Readers Against DRM

I’ve really been enjoying my Kindle. I’ve even bought some e-books from Amazon instead of only reading books I could find DRM-free copies of. The little, niggling reminder in the back of my mind that the device and the e-books I was supporting were more restricted than the paper books I could buy on the shelf never went away, but I was able to justify my ignoring it with the pros of the device and formats themselves.

Then a friend of mine wrote a piece titled “Almost, Amazon” about why he couldn’t bring himself to buy a Kindle despite all the enjoyment he’d get out of it, and it made me feel guilty. We show businesses what we want by how we spend our dollars, and here I was part of the problem.

My wife, on the other hand, doesn’t see much of a problem. Sure, she’d prefer that digital books and e-book readers not have anything to do with DRM, but the DRM model is one that doesn’t negatively impact her. So she can’t donate a finished book to the library or sell it to the used book store for a couple dollars; she’s still saving money up front and getting all the e-book benefits that paper books don’t have. The pros vastly outweigh the cons. Also, she reminds me, as e-book sales increase, publishers should be able to stop worrying about digital books (legitimate and pirated) eating away at their traditional sales, and instead take such confidence in their future involving digital books that they needn’t cling to DRM. I understand that DRM is helping give publishers the confidence they need in digital publishing’s infancy, but once it’s learned to walk they should be able to stop holding its hand and let it run. I can still remember the frustrating days when it looked like there was no hope for the music industry, and now DRM’d music is a thing of the past.

But I worry about what could happen if e-books never escape from DRM the way digital music did. DRM for ebooks isn’t terribly restrictive in its current state, but the ability is there for publishers to start getting crazy without a moment’s notice. Just weeks ago Harper Collins declared their intent to start using DRM not just to prevent piracy, but to increase revenue from libraries (and one can infer they hope to make libraries less able to be useful as well). In addition to writing “Almost, Amazon”, my friend also shared a link with me that paints an even grimmer possible future; one not nearly as far-fetched as you may think.

However, I shared this and other “worse case scenarios” with my wife, and again she’s not too concerned. Even if every person in a family needed their own Kindle and their own copy of an e-book in order to read it (as opposed to sharing one copy within the family across multiple Kindles as we currently do) she says the pros of e-book outweigh such cons (her enthusiasm for e-books is impressive).

I understand my wife’s perspective, and I certainly agree with her on the benefits of e-books in general. But I’d really like to help increase the chances that once the dust has settled in this messy birth of e-books we’ll see them left with the same easy-to-share/sell/give/use abilities that paper books have. So I need to write letters to publishers, authors, and e-book DRM providers like Amazon and Adobe. I need to educate my e-book loving acquaintances on how much better it could be without DRM, and how much worse it could be if we never get rid of it, in hopes that they’ll too work to encourage publishers and sellers to end DRM. The Readers’ Bill of Rights for Digital Books sums our demands up nicely, and the website and community its creators have developed around it is bound to be a valuable tool in the fight against e-book DRM.

I have to hope that some day a big player like Amazon will convince publishers to give up DRM and convert all existing and new e-books to open, DRM-free copies, liberating those of us who spent our money on the shackled content of today and giving everyone else sound, reliable, open access to one of the greatest technological advances of our time. If not, I hope we’ll still have paper books around in case publishers decide to use DRM to turn e-books against us.

Kindle vs. Google eBooks

Google has released its eBooks store. While the marketing is convincing and inspiring and its selection and prices appear to be on-par with Amazon, its biggest selling point is flawed and its improvements over Amazon are in fact (so far) singular.

Google’s marketing its eBook store as the best way to access your digital book collection from across a wide range of connected devices. While they’re doing a better job advertising this function than Amazon, they’ve barely done a better job of implementing it.  They’ve added a slick web-based eBook reader (no need to install Kindle software on your Windows PC or Mac, or wrestle with WINE to get it working on Linux), but your progress on a given book in the web reader or an iOS/Android device doesn’t carry over to or from your reading of that book on a supported eInk device (such as the Nook or Sony Reader).  Google really touts this ability to pull out your phone in-line at the DMV and pick up where you left off in your book from when you were at home… but they leave it to the fine print to explain that you can’t have this if you’re using an eInk device anywhere in the mix.  Amazon doesn’t have this problem.  Read a book on your Kindle, iPhone, PC… you can pick up where you left off no matter what (the only catch being that the book was purchased and not side-loaded from a DRM-free source).

Amazon could (and should) copy Google’s eBook web reader. I expect they will eventually.  Google can’t copy Kindle’s progress syncing on ePub devices like Nook or Sony Reader unless those manufacturers allow them to publish an app for those devices that ties them into the Google eBook store (which is very unlikely).

Amazon’s continued refusal to add ePub support to the Kindle still disappoints me, but they HAVE created apps for a wide range of platforms (iOS, BlackBerry, Android, Windows/Mac) and they’ve made all of their features sync across those platforms.  The only downside to no ePub support is that I mostly have to buy from Amazon. But their competitive prices and unparalleled selection make this a non-issue.  The only Google eBooks feature I covet as a Kindle owner is the web-based eBook reader, and I expect Amazon to copy it in the near future.

