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When Microsoft's eBook store closes, your books disappear too

bbc.co.uk

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Re: When Microsoft's eBook store closes, your books disappear too

#181

Post by wlll »

wolco wrote: post #175
wlll wrote: post #165

I don't buy ebooks, and this is just one reason. This is the complete list: 1. For some reason they cost a similar amount to print books Sometimes a bit less, sometimes the same, sometimes more. Distributing a physical book means you have to print, handle, store, transport, store again, handle again and transport again (using a simplified model of the journey a book takes to the end user). That costs money, and it co…

Piracy is a good option for popular titles and for more smaller titles usually you can get an epub version outside of the amazon store so buying is still a good option.

I once looked into cracking the DRM on Amazon ebooks (that I had bought legitimately). It worked, but was a PITA.

Re: When Microsoft's eBook store closes, your books disappear too

#182

Post by NoGravitas »

wolco wrote: post #175
wlll wrote: post #165

I don't buy ebooks, and this is just one reason. This is the complete list: 1. For some reason they cost a similar amount to print books Sometimes a bit less, sometimes the same, sometimes more. Distributing a physical book means you have to print, handle, store, transport, store again, handle again and transport again (using a simplified model of the journey a book takes to the end user). That costs money, and it co…

Piracy is a good option for popular titles and for more smaller titles usually you can get an epub version outside of the amazon store so buying is still a good option.

A good option, but unfortunately technical, is to buy ebooks and strip the DRM so that you can keep them outside of the store's ecosystem, back them up, read them in your choice of reader, etc. This is also useful for library ebooks.

Re: When Microsoft's eBook store closes, your books disappear too

#183

Post by bewo001 »

wlll wrote: post #165

I don't buy ebooks, and this is just one reason. This is the complete list: 1. For some reason they cost a similar amount to print books Sometimes a bit less, sometimes the same, sometimes more. Distributing a physical book means you have to print, handle, store, transport, store again, handle again and transport again (using a simplified model of the journey a book takes to the end user). That costs money, and it co…

While I love the convenience, especially while travelling, I'd add 5. Fraudulent publishers; you can't easily see how 'thick' the book is. Some 'novels' turn out to be 70 page short stories.

Re: When Microsoft's eBook store closes, your books disappear too

#184

Post by bunderbunder »

wlll wrote: post #165

I don't buy ebooks, and this is just one reason. This is the complete list: 1. For some reason they cost a similar amount to print books Sometimes a bit less, sometimes the same, sometimes more. Distributing a physical book means you have to print, handle, store, transport, store again, handle again and transport again (using a simplified model of the journey a book takes to the end user). That costs money, and it co…

To the price thing:

The fact that you have to store print books is a factor in why they can be cheaper. It costs money to maintain inventory - both the physical costs associated with warehousing those books, and the opportunity costs associated with devoting space to them instead of other books you might sell more profitably.

That creates an incentive to cut costs on books that aren't moving quickly, in order to get them out of your warehouse. No such incentive exists for ebooks, so the incentive to keep on charging the sticker price in order to keep yourself out of a JC Penny's situation becomes relatively stronger.

Not to say that this isn't a valid reason to like print books. Just wanted to point out there can be legitimate economic reasons for this sort of situation.

Re: When Microsoft's eBook store closes, your books disappear too

#185

Post by everdrive »

miki123211 wrote: post #92

That's why I love the way we get ebooks in Poland. When we buy an ebook, we usually get a pack of files (epub/pdf/mobi), without any DRM, but with watermarks, some visible, some hidden. Same for audiobooks. There's no DRM, there's some piracy, as always, but the system works and it works pretty damn well. I wish american ebook and audiobook stores were like this.

Importantly, a digital watermark can also be used to track which citizens are reading subversive literature. I'll admit, the modern internet has so much tracking that this point is a bit moot. But, why add one more bit of tracking?

Re: When Microsoft's eBook store closes, your books disappear too

#186

Post by andrewla »

wlll wrote: post #165

I don't buy ebooks, and this is just one reason. This is the complete list: 1. For some reason they cost a similar amount to print books Sometimes a bit less, sometimes the same, sometimes more. Distributing a physical book means you have to print, handle, store, transport, store again, handle again and transport again (using a simplified model of the journey a book takes to the end user). That costs money, and it co…

All your points are dead on. I'll throw in these cons as well:

5. visibility (as noted by angrygoat) and browseability is terrible.

