I have bought lots of books in MS Reader and eReader format. Having moved to a VGA device I am reading eReader books only because it has support for VGA (MS Reader doesn't) and because I can read all the books I purchased by entering the unlock codes (which are under my control).
MS won't activate my new PPC, claiming I am out of activations, which isn't surprising given that their method of detecting devices is flaky and you have no way to deactivate a device you no longer use.
Although I have championed MS Reader in the past, I shan't be purchasing any more titles in that format. If I want to read the books I own first I have to steal them. It isn't right!
As for a common format, I am not holding my breath. The OEBP format was hijacked by the vendors and has become a proprietary closed (and seemingly moribund) format. Interestingly the more restrictive the DRM the quicker a tool appears to defeat it. There don't seem to be any tools to break eReader DRM because it is flexible enough to satisfy legitimate uses, and to deter sharing, one of the keys is a credit card number.
MS will give activate your device if you do that email thing on the activation web site and ask them for a new activation. Given how often I get new devices (alot), I've had to have them manually activate my device 20 times already over the last few years
But in the end it doesn't matter which reader is better. Not every book is available in every format. You use whatever reader you need to. If I have a choice, I try to use eReader, but often you don't have a choice.
Or available at all.
Which is what is really holding ebooks back.
Simple drill: look at th NYT Best seller's list; how many of the top 100 are available in ebook form? At what list price?
Or, check the monthly mailer from any of the book clubs; How many of the selections are available in ebook form at all?
Sure, out-of-copyright stuff is readily available.
(And Penguin is not amused. My heart fair bleeds for them. Not!)
And some publishers, like Baen, go out of their way to have a solid catalog. But even *they* don't offer their full catalog in ebook form.
The sheer hit-or-miss nature of the offerings coupled with the erratic prices and downright stupid designs and pricing for most of the dedicated reader hardware is holding back the development of ebooks and all the fuss over formats is just fiddling on the margins.
Meaningless.
MS will give activate your device if you do that email thing on the activation web site and ask them for a new activation. Given how often I get new devices (alot), I've had to have them manually activate my device 20 times already over the last few years
But in the end it doesn't matter which reader is better. Not every book is available in every format. You use whatever reader you need to. If I have a choice, I try to use eReader, but often you don't have a choice.
I have done that activation dance many times too - but now that MS Reader itself doesn't support my VGA device very well, I can't be bothered. Eventually they may update the software and I might revisit it, but in the meantime I will drain my eReader backlog!
As a reader, I'll never again buy a DRM-locked book because of all the hassles that happen with MS Reader whenever I buy a new device. Activation limits, the process not working with the latest OS, etc etc. Sorry, no thanks. I feel burned.
As an author, I'm experimenting with eBooks and finding that offering them for free, unlocked, is a good way to reach people who are:
a) far away
b) possibly hesitant to spend money on an unknown author.
I've created properly laid-out PDF and LIT versions of my novel for my website, but the host of www.ManyBooks.net has a script that can turn any sort of raw text into just about every e-book format going, and I've had way more downloads (in the hundreds) from his site.
It's not just the proprietary nature of DRM, it's the varying implementations. I use Mobipocket Reader exclusively on my iPAQ 4700. It's the only reader I've installed for several years. However, when I change devices, I have to redownload all of my ebooks, which is a huge task. A universal device, or universal software, won't fix this. I'd still have to redownload all the books because of the DRM implementation.
With books, when I buy them, they're mine for life. With ebooks, they're mine until I change devices, update the ROM, etc., then I have to go get them again. What happens if Mobipocket dies in five or ten years and I can't get a new PID for my new device? My entire library of ebooks will have been wiped out. DRM needs to be tied to me, not a device. That way, I'll always have the ebooks.
It's not just the proprietary nature of DRM, it's the varying implementations. I use Mobipocket Reader exclusively on my iPAQ 4700. It's the only reader I've installed for several years. However, when I change devices, I have to redownload all of my ebooks, which is a huge task. A universal device, or universal software, won't fix this. I'd still have to redownload all the books because of the DRM implementation.
With books, when I buy them, they're mine for life. With ebooks, they're mine until I change devices, update the ROM, etc., then I have to go get them again. What happens if Mobipocket dies in five or ten years and I can't get a new PID for my new device? My entire library of ebooks will have been wiped out. DRM needs to be tied to me, not a device. That way, I'll always have the ebooks.
Well this isn't the case with eReader. I have changed my device about 6 times over the past 2 years and I have never had to redownload my books. Since I have never changed my credit card that I used to purchase the books with, all I have to do is plug the SD card into the new device and I am back up and running again.
I think that eReader has a great DRM solution, the problem as someone has already stated, is that they don't always have the best selection of books available. It is getting better and I have watched more and more books become available in the past 4 years. I just wish that more publishers/authors would see the light that if you provide it to us in a format that we are looking for, we won't be forced to get it in an illegal fashion.
A standardized format seems like a good thing, but I'd also like some way to guarantee continued access to my ebooks.