The Google eBook Store doesn’t make me regret owning a Kindle. But if I were a Nook or Sony Ereader owner, I’d definitely consider buying my books from the Google eBook store from now on.

 

Some Thoughts on the 3rd Gen Kindle

Now that Amazon’s released its first new generation of Kindle devices since the iPad, a lot of people are criticizing the device for its lack of color and touch screen.  I too was a little underwhelmed, until I learned a little more about the improvements (or refinements) Amazon’s made:

• smaller size body but same size screen with higher contrast
• a Wi-Fi version that’s $50 cheaper than the 3G version
• a new open source browser based on WebKit (just like Chrome, iPad, etc), which includes a button to remove content surrounding articles (like the Readability bookmarklet)  (I have a cell phone for browsing the web on the go. The web browser on my ebook reader should be for locating sites that I can then strip down to just the content and enjoy.)

When I showed the knew Kindle to a co-worker, he dismissed it as soon as he learned it didn’t have a touch screen.  I explained how a touch screen decreases the visibility of non-backlit screens, but he then just added the complaint that it’s not backlit. I showed him this quote from Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos, but he wasn’t as impressed as I was:

“There will never be a Kindle with a touch screen that inhibits reading. It has to be done in a different way. It can’t be a me-too touch screen.” [emphasis mine]

I was also happy to see I’m not alone in appreciating Amazon’s commitment to a simple, quiet, e-reading device.  A commenter on a BoingBoing article on the new device said:

I’m glad to see that Amazon’s not trying to bloat the device with silly features like touch screen and color in a misguided attempt to compete with the iPad–instead, they’re improving its base functions, and lowering the price. They know their product and their market.

The Kindle is a specialized device for comfortably reading [digital] books without eyestrain brought on by backlighting and glare. In that limited scope, it excels, and far surpasses the iPad and other devices that use non-eInk screens.

The biggest (dare I say, only) problem I have with the new Kindle is that is still only accepts Amazon’s DRM. Adding the ability to buy from other e-book sellers (which would simply mean accepting the e-Pub standard) would be a huge step towards eliminating DRM altogether. Amazon has fallen far from the days when we applauded them for championing the DRM free music transition. I still hope they’ll be the ones to bring us DRM-free e-books, but this proprietary “nobody else plays on our device” garbage isn’t any less repulsive then when Apple does it.

So yeah, e-books are still heading somewhere and the value of e-ink hasn’t been swallowed up by flashy LCD tablets like the iPad and Archos. Hooray! But DRM (and even limited e-book availability from some backwards publishers and authors) is still forcing me to stick with buying and borrowing paper books for now.

I’ve Seen Very Few Episodes of The Twilight Zone

I was searching for an image of a broken Kindle to add to this post when I found this comic, which lead me to read about this The Twilight Zone episode, which lead me to wish I had seen more of the show. Now if only Netflix could stream The Twilight Zone episodes instead of forcing me to devote an entire out-at-a-time DVD slot.

My Sony PRS-505 eBook Reader Review

(Photo used with permission of Flickr user danielhermes.)

I’ve had my Sony PRS-505 Reader Digital Book for a week now, and feel like I’m qualified to share some thoughts on it.

I COULD Be LESS Of A Bibliophile

It’s no secret I’m a big fan of ebooks, digital publishing, and electronic paper (E Ink) technology. My friend Nathan makes it no secret that he’s not a fan of these things (at least not as a direct alternative to real, paper books). It took me a little while, but I’ve come to understand and respect his appreciation for the heft of the book, the feel of the paper, and the turn of the page (not the smell though; sorry Nathan).  But I still think that for me at least, the benefits (and overall gadgety coolness) of ereaders outweigh for whatever experience enhancers come along with physical books (although I still see how ereader price can be a valid roadblock,and this isn’t to mention DRM which deserves and angry post all of its own).

And now I’ve actually bought an electronic paper device (a Sony PRS-505 to be exact) and I’m excited about continuing my love for science fiction as well as really starting to dig in to the classics. It took me a long time to decide what device was right for me (as well as to find a deal that would allow me to lower the high purchase prices).  I did most of my researching, pining, and venting at a wonderful community site called MobileRead.

And it was at MobileReads that I encountered a few people with a much higher tolerance for reading from a computer screen for hours than I have.  I once read an entire novel on my cell phone, and I’ve been known to spend a little down time at work catching up on an ebook already in progress on my computer monitor. But I’ve always wished I could be reading from a book or epaper device at these times.  There are people out there who haven’t picked up a paper book in years AND think the idea of epaper is ridiculous. They read books on their laptops or their iPhones or their netbooks for hours at a time, and never desire something a little less buzzing, visually nosy, or easier on the eyes.  I don’t mean to mock them here, for as long as they’re happy with the medium and enjoying the story, they’re doing something better than the legions of people in today’s world who simply have no desire to read. But the next time I feel a little like I’ve abandoned the purity of literature by shunning the simple pleasure of turning some pages, I’ll remember these digital warriors who are even less picky about how their words are delivered to their eyes than I am.

