12 Free Ebooks From Palm Digital Media

[Ed Hansberry]

<a href="http://www.palmdigitalmedia.com">http://www.palmdigitalmedia.com</a><br /><br />On the first day of Christmas, my true love gave to me... 1 ebook. :) Ok, it doesn't have the same sound as a partridge in a pear tree, but the ebook isn't going to mess up your floor. :lol: <br /><br /><img src="http://www.pocketpcthoughts.com/images/hansberry/2003/20031216-pdmfreeebooks.gif" /><br /><br />I'm not sure when this promotion started, probably on December 13, so we've already missed 3 ebooks. :? Today's ebook is H.G. Wells' <b><u>The Time Machine</u></b>. You'll need to download and install the most excellent and free Palm Reader, which works on all Pocket PCs.

[rlobrecht]

Yet another reason to love Peanut Press (just can't bring myself to call it Palm Digital Media.)

[ironguy]

The books are 'free' but you have to register at the site (no biggie), and then establish a credit card account. I don't like that. If they're going to make it free, make it with no strings attached. 8O

[corrosive]

If you didn't know, it's because they use credit card IDs for their DRM.

[BugDude10]

Hey, Peanut: Microsoft gave us 60 books this summer... (hint hint)

[marlof]

Hey, Peanut: Microsoft gave us 60 books this summer... (hint hint)

I'll have 12 of these over 60 .lit files anytime. Call me a Peanutpress lover. :)

[OJ]

I won't leave my credit card number either. Too bad

[Ed Hansberry]

I won't leave my credit card number either. Too bad
They do it to encrypt the book so you have to enter your CC# to decrypt. IT is totally secure. Your CC# isn't in the ebook itself, just a one way hash.

[lawson]

I'd be willing to leave my credit card number, but only if they come up with something a bit more enticing than books that are already in the public domain...

I'm not much of a Microsoft Reader fan (*cough* *convertlit* *cough*) either, but at least they "gave away" some books that aren't already available on Project Gutenberg...

[Eitel]

The books are free for their registered users/clients.

I found that with the way that the ebooks are going with the DRM these days, PeanutPress have the best ebook security that a user can wish for. The books are tied to your credit card number, so you can open the books in all the devices you want with no problems. :)

[upplepop]

I found that with the way that the ebooks are going with the DRM these days, PeanutPress have the best ebook security that a user can wish for. The books are tied to your credit card number, so you can open the books in all the devices you want with no problems. :)

What if you change/lose your credit card? Will you lose access to the books you purchased?

[dean_shan]

What if you change/lose your credit card? Will you lose access to the books you purchased?

No you just sign-in and change your number there.

[Paul Martin]

I didn't download them for the same reason...it needed a credit card to download them. Why require this for a free book? Especially it it's already in the public domain, why use DRM?

[MasterOfMoo]

Yep, DRM encoding or not - I didn't dload because I don't give the credit card # over unless it's a standard purchase.

I don't leave my credit card # on file with any vendors. It's worth the extra time to key it in when I buy something rather than risk someone circumventing a site's security and getting account info that has "oh, look!" - a filed credit card.

that's my 2/100 of a dollar.

- Moo

[Jonathan1]

Hey, Peanut: Microsoft gave us 60 books this summer... (hint hint)

I'll have 12 of these over 60 .lit files anytime. Call me a Peanutpress lover. :)

Amen!!!!

[upplepop]

Today's ebook is H.G. Wells' <u>The Time Machine</u>.

You can get this book for free in lit format (http://www.mslit.com/details.asp?bookid=EWELTIME) and many other formats (http://www.memoware.com/?screen=doc_detail&amp;doc_id=8695&amp;p=title^!time machine~!description^!time machine~!author^!time machine~!) as well. I don't see what so generous about them giving away a book that is already in the public domain. Have the previous books been public domain too?

Not worth giving away my credit card number!

[Paul Martin]

Have the previous books been public domain too?

I believe so. Saturday was The Secret Garden.