I buy almost all of my books from ereader (with a few from Powells or Fictionwise in the ereader format, and very few in other formats -- mslit or mobipocket). I'm not a big fan of DRM, but at least ereader's is pretty easy to live with. However, the problem of losing access to my whole library still exists. If ereader goes out of business, sooner or later the software won't be able to be run on whatever operating systems we'll be using then. At that point I guess I'd be willing to become a criminal and buy any illegal software that's written to convert the books.
I agree that prices are all over the place (and don't consistently change to keep up with the paper prices). I'm willing to live with that, but it can't be helping to promote widespread adoption.
I also think that makers of devices that are used for reading (PPCs, tablets, dedicated readers, or whatever), do a terrible job of promoting the devices for this purpose. My husband and I tend to read ebooks in restaurants on our PPCs (we're not very good company ), and almost daily either a server or another customer will come up and ask us about them; hardly anyone even knows that ebooks (or PPCs) exist! I wish Microsoft or the OEMs would try harder to exploit this market -- I don't know what I'll do if/when PPCs with decent sized VGA screens disappear. Does anyone read ebooks on a phone screen? I don't think my eyes are good enough, buy maybe younger people can manage it. If Sprint, etc. offer music downloads, maybe they should offer ebook downloads as well.
Whenever a new book is published that I want to read, I try to get it in ebook form. I'd estimate only about 15 to 20% of them are available as ebooks. I won't buy hardcovers because they're not portable enough, so publishers would get more of my money than they currently do if they released everything as ebooks. (I'd pay the hardcover price for the ebooks instead of waiting for the paperback).
I don't know much about the mechanics of publishing, but I'd assume that all current hardcopy books must exist in some digital format so I'd think formatting them as ebooks shouldn't be too expensive.
I don't understand why the publishers worry about ebook piracy. If a book is really popular, the paper copy will be scanned. If it's not really popular, they should be pleased for any additional sales from an ebook version.
It would also be nice if publishers would release more of their back catalog as ebooks. Most books totally disappear from bookstores within months of publication. I can see why physical space is scarce, but this wouldn't be a problem with ebooks. I was thrilled when Harper Collins (perfectbound) released almost every Agatha Christie book as an ebook. I bought them all, even though I'd probably read most of them two or three times already.
Creating a common e-book format will clearly improve some situations, and complicate others. Personally, I see it as mostly a plus to have a common format: You'll have a choice of multiple readers, allowing you to pick the one whose features you prefer; A standardized format will help guarantee its longetivity in the market; and competition over one format will help straighten out a lot of the draconian DRM issues, sales, costs, and availability.
It may take some time to work out some of these issues (especially DRM and cost), but the intervention of just one or two inspired e-book producers could fix that faster than you'd expect.
I was sorry to NOT see Sony or Microsoft listed as supporters, but if this idea gets fully off the ground, hopefully that will change. We don't need another VHS/Betamax War.
If this does become a universal format, I know I'll be using it for my books. Why not? The worst that can happen is... just one more format...
I have read well over 100 books on my various PocketPCs. I am amazed it does not catch on more. Some of the reasons I like it over paper:
1. Instant access to my book no matter when and where, I used the 6700 so my phone is my book. Standing in line at the Post Office I check email then read a few pages.
2. When I was bottle feeding my two children at night the only thing that kept me going was the ability to read while the lights were out, with just a faint glow of the screen it never bothered the kids - try that with a hardbook.
3. True one-handed reading. I don't need to set my drink or burger down to turn pages just toggle
4. Read at night and not wake up my wife - trust me you don't want to wake up my wife at night w/out just cause.
5. Rarely do I read a book twice - but ereader has my order from 12/17/2004 sitting there waiting for re-download if I want - you can't tell me you can find every paperback you ever read 2 1/2 years ago in one minute like I can with ereader? Plus they take WAY less room .
6. I bought Darwin's Children/Darwin's Radio two book special for 4.99 on ereader. I just looked up the price on amazon for the paperback and they are 7.99 EACH new....
7. Ark Ship by Sonny Whitelaw is available on Amazon for 18.99 paperback - yep that is right look it up - but I read it on ereader for 5.12....
8. On Amazon paperback (regular purchase, not used) I can get The Reckoning 7.99 (Jeff Long), State of Union 7.99 (Thor), Path of the Assassin 7.50(Thor), and Lions of Lucerne 7.50 (Thor) for a total of
30.47. I bought these all at once on ereader for 20.33.
I am just using Amazon as a benchmark because it is big and has fairly decent prices. I almost ALWAYS save money over paperbacks. Three are so many to choose from, don't focus on the "just out of hardback" or "on the discount rack hardback" books. The vast majority of books have been in paperback for a long time, and usually ereader is cheaper!
If you are willing to read new authors and are looking for a GREAT way to read a lot of books whenever and wherever you want ereader is a huge advantage over paperbacks and hardcovers.
Linear Mode
