libraries and kindles

[Sharyn]

I just read in my local newspaper that our county library will soon be having a variety of digital media downloads available for patrons, such as music, movies, audiobooks, and ebooks. I went to the service providers webpage to check supported devices. The sony ebook readers were compatible, but kindle was not. Has anyone out there been able to find a hack or a way to get ebooks from the library?

[stormhawk]

There are a bunch of different document converters out there ... what format does your library use?

I would also consider making a written request to your library for Kindle format. Although, it may be that the Kindle format is not available because they can't make the content "expire" like the others.

[Regina]

I have heard that if you download Calibre you can do a conversion on your computer. Check out the Kindle forums on Amazon and do a search for Calibre, you will find instructions.

[Sharyn]

Thanks for the tips. I'll have my techie husband check it out!

[Ralph Gallagher]

Libraries generally use an encrypted PDF file that allows them to remove the file after so many days. Since the Kindle doesn't allow any encrypted file, except Amazon's .AZW files, you can't put these on the Kindle. The Kindle's PDF reader is very basic even with an unencrypted file.

In order for libraries to lend for the Kindle, Amazon would either have to come up with a way to make them read encrypted PDFs or design a file for libraries to use that will work with their Kindles.

You also won't be able to convert library files because of their encryption. (Well, you can, but it's hard unless you're tech savvy. And it's also illegal.)

[Sharyn]

Drats!

[Connie]

Actually, libraries use drm - digital rights management. My library offers, epub, pdf & mobi pocket. Kindle does support Mobi Pocket, however, you need a number off of your Kindle in order to set up your reader to accept DRM files from places other than Amazon. Unfortunately, Amazon refuses to give Kindle owners this number. If you go on the Amazon site and go to the Kindle discussion group they do have discussions about how to get this number. However, in your Kindle agreement when you purchased the Kindle they can basically turn your Kindle off so it becomes unusable if they see you are doing something like illegally downloading ebooks for free or file sharing. I don't know if they consider downloading this software to fall within that realm. I had started to download the software, but I didn't know this company, and it wasn't really user friendly on how to do it so I ended up taking it off of my computer. Plus I didn't want Amazon to render my Kindle useless.

Instead of upgrading to a Kindle 2 I purchased a Sony Pocket Reader to borrow books from my library. Unless Amazon adds this feature to future Kindles, I doubt I'll upgrad to another Kindle.