Just to be clear...I'm sure that Peanut Press/PalmDigitalMedia is a great company. I've heard great things about them...just never have bought a book from them. Requiring me to submit a credit card to use a Public Domain book doesn't encourage me to do so. Of course, I did download the 15 versions of MS Reader it took to get the whole collection of their freebies over the summer. :^) But, no CC involved.

[drop]

&lt;snip>
You can get this book for free in lit format (http://www.mslit.com/details.asp?bookid=EWELTIME) and many other formats (http://www.memoware.com/?screen=doc_detail&amp;doc_id=8695&amp;p=title^!time machine~!description^!time machine~!author^!time machine~!) as well. &lt;snip>

I visit memoware often for the same reason. I had downloaded "Time Machine" many months previously but I think it is still very nice that ANYONE publishes free ebooks. Of course, I didn't miss one single free ebooks from Microsoft 8) .

Thanks Ed, for letting us know. May be tomorrow Palm Digital would offer something I don't have.

[Paul Martin]

As a follow-up, for the Secret Garden, I did not have an account, so I had to set one up, but it did NOT require a credit card for that download. Subsequent downloads have, however, so I've just cancelled out.

[Programmer]

I too find it disappointing that their 'FREE' ebooks are already free and in the Public Domain.

This is one of the dumbest promos I have ever seen.

What's next? Free limited time downloads of Linux?

-- Robert

[Ed Hansberry]

I too find it disappointing that their 'FREE' ebooks are already free and in the Public Domain.

This is one of the dumbest promos I have ever seen.

What's next? Free limited time downloads of Linux?

-- Robert
So you put no value in compilation, error checking and compiling? Ever compiled an eBook from a text file? Blech. I'd gladly pay $3.

[PetiteFlower]

But you can get these already compiled for free too???

[tonyv]

Hey,

I'll give you all some air and some sunlight if you send me your credit card number!!!

TALK ABOUT AN INCREDIBLY LAME PROMOTION!

[Ed Hansberry]

But you can get these already compiled for free too???You may find some of them, but the job of compilation varies. Some look like the scanned them in from OCR and have spelling errors.

Take a look at this though. Everyone talks about Gutenberg as if it were awesome. It is a good repository, but it is raw text. Check out this quote from Time Machine.

ALONG IT. But some foolish people have got hold of the wrong
side of that idea. You have all heard what they have to say
about this Fourth Dimension?'

`_I_ have not,' said the Provincial Mayor.

`It is simply this. That Space, as our mathematicians have it,
is spoken of as having three dimensions, which one may call
Length, Breadth, and Thickness, and is always definable by
reference to three planes, each at right angles to the others.

It is at ftp://ftp.cdrom.com/pub/gutenberg/etext92/timem11.txt in the first page or so. Those are hard line breaks. Instead of <u>I</u> or I it uses _I_. Now, it is free, but you get what you pay for. Will I pay $3 to have it in a readable format where paragraphs actually flow? You bet.

[PetiteFlower]

I might dl this but then I already use Palm Reader(no additional install needed) and I already have an account there. Free is free :)

Given the choice between supplying a credit card number for security purposes only, for a free download, and the FIASCO that is MSReader's DRM, I'll give my cc# over to a reputable web store like PDM in a second.

[PetiteFlower]

Ok well I WAS going to try this download but then my Axim decided to randomly hard reset itself when I went to plug it into the cradle! How bizarre is that?

Good thing I just backed up this morning, but it looks like I'll be spending the next few hours restoring......sigh.....

[Paula]

Does any one know what the previous free books were?

And not to be outdone Fictionwise is giving away 12 Free Dickens Novels.
http://www.fictionwise.com/FreeDickens.htm

Paula

[bjornkeizers]

Bit disapointing promotion. All of these can be found for free anyway, and I don't have a credit card.

And formatting them for use on PPC isn't that big of a deal anyway. I make all my own books. I use simple .txt files I get from IRC, run them through readerworks, and the whole process takes less then 30 seconds from txt to lit.

How difficult is that? Well worth my time, considering how much I save not having to buy an actual book all the time.

