The End of an E-Era: Sayonara Barnes and Noble
[This is just a rant. Skip it if you want. The tl;dr version: DRM sucks.]
(NOTE: If the author of the book in question below happens to read this and recognizes herself, I beg her please not to "out" herself by commenting! She is fabulous. I just have an allergy to DRM.)
Well... I should have seen this coming in mid-2014, but I guess I didn't. Barnes and Noble has just permanently lost my future e-business. Why? Their DRM folly.
I don't like DRM one bit (but I don't want to go into the whole controversy here). Let's just say, for some reason, I "need" to buy and read a book encumbered with DRM. "Need?" Sure! For example, if I know the author and want to support her fabulous work by purchasing her book, but the publisher thinks DRM is a good idea, I might end up buying a book with DRM. Under most other circumstances, like if I don't know the author personally, I would just read something else and not bother with a DRMed book at all.
It used to be that I could buy a book from B&N and if it had DRM, the well-known Apprentice Alf tools would allow me to save a copy without the DRM so I could go read it on the device of my choosing. OK, that's probably illegal in some jurisdictions, but I own neither a Nook nor a Kindle. I installed an N2A card to convert my former Nook into an Android tablet which is more flexible. I usually read on another Android tablet. Yeah, yeah, I could use the lame Nook app and read it, but I don't like the Nook app; it's terrible. I like Mantano Reader app because it works beautifully and I can take notes which can then be exported beautifully in HTML. I don't think I've read a book in the last 3 years in which I didn't take at least a few notes. Sometimes I've found over a hundred typos in published material; and when I find 100 typos I either (a) quit reading the book because it's too much work, or if I want to keep reading, then I will definitely (b) hand the author a list of all the typos so they can fix the file for the next customer.
But Barnes and Noble changed the way they do DRM back in 2014, and I guess I've never bought a DRMed book from them since before that change. After spending a couple of hours today with Google and some futzing in Calibre to find the right combination of whatever new method B&N are using for their DRM keys, I failed to get the book open.
And thus, B&N obtained today the last two bucks they will ever get from me for an e-book.
Tonight I just bought the same e-book twice. Once from B&N. And once from Amazon. Guess which one I'm going to start reading on my Android tablet without using either the Nook or Kindle apps?
When I buy a paper book in a store, it doesn't come with a contract (or a leash) that restricts me from reading it while lying on my own couch at home. Especially not by chaining me to an uncomfortable, vendor-approved stool in their lobby.
When I buy an e-book, I'll be gosh-darned if the seller should be able to tell me what device I can read it on. I'm not pirating the book, I just want to read what I paid to read. And I'm no longer willing to use an inferior device or software just so I can read a two-dollar book.
(NOTE: If the author of the book in question below happens to read this and recognizes herself, I beg her please not to "out" herself by commenting! She is fabulous. I just have an allergy to DRM.)
Well... I should have seen this coming in mid-2014, but I guess I didn't. Barnes and Noble has just permanently lost my future e-business. Why? Their DRM folly.
I don't like DRM one bit (but I don't want to go into the whole controversy here). Let's just say, for some reason, I "need" to buy and read a book encumbered with DRM. "Need?" Sure! For example, if I know the author and want to support her fabulous work by purchasing her book, but the publisher thinks DRM is a good idea, I might end up buying a book with DRM. Under most other circumstances, like if I don't know the author personally, I would just read something else and not bother with a DRMed book at all.
It used to be that I could buy a book from B&N and if it had DRM, the well-known Apprentice Alf tools would allow me to save a copy without the DRM so I could go read it on the device of my choosing. OK, that's probably illegal in some jurisdictions, but I own neither a Nook nor a Kindle. I installed an N2A card to convert my former Nook into an Android tablet which is more flexible. I usually read on another Android tablet. Yeah, yeah, I could use the lame Nook app and read it, but I don't like the Nook app; it's terrible. I like Mantano Reader app because it works beautifully and I can take notes which can then be exported beautifully in HTML. I don't think I've read a book in the last 3 years in which I didn't take at least a few notes. Sometimes I've found over a hundred typos in published material; and when I find 100 typos I either (a) quit reading the book because it's too much work, or if I want to keep reading, then I will definitely (b) hand the author a list of all the typos so they can fix the file for the next customer.
But Barnes and Noble changed the way they do DRM back in 2014, and I guess I've never bought a DRMed book from them since before that change. After spending a couple of hours today with Google and some futzing in Calibre to find the right combination of whatever new method B&N are using for their DRM keys, I failed to get the book open.
And thus, B&N obtained today the last two bucks they will ever get from me for an e-book.
Tonight I just bought the same e-book twice. Once from B&N. And once from Amazon. Guess which one I'm going to start reading on my Android tablet without using either the Nook or Kindle apps?
When I buy a paper book in a store, it doesn't come with a contract (or a leash) that restricts me from reading it while lying on my own couch at home. Especially not by chaining me to an uncomfortable, vendor-approved stool in their lobby.
When I buy an e-book, I'll be gosh-darned if the seller should be able to tell me what device I can read it on. I'm not pirating the book, I just want to read what I paid to read. And I'm no longer willing to use an inferior device or software just so I can read a two-dollar book.
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@PJ: Mantano reader knows about Adobe DRM, so you can set that up.To flog a dead horse: DRM sucks. Even on wasteful one-serving coffee makers: http://www.theverge.com/2015/2/5/7986...
I figured as much, but generally avoid the need (for both DRM-books and prepackaged pod coffee. I'm a whole pot kind of girl.
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If you're referring to the book that I think you are, the DRM was also required for the galley read, probably because there was an expiration date for access. I'm assuming it's the publisher's choice or any circumstance where tracking reads and access is important. (Or thought to be important.)
But wait ... side-track: are you saying that you can convert your restricted-to-Kindle titles to read with the Mantano ereader?? I've not been able to do that for a lot of titles purchased through them. I wonder if Mantano has a setting for entering your Adobe ID somewhere that allows you to read books with it that you've purchased / borrowed? Or has the Amazon equivalent??
In any case, I certainly sympathize with you. But I'll leave my B & N account open for same reasons I begrudgingly opened a Kindle one, though they are last resort places to look for books. I only consider buying from either if I can't find titles through sources that seem less monopolizing or heavy-handed with restrictions on how a reader should read or where an author can publish. After all, when sources of reading are closed off, an angel cries somewhere. Or something. :-) I'll just throw my Adobe ID in the settings all the ereaders that have a space for it, but I'll mutter along with you as I do.