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Amazon will allow ePub and PDF downloads for DRM-free eBooks

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Re: Amazon will allow ePub and PDF downloads for DRM-free eBooks

#201

Post by TheCoelacanth »

everdrive wrote: post #74
jrm4 wrote: post #64

Haha, what a headline. The internet "allows" ePub and PDF downloads for ALL books. Adjust yourselves accordingly.

Amazon deserves a lot of criticism in the general sense, but this can only be seen as a positive move. Most importantly, if they set an industry standard, others might follow. Fundamentally, I prefer a physical book to a digital one. But, the primary reason I'd never even entertain a digital book is the lack of ownership. Ownership is incredibly important, and we need to celebrate victories when they happen.

It's a positive move, but too little, too late. These same publishers have already been available DRM-free from other stores for a long time.

Re: Amazon will allow ePub and PDF downloads for DRM-free eBooks

#202

Post by TreeInBuxton »

deltaburnt wrote: post #96
nippoo wrote: post #51

Earlier quoted context omitted.

They failed to deliver a Pixel phone to me - they never even tried to deliver it and the status said "permanent delivery failure" so I assumed they'd automatically refund me. Fast forward a few months, I never received a refund and they claim they have no record any more. I could chargeback my credit card but I imagine I'd also be permanently banned from Amazon - so instead I accept they've just stolen $1000 from me…

Much less money lost, but Amazon is notorious for not providing free game codes that are supposed to be included with GPU purchases. The customer rep at first apologized and offered a small refund (less than the cost of the game). A later rep started implying I was trying to defraud Amazon. Many people online share similar experiences. Wonder how much money this wide-scale fraud saves them.

Amazon doing dodgy things with PC parts is why I will no longer purchase them from there - I'll happily take the extra £10-20 hit to buy it from another "proper" retailer (ie, Scan or Overclockers here in the UK), knowing that issues can be resolved more easily

Re: Amazon will allow ePub and PDF downloads for DRM-free eBooks

#203

Post by eszed »

charcircuit wrote: post #188
eli wrote: post #182

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Just need to outlaw binding arbitration

Amazon will reimburse arbitration fees if you win making it a cheaper option for consumers than small claims court.

"If".

[Edit, because one-word replies are uncivilized: one reason to be suspicious about binding arbitration is that the company against whom you'll be pleading is a repeat customer of that arbitration service. It's a non-transparent / non-public process, so it's hard to have confidence is fair, and over which we (ie, the public) have no influence if it were not.]

Re: Amazon will allow ePub and PDF downloads for DRM-free eBooks

#204

Post by [deleted] »

nippoo wrote: post #51
icqFDR wrote: post #44

I’d advise anyone buying e-books on Amazon to think it through carefully. My account was banned recently because, years ago, I ordered two paper books that Amazon said would be split into two shipments. Both books arrived without any issues, but later Amazon refunded me for one of them, claiming that one package never arrived. This happened 4–5 years ago. Apparently, during a recent review, they decided this counted…

They failed to deliver a Pixel phone to me - they never even tried to deliver it and the status said "permanent delivery failure" so I assumed they'd automatically refund me. Fast forward a few months, I never received a refund and they claim they have no record any more. I could chargeback my credit card but I imagine I'd also be permanently banned from Amazon - so instead I accept they've just stolen $1000 from me…

[deleted]

Re: Amazon will allow ePub and PDF downloads for DRM-free eBooks

#205

Post by fuzztester »

al_borland wrote: post #159
nijave wrote: post #154

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Customer centric ended a few years ago

This may be your opinion, and mine as well, but it’s still in paragraph 1 of Amazon’s own about page. It seems they’ve forgotten their own guiding principles. https://www.aboutamazon.com/about-us > Amazon is guided by four principles: customer obsession rather than competitor focus, passion for invention, commitment to operational excellence, and long-term thinking. We strive to be Earth’s most customer-centric compa…

Hey Amazon, I have a great offer for to buy the Golden Gate bridge.

Re: Amazon will allow ePub and PDF downloads for DRM-free eBooks

#208

Post by thegrim000 »

al_borland wrote: post #107
icqFDR wrote: post #44

I’d advise anyone buying e-books on Amazon to think it through carefully. My account was banned recently because, years ago, I ordered two paper books that Amazon said would be split into two shipments. Both books arrived without any issues, but later Amazon refunded me for one of them, claiming that one package never arrived. This happened 4–5 years ago. Apparently, during a recent review, they decided this counted…

Banning long-time customers in otherwise good-standing for a mistake they made years ago, which would already be settled financially and such a minor cost is wild. I can imagine something like this has happened to almost everyone. So much for being the world’s most customer-centric company. That mission is dead.

99.99% of the time when you read something on the internet and your reaction is "that's wild" / "wow that's crazy" / "that's unbelievable", then what you are reading is in fact likely nowhere near the actual truth / real.

Re: Amazon will allow ePub and PDF downloads for DRM-free eBooks

#209

Post by BeetleB »

habosa wrote: post #94
strawhatdev wrote: post #18

I wonder if this is in response to Bookshop.org's DRM free e-book shop. I buy a lot of e-books and have completely switched over because of that feature.

I’m waiting for Bookshop.org to offer an integration with any hardware reader for most of their books. When they do, I’ll switch to whatever that reader is.

Eh? Not sure what you mean.

I picked a random book: https://bookshop.org/p/books/hemlock-silver-t-kingfisher/022...

It's DRM Free, and available as an ePub. Other than Kindle, what device does not accept ePub?

Re: Amazon will allow ePub and PDF downloads for DRM-free eBooks

#210

Post by BeetleB »

ay wrote: post #117
embedding-shape wrote: post #20

Hah, they actually did a slight rollback! When I first heard about them stopping the downloads, I immediately downloaded all the books I purchased from Amazon and went from buying ~1 book per week to 0. Seems a lot of us doing so had some sort of effect. Unfortunately, it seems like this will be chosen by the publisher, so of course probably most of the books won't be downloadable at all, and Amazon can now point the…

I have bought more than 600 books over a decade or so; But after they decided the ebooks were actually just license to read, I did exactly the same as you, and now rather than happily buying from them, actively discourage everyone in my social circle from using kindle. I am not going back, whoever they decide to blame.

> But after they decided the ebooks were actually just license to read

They decided that when they launched the Kindle. It's always been that way.

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