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View Full Version : Adobe E-Books Not Readable on PPC!

maikii
10-20-2003, 05:19 AM
I bought an Adobe PDF-formatted e-book today, with the intention of being able to read it on my PPC (IPAQ 2215). After all, I have Acrobat Reader for the PPC (1.0)installed, and I thought it could be read with that.

I had to "activate" on download, to be able to read it on my desktop PC (with Acrobat Reader 6). But when I copied it to the PPC, it won't open due to the encryption. I was never asked to "activate" the PPC in any way.

The vending site said "no returns". So I guess I'm stuck with my purchase, although I cannot read it with the intended device, my PPC.

Is it impossible to read Adobe-formatted e-books (with DRM protection) on the PPC? Any other software to download? Any way to "activate" it?

If that's the case, big mistake for Adobe, and I hope they remedy the situation soon. PDAs are a natural medium for reading e-books. If that's impossible to do (I don't know if it's different with Palms), that will greatly reduce the readership for the Adobe e-book format.

Anyone know what's happening with this situation?

If that's the case, I guess we are stuck with Microsoft Reader-formatted books, at least for copyrighted materials. But a large percentage of the e-books for sale seem to be in the Adobe format.
dean_shan
10-20-2003, 05:44 AM
You cannot use Adobe DRM eBooks on a pocket pc. You are not stuck with using Microsoft books either. PalmRead (http://www.palmdigitalmedia.com) is another book format. It is my favorite because you use your credit card number to unlock the book. This means that you can have the book on all your computers, windows, mac, palm, pocket pc.
upplepop
10-20-2003, 06:40 AM
I would say print it to Repligo, but I doubt the DRM will allow you to print.
Another option, there is a program out there that will remove protection from Acrobat files (however, it's a little pricey if you're just using it for one or two files).
popabawa
10-20-2003, 02:03 PM
Palm can read encrypted Adobe e-books.

You could get a friendly Palm owner to lend you their device. ;)

That sucks though as it's not very clear that Pocket PC's can't read the encrypted files.
PetiteFlower
10-20-2003, 06:35 PM
Why don't you try emailing the site you bought it from....if you explain the problem, they might be willing to give you a refund or something. Never know till you try!
maikii
10-21-2003, 05:14 AM
You cannot use Adobe DRM eBooks on a pocket pc. You are not stuck with using Microsoft books either. PalmRead (http://www.palmdigitalmedia.com) is another book format. It is my favorite because you use your credit card number to unlock the book. This means that you can have the book on all your computers, windows, mac, palm, pocket pc.

But by far the largest amount of e-books available are in Adobe or Microsoft format, no? If one looks on sites that sell e-books such as ebooks.com, amazon.com, etc., most of the e-books are in one of those two formats.
davidspalding
10-21-2003, 04:28 PM
No, Adobe and Microsoft do NOT rule the eBook roost. :)

also: the sites you mention are not, imHo, the best sites for buyin eBooks. try Fictionwise.com and i think you'll find that the more consumer-friendly ;) secure and insecure formats from PDM and Mobipocket are broadly represented. alas, the decision of pricing and format is up to the publisher, so YMMV depending on the title you want.

as for the site you bought from, i second the suggestion: write customer service and make an assertive, persistent case that you bought the ebook with the understanding that the new Adobe Reader would display the eBook on your PPC. ask for an alternate format, or a refund. if they won't budge, you could talk to your credit card company, if you used a CC. misleading compatibility information on the vendor site ("Adobe eBook format" ... "Adobe files can be read on PPC") could be considered sufficient for a charge back attempt. :evil:
________

ebooks.com, for instance, seems to have an inordinate number of Adobe titles. goody for them. but you have to really read their FAQ stuff to find the details:

http://www.ebooks.com/help/tools/readerstable.smm
http://www.ebooks.com/article/78.smm
PetiteFlower
10-21-2003, 06:48 PM
I have been buying from Palm Digital Media, they have a great selection there, www.peanutpress.com
Janak Parekh
10-21-2003, 07:40 PM
I agree with davidspalding. I wouldn't touch Adobe ebooks with a 10-foot-pole, and fortunately, I haven't had to. :)

--janak