I saw a Barnes and Noble nook in the flesh for the first time this week. (I bought one when released but sold it without opening the box.) I was impressed. Seriously, I loved the hardware and could definitely see myself using one. The only problem is… I have a huge number of books that I purchased through Amazon and Kindle books won’t work on the nook (and nook books won’t work on the Kindle.)
Currently if you have books that you purchased through one but a new eReader that you would love to buy comes out on the other you either have to pass on the eReader or buy all new books. That might be fine if you use the reader for fiction books that you read just once but it doesn’t work if, like me, you have reference books on them.
All of which leads me to this…
I want to invite you to join with me and sign a petition demanding that Amazon and Barnes and Noble open their devices to other eBook formats.
So what do you say… Will you join me?
What’s that you say? The idea is stupid and absurd? They have every right to control what books go on THEIR device?
I could not agree more!
But the next time you start in about Apple’s “walled garden” remember this… As of this morning you can read iBooks, Kindle books and nook books on the iPad. Try that on a nook or a Kindle.
@AndySocial-
I love ebooks, but it’s a major obstacle to getting them into the mainstream, I agree. And while there’s some similarities to music, the truth is that even drm’d music is more portable than ebooks (you could almost always burn a CD and re-rip it). There are ways to de-drm a book, but most people don’t feel like fiddling with multiple python scripts. Plus Amazon, B&N, and Adobe all try to stay one step ahead.
As a small business owner, I can understand that Amazon and BN want to make most profit out of the ebooks and readers they sell. As a consumer, I am hesitating to pay for what I already had.
And, that is why I do adapt the new gadgets unless it can take what I had or at least majority of it. Dan, I am with you but, in reality, it is highly impossible in the near future. I hope I am wrong though.
Your statement about the iPad is completely faulty. The only reason the iPad can read Amazon and B&N eBooks are because the respective companies created apps for the device. This is something they did to reach out to other customers on other devices.
The issue with eBooks doesn’t rest completely with the companies. Amazon chose to have the format they now use, despite it not being a very popular reading file format. B&N uses the ePub and PDB formats, allowing users of Fictionwise and Ereader.com to read their books on nook (it’s believed it’s because B&N bought them to use their technology). ePub is considered to be the growing universal standard, however, the DRM technology is what separates B&N eBooks from Borders (Sony eReader) eBooks.
B&N currently uses Adobe DRM with their eBooks. This makes it possible for consumers to use library books through Adobe Digital Editions to read them on their nook devices. I can’t speak directly for B&N, but the Adobe DRM isn’t proprietary, and as soon as other devices adapt that technology, it can be universal. Adobe is a good start, since the PDF format is commonly associated with them. Why not letting eBooks use it as well?
eReaders like the Sony eReader cannot read Adobe DRM and will get an error when you try to. Anyone who claims it works received a non-DRM eBook (which is rare).
The fact is, Amazon is intentionally proprietary, and B&N is simply using something not everyone supports yet, but Adobe isn’t exactly the worst company to use for eBooks. Remember, it works with Digital Editions, and if most (if not all) of the library’s eBooks use Adobe DRM that nook can read, then maybe the OTHER readers should start switching to Adobe DRM.
So maybe your title should be “Join the Adobe DRM Train to a Universal eBook World”.
TheZen you make soneibteresting points here but how is my statement about the iPad “completely faulty? Regardless of how it came to be… On may iPad can do iBook, kindle books, bn book and more. That’s a fact. Try that on the other devices.