Only 53% of Publishers Have Ebook Plans

I was shocked to read that of 158 pulbishers at the London Book Fair, only 84 of them had any plans for publishing their content as ebooks. It would be nice to see a list of the publishers surveyed and see how many of these were big publishers or obscure ones.  Not good news at all.

Mobipocket – My 1st eBook Purchase Experience

Last Friday I ordered my first eBook. At work with a crashed hard drive and nothing to do, I decided to use my Palm Centro smart phone to buy an eBook edition of the novel I’m reading. I chose Mobipocket.com because

• It was the first store that came to mind
• It allows you to keep and read the book on as many devices as you want (PC, Palm, etc.)
• Assuming you have an Internet connection, it lets you buy and download books all from your mobile device (unlike many eBook stores that require you to buy the book on a PC and transfer it to your Palm device from there)

Downloading the free software to my phone was fast and easy, as was buying the $10 eBook and downloading that to my phone as well. It took less than two minutes to go from deciding to get an eBook to actually reading it.

My phone’s screen is big enough and the font clear enough (after I changed to white text on a dark blue background) to make for a reasonably pleasant reading experience. The Mobireader software is easy to use, and actually offers some good features (although I wish it gave you the ability to look up selected words on a free website like Dictionary.com instead of requiring you to buy a dictionary eBook separately).

Unfortunately, it would appear that eBooks aren’t inspected as well as their physical counterparts. After a few hours of reading, I noticed a page was missing. There’s no direct way to contact support at the Mobipocket website; instead of an email link or even a phone number, users are simply presented with a message board forum. I greatly prefer contacting support directly, but this strange support system is all Mobipocket offers. I posted my notification of the missing page Friday morning and received a response this (Tuesday) morning. The response said that the missing page was confirmed, the publisher had been contacted to request a corrected eBook, and that if I don’t hear back from Mobipocket or the book’s publisher in 5 days then I should respond to initiate a refund.

I have to admit that this complication has somewhat curbed my enthusiasm for buying eBooks. I was excited about how easy and fast things had been until I noticed the inferiority of the product I had purchased. If you can’t trust a book medium’s fidelity (“is this eBook corrupted or was that just a weird way to end the chapter?”) it’s hard to spend money on it.

Still, the Mobipocket format does seem to be ok for something crippled by DRM. The reader format can be used on a wide range of mobile devices (even the Kindle), although it’s foolishly not available for Mac or Linux systems. If you don’t mind the DRM (which essentially means you can’t convert your eBook to any format other than the Mobipocket format it comes in), and aren’t afraid of a strange, slow customer support system, you could do worse than Mobipocket. Assuming I can get a refund if the publisher doesn’t quickly provide a corrected copy, I’m likely to buy from Mobipocket again.

eBooks Without E Paper

Update: Adding a bullet list for clarity.
For reading books on a computer screen, I recommend:

• yBook (software)
• Constantia (font)
• Blue background with white text (color settings)

/ End Update

I started reading Rainbows End by Vernor Vinge this weekend. Not only did I check out a copy from the local public library, but I was lucky enough to notice a link to a free (and probably unauthorized) full text copy of the book as well. The last (and first) Vernor Vinge book I read, A Fire Upon the Deep, also had a full text copy to be found in a dark corner of the Internet. I read the paper book at home, and occasionally made further progress using my electronic copy at work while I’d wait for reports to generate or queries to return results.

But reading electronic copies of books without one of those nifty E Paper readers like the Amazon Kindle can be less than pleasant. For A Fire Upon the Deep, I opened the text in Microsoft Word, enabled the blue-background/white-text option, and switched to Reading Layout View. It wasn’t as nice as a real book, but it was a great way to pass the time until my speakers chimed to tell me my work was ready for me again.

Now that I’m reading another book with an electronic copy available to supplement my paper copy, I wanted to try to improve things a bit. First of all, I knew there had to be something better to use than Microsoft Word, and I found it in the free program yBook. It gives me to two facing pages like Word’s reading layout did, but being designed soley for on-line reading, it makes all the available settings more accessible and focused. I changed from the default settings to get a dark background with white text, as well as a larger font size to compensate for my high screen resolution.

I also searched for and found a great font for reading lots of text on a computer screen. Constantia was released as one of the new fonts bundled with Windows Vista, but there are at least two free Microsoft products that can be downloaded to get the font legally on Windows XP. I appreciate a good font, but I’m no typography expert, so I won’t even try to describe why I’m so fond of Constantia for reading books on a computer screen. I will say that you should give it a try if you have large amounts of text to be read electronically anyway.

I know sitting at a computer desk and staring at text on a screen is not the optimal way to be reading a book (although those who still can’t imagine it being anything but painful, it’s notable that white Constantia text on dark blue in yBook makes text so easy on the eyes that what’s painful is the switch back to default colors and fonts of other programs like Outlook). But when I’m in the middle of a great novel, and have stretches of time where I can’t be doing anything productive anyway but still need to look like I might be being productive, the lure of continuing my reading on a computer screen is hard to resist.