[dh]

Does any one know what the previous free books were?

And not to be outdone Fictionwise is giving away 12 Free Dickens Novels.
http://www.fictionwise.com/FreeDickens.htm

Paula
What's nice about these is they are are available as multiformat books so that just about everyone can read them.

When I first got into eBooks I didn't even know that books out of copyright could be free and I bought Dickens complete works for $5.00 in .lit format. I think it was actually a good deal. Most of Dicken's writing can be found somewhere for free, but paying the small amount of money saved a lot of searching.

Anyone who hasn't read Dickens should take advantage and get one of his novels to try. They have all stood the test of time really well and would make great holiday reading.

[ucfgrad93]

Today's book is The Scarlet Pimpernel.

I use Palm Reader Pro on my 1910 and couldn't be happier. It handles DRM way better than MS Reader. Not to mention I can use the same file on my Palm T|E.

[drop]

Does any one know what the previous free books were?

And not to be outdone Fictionwise is giving away 12 Free Dickens Novels.
http://www.fictionwise.com/FreeDickens.htm

Paula

Thank you, Paula. Everyone is getting into the Christmas spirit :) . I agree with you dh, it is nice to be able to just download and no need to convert or format the text.

Ho, Ho, Ho.

[Ed Hansberry]

Today's book is The Scarlet Pimpernel.

I use Palm Reader Pro on my 1910 and couldn't be happier. It handles DRM way better than MS Reader. Not to mention I can use the same file on my Palm T|E. Or your Mac or desktop PC. :)

[ucfgrad93]

Today's book is Little Women.

[nategesner]

I agree that this is a joke, regardless of PeanutPress' reputation. I've downloaded each of these books - and many, many more - from MemoWare and they were all in various formats, well-formatted, legible, and VERY FREE. No need to sign up with a credit card, either. For example, a search for Peanut Press' recent "free" offering, "Little Women", shows that MemoWare has the same book in four different formats for PPC and three of them are rated five stars out of five by users(the other is not rated at all). Is it really worth giving out a credit card number to get the same thing from Peanut Press?!?

Maybe I should set up a road-side stand for free butt-kickings. Of course, it requires a credit card number (I swear I will never use it and will store it in a secure place that is pretty hard to get into). You might be able to get a solid butt-kicking at other places, but I'll wear nicer shoes and speak eloquently! ;)

[disconnected]

Maybe it isn't a big giveaway, but I don't see why anyone needs to get all upset about it. If you don't want to give them your credit card number, find the books somewhere else and be happy. If you're already a Peanut Press customer, which I am, it's a convenient way to get the books.

[PetiteFlower]

Yes but clearly it's a big turnoff to people who are NOT already members, so it was probably not the most well-thought-out idea PDM's ever had. Why do this if not to attract new members? But if you do it in a way that makes them uncomfortable, it's not going to be a very successful idea....

[Ed Hansberry]

Yes but clearly it's a big turnoff to people who are NOT already members, so it was probably not the most well-thought-out idea PDM's ever had. Why do this if not to attract new members? But if you do it in a way that makes them uncomfortable, it's not going to be a very successful idea....
Yeah, just imagine! PDM is giving away free ebooks and you only have to open an account with them. Now that you have the reader and an account, buying a book from them is not so far out? Obviously this is a marketing maneuver, and a good one IMHO. As others have said, if you don't like it, don't mess with it.

[Ed Hansberry]

If you missed any of them, PDM has all 12 for download at http://www.palmdigitalmedia.com/feature/book/category/149 now. :way to go:

[ctmagnus]

If you missed any of them, PDM has all 12 for download at http://www.palmdigitalmedia.com/feature/book/category/149 now. :way to go:

:way to go: I was kicking myself for forgetting about this deal a few times.

[Ed Hansberry]

:way to go: I was kicking myself for forgetting about this deal a few times.
How could you forget? :confused totally: Any self-respecting geek would have set up a recurring task on his/her Pocket PC! :lol: I just missed the first 3-4 because I didn't know about the promotion. :D