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Backing Up My Kindle Ebooks (2018)

sonyaellenmann.com

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Re: Backing Up My Kindle Ebooks (2018)

#111

Post by Bakary »

umvi wrote: post #60

I have this great idea for a business: "ewhiteout" for ebooks. Basically you can selectively "patch" ebooks to censor profanity, sex scenes, violence, (and more) depending on your tastes and on what you like (and don't like) to consume. However, this is extremely unpopular with authors/publishers for the same reason that censoring movies is extremely unpopular with Hollywood (hence why companies like VidAngel are con…

I can understand this perspective but even voluntary censorship seems so contrary to some of the aspects of literature that make it compelling, chief among those its capacity to help expose yourself to different modes of thought.

Ironically GRRM specifically mentioned that he doesn't write "comfort fiction".

Re: Backing Up My Kindle Ebooks (2018)

#112

Post by exolymph »

jxdxbx wrote: post #26

The easiest ebook format to strip DRM from is the Adobe DRM that various stores use. I only buy ebooks from the Google Play book store now, since DRM removal is so straightforward. (Same deDRM calibre plugin, but you just get a single encrypted ePub you can download, and adding it to calibre gives you a DRM-free ePub, which is a more industry-standard format. Converting to or from KFX or AZW3 can be error-prone.)

I mentioned this in the post :)

Re: Backing Up My Kindle Ebooks (2018)

#113

Post by exolymph »

philtar wrote: post #8

Why is this article so high up? It's a blog post by an Amazon associate who fails at following basic instructions (dedrm tells you how to remove the new DRM and how to do it without a physical device) "hacker news"

Consider that it's useful for y'all to hear from power users who aren't programmers. Also I wrote this last year, so it doesn't have whatever the newest advances are. The point of documenting my experience was both to share knowledge and demonstrate what a pain in the ass this is.

Re: Backing Up My Kindle Ebooks (2018)

#114

Post by autoexec »

ben7799 wrote: post #47

I've backed up my eBooks from time to time & cracked some books over the years that I had purchased & wanted to put on another device but a lot of the time I don't worry about it. I got my first kindle in 2010 and bounced over to Barnes & Noble for a while with a Nook but then came back to the Amazon ecosystem. I've bought hundreds of books over the years. But just like paper books there are a lot of books that I rea…

> But just like paper books there are a lot of books that I read once and never look at again. They aren't priceless treasured objects for me.

Traditionally your books could have been donated, or given to friends and relatives. DRM prevents those things. It really sounds like you might be better off using a library to borrow ebooks than to buy them. You're already basically just paying for a rental.

Re: Backing Up My Kindle Ebooks (2018)

#115

Post by zokier »

superkuh wrote: post #22

Sometimes it's just better to pirate the books even if you've paid for them. The formatting and error correction is usually better and they stick to epub and mobi standards. As an aside: I was helping a friend out who owned a Kindle recently and shocked to learn it can't read mobi or epub. Why would anyone buy such a crap e-reader?

> Why would anyone buy such a crap e-reader?

The point, and imho only point, of Kindle is the tight integration to Amazon store. It is very much dedicated single purpose device for reading Amazon content. I have one and its great; I browse Amazon store on my computer, select a book, and with one click buy the one I want and have it automatically delivered to my Kindle. No need to think about files and formats or copying and converting stuff around.

Re: Backing Up My Kindle Ebooks (2018)

#116

Post by komali2 »

stoacc wrote: post #104
komali2 wrote: post #91

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Fair, but just like I've never needed my photo backups, when I do need them (if I ever do), I'll be very, very, very glad I put in the ~3 hours of work or so a month it takes to ensure my photos are all backed up.

How do you back up your photos?

By copying them to harddisks, and burning the important ones to blurays.

Re: Backing Up My Kindle Ebooks (2018)

#117

Post by arkades »

superkuh wrote: post #110
arkades wrote: post #23

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It reads mobi, just not ePub. And I use it because it’s got the best hardware experience of the bunch, IMO.

Do some? I was under the impression you couldn't load .mobi files on to it and they had to be converted to amazon's proprietary format.

I’m not familiar with any models not loading mobi. The only caveat is that there is a sub-format of mobi that’s fixed rather than reflowable (like, a PDF vs. a TXT), and that’s never been supported. But I’ve only come across those once in a blue moon in the wild.

ePubs seem more popular than mobi though, so I think that’s where most of the “converting for kindle” happens.

Re: Backing Up My Kindle Ebooks (2018)

#118

Post by m463 »

I find that a number of Kindle books I've purchased at the beginning say:

"The author and publisher have provided this e-book to you without Digital Rights Management software (DRM) applied so that you can enjoy reading it on your personal devices"...

So I assume either they don't have kindle DRM, or it is ethical (possibly legally allowed) to remove the kindle DRM.

Re: Backing Up My Kindle Ebooks (2018)

#119

Post by umvi »

Bakary wrote: post #111
umvi wrote: post #60

I have this great idea for a business: "ewhiteout" for ebooks. Basically you can selectively "patch" ebooks to censor profanity, sex scenes, violence, (and more) depending on your tastes and on what you like (and don't like) to consume. However, this is extremely unpopular with authors/publishers for the same reason that censoring movies is extremely unpopular with Hollywood (hence why companies like VidAngel are con…

I can understand this perspective but even voluntary censorship seems so contrary to some of the aspects of literature that make it compelling, chief among those its capacity to help expose yourself to different modes of thought. Ironically GRRM specifically mentioned that he doesn't write "comfort fiction".

Think of voluntary censorship in terms of other things like voluntarily abstaining from alcohol, drugs, or even meat.

I avoid things that I believe are bad for my body, and I avoid things that I believe are bad for my mind. You might argue that it's impossible to consume something "bad for your mind", but I disagree. I think there are certain forms of entertainment (written, visual, and interactive) that absolutely can desensitize you, distract you, addict you, influence you (negatively), etc. - I try to avoid those effects where possible, and self-censorship is just one tool to combat them.

Re: Backing Up My Kindle Ebooks (2018)

#120

Post by komali2 »

umvi wrote: post #79
burnte wrote: post #73

Earlier quoted context omitted.

"hence why companies like VidAngel are constantly mired in legal issues despite widespread popularity with consumers" Widespread popularity with an incredibly small number of consumers who are generally very religiously oriented. And as seems to be common in the highly-religious groups, VidAngel commits copyright and trademark violations with the justification of "it's for families!" Just like a thousand religious su…

> The vast majority of people don't feel the need to censor the content they watch because they either understand what's in the content, or simply avoid tainted content altogether Right, but said people number in the millions, and would consume said content if only there were a way to selectively censor what they find objectionable. > If you're censoring things like ASoIaF, then maybe ASoIaF isn't for you, considerin…

>Right, but said people number in the millions, and would consume said content if only there were a way to selectively censor what they find objectionable.

Perhaps I'm not understanding, but if you're whiting it out, you're reading it anyway, right? So, what's the benefit?

If you get to a sex scene, can you just skip it or something?

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