6. Flipping through an ebook looking for something is impossible.

7. Illustrations or drawings are rendered terribly.

The list of pros of ebooks:

1. It's just a better experience. Ebooks are lighter than their equivalent books, easy to use one-handed, fonts can be adjusted, you can carry as many as you want with no extra weight, you can search within a book, you have access with wifi to your entire library at any point in time without having to fill up a cramped apartment. Browsing for books to read is terrible, but I can browse at my local B&N and then buy the ebooks on Amazon (which makes me terrible, but what can you do).

In balance, this means that I've switched almost entirely to ebooks.

The objections that you give (1-4) are the ones that are fixable by hoisting the Jolly Roger. This a step I am reluctant to take but if point 1 keeps going in this direction, then I can't really convince myself that I can justify the cost. A literally out-of-print book [1] selling for $13 is so outlandish that it makes my head spin. A book where the e-book is twice as expensive as the paperback [2]? What on earth is going on here.

[1] https://www.amazon.com/dp/B009FKTTMQ

[2] https://www.amazon.com/dp/B003XT605Y

Re: When Microsoft's eBook store closes, your books disappear too

#187

Post by trentmb »

ellius wrote: post #171
wlll wrote: post #165

I don't buy ebooks, and this is just one reason. This is the complete list: 1. For some reason they cost a similar amount to print books Sometimes a bit less, sometimes the same, sometimes more. Distributing a physical book means you have to print, handle, store, transport, store again, handle again and transport again (using a simplified model of the journey a book takes to the end user). That costs money, and it co…

I mix eBooks and physical copies, and I agree with your list, but here are a couple advantages of eBooks: 1. Space -- I have an entire closet full of books. Every time I buy another physical book, I am slowly crowding myself out of a little more space in my apartment. Electronic copies take up no physical space. 2. Can read anywhere (using my phone). I don't like this for every book, but some books are good for readi…

Between ebooks and my local public library, I purged my entire personal (physical) library.

Re: When Microsoft's eBook store closes, your books disappear too

#188

Post by benj111 »

oarsinsync wrote: post #157
benj111 wrote: post #86

Earlier quoted context omitted.

"We're a small independent ebook retailer" How does that work? Independent in a physical sense, generally translates to 1 or very few outlets. Online is only ever going to be 1 outlet. Plus none of the independent bookstore features seem amenable to translating to the internet. So is it ownership structure? 'vibe'?

> "We're a small independent ebook retailer" > How does that work? Small: They're not operating at Barnes & Noble, Waterstones, Amazon, or any other major book retailer level. Measuring by revenue seems reasonable in this sense. Pick arbitrary numbers to define small/medium/large. Independent: They're not affiliated with any one single publisher.

Yes, I possess a dictionary too :P

Independent suggests more than just being independent, and very little of that seems to be compatible with being an internet company (local, passionate knowledgeable owner, community hub).

Re: When Microsoft's eBook store closes, your books disappear too

#189

Post by gpm »

nil-sec wrote: post #11

They refund them. Why is this an issue?

You buy a book from me. One day I decide I want to reverse that transaction so I walk up to you, rip the book out of your hands, and drop some money.

I just committed theft and should go to jail. Once you sell something you don't have the right to take it back if you later regret the transaction.

Re: When Microsoft's eBook store closes, your books disappear too

#190

Post by ikeboy »

crankylinuxuser wrote: post #27
ikeboy wrote: post #15

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Install Calibre and DeDRM, download everything to Kindle for PC and add to calibre, which will break the DRM and ensure you have a copy regardless of what happens with Amazon. I've personally had an Amazon account blocked along with access to all my Kindle books, which sucks. Now I download every book as soon as I purchase it and add to calibre.

Then take the next logical step. Quit paying them for the abusive media. Pirate. You have to break the law anyways even if you pay legit.

Books are often harder to pirate, especially less popular ones. It's rare to find a movie or TV show that's not available, it's common to find ebooks that aren't.
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