and can freely move my phone apps to tablet, it eliminates one ecosystem for me

I do believe that Apple has a right to make money and I do believe Apple should secure the content so users cannot freely share the content.

I also believe Apple should make a back door that allows users to make their book content portable, maybe a one time movement to another service like Kindle.

I do understand Apple has made like easy for many people by making their stores easy to use.

If I did more research and had a "do over", I would have purchased the iPad for other reasons, I did enjoy the portability and got good use out of it, I would not have purchased iBook content. It was fine for me as an eBook reader, the content lock in is a no go for me.

At least with the Kindle service, you can read your content almost anywhere, your computer, dedicated reader, iPad, android phone, android tablet, web. My point is the Kindle ecosystem locks you into their format, you have the flexibility to read almost anywhere.

[jocampo]

iPads are not close in terms of eareading. You can stay away from Apple books and use DRM free books or Kindle, or Nook app. which would be the same you do on any Android tablet.

On Android you can get RepliGo but I've found that at this point in time nothing beats iPad and GoodReader app for PDF reading. The app features together with iPad size makes the tool a great PDF reader application, with the ability to highlight, annotate , underline, etc.

[Murine Press]

Just a note. As a publisher I do not include any DRM for the ePub I sell, so whatever is added is by Apple. I suggest if you feel this strong about it, buy a Sony. I am a publisher not a reader but I understand your point.