Starting next Wednesday, February 26th, Amazon isn’t going to let users download the ebooks they’ve purchased, forcing users to keep everything within the corporation’s proprietary ecosystem.…
  • flop_leash_973@lemmy.worldEnglish
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    1 day ago

    Sounds to me like Amazon is reducing the value proposition of their product. For me, additional roadblocks to being able to enjoy something they way I want when I have paid for it reduces the value of the product itself.

    For example, if a DRM free book in an standards compatible format costs $20, then the DRM version I can still download for offline viewing is worth $10. The DRM version I can’t download is now worth more like $1-$5 depending on how badly I would want to read it while still supporting the author.

    And yes, ebooks from the major sellers aren’t worth much to me and I rarely rent (because you’re not really buying) them.

  • archomrade [he/him]@midwest.socialEnglish
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    1 day ago

    As someone who likes to have a fallback way of purchasing digital content that I can remove DRM from, this annoys me.

    I can still purchase mp3 and flac files from various online retailers, and I can rip bluray for my movies and tv shows, but now I need a new place to purchase ebooks that are downloadable. Anyone have any recommendations? The first few independent retailers i’ve found seem to require their own apps.

  • GooberEar@lemmy.wtfEnglish
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    2 days ago

    Here’s my purely capitalistic problem with Amazon:

    A decade+ ago, I realized that major brands were using the site as their outlet store. I’d buy a pack of socks, and they’d be hideously deformed. I’d buy a few pants for work, one pair would be too small, one too large, and one would fit just right. I’m not fucking Goldilocks.

    The final straw for me was when my coffee maker broke. I ordered a new one via same day shipping, which at the time had a minimum order of something like $50. The coffee maker did not cost quite enough, so I added something random to the order so that my same day shipping would be free. Ultimately, the coffee maker arrived late (i.e. not the same day) and the decanter was broken.

    When I contacted Amazon about the issue, the agent said they could reship, but they wouldn’t send it same day so for that specific item it was going to take 3 - 5 days to arrive. They also tried to hassle me with a straight up return, telling me I had to take it to a UPS store, which at the time was 30+ minutes away.

    Ultimately, I pulled a Karen and told them to cancel my Amazon Prime, which they did. Only problem is, I was 2 or 3 months into the year long subscription and assumed I’d get a pro-rated refund. I did not. When I got back in touch with customer service, they told me that Amazon adds up the value of the “free” shipping I received, the rental value of the movies and shows I watched on Prime, and the value of all the other services included with Prime and if that total exceeds the remaining value of the Prime subscription, then no refund.

    They basically stole almost a year of Prime from me with no recourse.

    Scum company. I got a lot of hate for saying this back in those days. But at least now, a decade+ later, people are finally starting to wake up. Not everyone, obviously. But at least I don’t get hateful responses and DMs quite as much as I used to.

    • archomrade [he/him]@midwest.socialEnglish
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      1 day ago

      It’s been a while since I’ve heard about libgen and aa - and actually i’m not sure how they operate with direct downloads of copyrighted material? I find my ebooks through more conventional p2p means, but i’ve always just assumed that was necessary to avoid sudden takedowns

  • Captain Aggravated@sh.itjust.worksEnglish
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    2 days ago

    I pulled down the eight Kindle books I actually bought, about half of the books in my Kindle library are public domain, stuff like old Sherlock Holmes novels, some FAA handbooks, etc.

    Next I guess is Audible. Over the years Audible has offered a lot of free trials with a complimentary audiobook several times, and I’ve amassed a bit of a collection. Including the edition of The Martian narrated by R.C. Bray you can’t get anymore. Those I’d like in mp3 format if I can get it.

  • pr06lefs@lemmy.mlEnglish
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    2 days ago

    Unaffected since I’ve never participated in the Kindle ecosystem. I’ve been gifted a few Kindles but never was on board with that walled garden. Fuck Amazon.

    • kava@lemmy.worldEnglish
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      2 days ago

      Up until fairly recently, you could just drag and drop files onto the Kindle with a usb. I’ve had my first generation Kindle for almost 15 years now and it still works. Just download an .epub file, convert it to .mobi with Calibre, and drag and drop it over to the Kindle.

      I have a newer one too, that I got a couple of years ago as a gift.

      The trick is just disable the wifi and never let it communicate with Amazon servers. They will mess with your settings and push secret updates that remove features. For example, it could “sync” your books with your Amazon account if you naively log into your Amazon account and that literally results in you not being able to remove items from your Kindle without logging into your Amazon account on your computer and going through a million menus. It won’t let you do it from the Kindle, even if you’re offline.

      But if you just never let it connect it to the internet at all, you’re fine.

      Although the new Kindles now require a special Amazon software to copy files over (because of “convenience”) and it won’t communicate with the usual protocol so you can’t drag and drop like you could for the last 15 years.

      So yeah, don’t buy a Kindle. at least not a new one.

      • Drewski@lemmy.sdf.orgEnglish
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        2 days ago

        Which generation of kindles requires Amazon software for USB transfer? I’ve always put mine in airplane mode and just used Calibre. I don’t want to buy a newer one that doesn’t work without special software.

        • kava@lemmy.worldEnglish
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          2 days ago

          I’m not sure where exactly they made the switch. Basically, I got my girlfriend one a year and a half ago and it did not need the software. I explained to her to turn off the wifi and just download books and drag and drop.

          But then around Christmastime last year my girlfriend’s cousin wanted an ebook ready so we bought her a Kindle and I gave the same advice. But she couldn’t figure out how to drag and drop, so she brought it over. I was fussing around thinking something was wrong with my USB cable but then I realized it required that special software.

          So the switch happened at some point in the last ~18 months or so my memory’s a bit hazy

          Amazon just couldn’t let it be. There’s a certain set of people that just aren’t going to opt into all the bullshit. These people just want a plain and simple ebook ready to host their ebooks. They think if they force the special software they’ll be able to do things like sign into your Kindle and change your settings by force.

          But what happens? Instead of gaining those people like me or you into their ecosystem, they’re just gonna lose future hardware customers. I would have been perfectly fine buying Kindles for the rest of my life if they had just kept that feature.

          I’m sure it’s going to be reversed engineered at some point but it’s absurd. I don’t understand the short-sighted greed.

  • Geodad@lemm.eeEnglish
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    2 days ago

    I borrow them from my library through the Libby and Hoopla apps. If I want to support the author, I’ll buy a copy through some other means. Directly from them, if possible.

  • Macaroni_ninja@lemmy.worldEnglish
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    2 days ago

    I think with applications, like Calibre its relatively painless to save the whole library, if someone is ready to jump ship. Now its the perfect time.

    I personally use a Kobo without the online features, which is fantastic, but there are many great Kindle alternatives without the corporate spyware bullshit.

    • techforwhat@lemmy.todayEnglish
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      2 days ago

      I’m planning on buying a pocketbook soon!!! I’ve been trying to get a sense of what the PocketBook interface is like on the device but haven’t found anything online. You don’t have a picture of the home / library page do you? Also, can you disable discover / suggestions on the PocketBook?

      • Kecessa@sh.itjust.worksEnglish
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        2 days ago

        The UI is super simple, it’s based on Linux so it’s much closer to using a tablet computer, you access your books via folders

        Default UI

        Library is a file Explorer

        UI without recommendations (I never bothered turning it off because I’m never on the front page)