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Amazon Kindle |
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#1 |
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Forum Member
Join Date: Nov 2005
Location: workington, cumbria
Posts: 3,383
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Amazon Kindle
I'm considering buying a kindle ebook and just need a bit of advice. Once you've paid to download the ebook you want, is it your's to keep ?
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#2 |
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Forum Member
Join Date: Jan 2004
Posts: 3,686
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You can more or less keep it but you can't do what you want with it. You're not really buying a book; you're buying a license. As with all digital 'products' the item for sale is actually 'copyright'.
Here's Cory Doctorow sounding off about it: http://www.boingboing.net/2010/01/12...-cant-kee.html |
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#3 |
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Join Date: Aug 2005
Location: Scotlandshire
Posts: 786
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True, but then it's the same with practically anything these days - films, computer games, books. You're paying for permission to watch/read/play the product - you don't own it outright.
The difference is of course, with a DVD/game/book you can resell it on eBay or the likes, with an eBook you can't. That said, the advantages of eBooks far outweigh the negatives in my opinion. Once you get over the hangup that you're not getting a physical item for your money, you'll be sold. If you're the type of person that lends a lot of books, either to/from friends, or from a library, an ereader is maybe not the way to go, but if you just generally read books without passing them on, get a kindle. |
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#4 |
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Forum Member
Join Date: Jan 2004
Posts: 3,686
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Yes, re digital works you're buying easy-to-make copies, so the value isn't in the thing materially, it's a digital wrapper for various 'rights'.
I jumped in here as I'm also thinking about getting an ebook reader but I'm concerned about both format restrictions and rights restrictions. For example I have some books & comics in these formats: .html .djvu .lit .cbr .cbz Are they viewable on a kindle or any given ebook reader? I'm beginning to think there might be more flexibility with a netbook or a tablet pc. |
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#5 |
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Forum Member
Join Date: Nov 2004
Location: London
Posts: 8,651
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Quote:
Yes, re digital works you're buying easy-to-make copies, so the value isn't in the thing materially, it's a digital wrapper for various 'rights'.
I jumped in here as I'm also thinking about getting an ebook reader but I'm concerned about both format restrictions and rights restrictions. For example I have some books & comics in these formats: .html .djvu .lit .cbr .cbz Are they viewable on a kindle or any given ebook reader? I'm beginning to think there might be more flexibility with a netbook or a tablet pc. Kindle is a lot easier on the eyes than any backlit computer screen and it weighs lot less that any netbook/tablet. |
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#6 |
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Forum Member
Join Date: May 2003
Location: The Green Hills of Earth
Posts: 80,438
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I read of a case where Amazon sold Kindles with e-books that they hadn't cleared the rights to. When it was brought to their attention they just deleted the titles from the hardware of those who had bought them.
If they had been proper books then purchasers would have gotten to keep them. The books in question were Orwell's 1984 & Animal Farm. http://www.nytimes.com/2009/07/18/te.../18amazon.html |
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#7 |
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Forum Member
Join Date: Nov 2004
Location: London
Posts: 8,651
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Quote:
I read of a case where Amazon sold Kindles with e-books that they hadn't cleared the rights to. When it was brought to their attention they just deleted the titles from the hardware of those who had bought them.
If they had been proper books then purchasers would have gotten to keep them. The books in question were Orwell's 1984 & Animal Farm. http://www.nytimes.com/2009/07/18/te.../18amazon.html Books from Project Gutenberg and similar places are yours to keep, no one can delete them but you. |
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#8 |
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Forum Member
Join Date: Jan 2004
Posts: 3,686
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That's sort of what I was hinting at earlier. There are plenty of out of print books and my library mostly consists of those, that's part of my concern about format compatibility.
I found this software which claims to convert most formats, & I'm sure others are available: http://calibre-ebook.com/ |
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#9 |
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Forum Member
Join Date: Nov 2004
Location: London
Posts: 8,651
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Quote:
That's sort of what I was hinting at earlier. There are plenty of out of print books and my library mostly consists of those, that's part of my concern about format compatibility.
I found this software which claims to convert most formats, & I'm sure others are available: http://calibre-ebook.com/ |
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#10 |
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Forum Member
Join Date: Jan 2010
Posts: 169
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My kindle3 reads pdf's. Its not brilliant but if you already have stuff in that format then its hasstle free to plonk them on the kindle.
As regards other formats there are plently of convertors out there. Calibre for instance, just do a search for 'html mobi' and google will give you some ideas. |
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#11 |
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Forum Member
Join Date: Jun 2003
Posts: 14,990
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Quote:
I read of a case where Amazon sold Kindles with e-books that they hadn't cleared the rights to. When it was brought to their attention they just deleted the titles from the hardware of those who had bought them.
If they had been proper books then purchasers would have gotten to keep them. The books in question were Orwell's 1984 & Animal Farm. http://www.nytimes.com/2009/07/18/te.../18amazon.html Quote:
That's sort of what I was hinting at earlier. There are plenty of out of print books and my library mostly consists of those, that's part of my concern about format compatibility.
I found this software which claims to convert most formats, & I'm sure others are available: http://calibre-ebook.com/ |
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#12 |
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Forum Member
Join Date: Nov 2005
Location: workington, cumbria
Posts: 3,383
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Thanks for all the replies.What I meant basically was once I've bought it can I keep it on my kindle for as long as I want? I know I don't own the copyright but that I can download it onto my pc if I want.
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#13 |
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Forum Member
Join Date: Jan 2007
Location: London
Posts: 219
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Yes, you can keep it on your Kindle as long as you want to. In fact you can read your books on multiple Kindles or Kindle apps at the same time (e.g. Kindle for PC, the iPhone app and so on). You can even delete a book from your Kindle and download it again later, as your books are backed up in your Kindle account page, and you can easily see what you've got from there.
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#14 |
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Forum Member
Join Date: May 2006
Posts: 25,199
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Quote:
Yes, re digital works you're buying easy-to-make copies, so the value isn't in the thing materially, it's a digital wrapper for various 'rights'.
I jumped in here as I'm also thinking about getting an ebook reader but I'm concerned about both format restrictions and rights restrictions. For example I have some books & comics in these formats: .html .djvu .lit .cbr .cbz Are they viewable on a kindle or any given ebook reader? I'm beginning to think there might be more flexibility with a netbook or a tablet pc. |
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#15 |
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Forum Member
Join Date: Nov 2005
Location: workington, cumbria
Posts: 3,383
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Quote:
Yes, you can keep it on your Kindle as long as you want to. In fact you can read your books on multiple Kindles or Kindle apps at the same time (e.g. Kindle for PC, the iPhone app and so on). You can even delete a book from your Kindle and download it again later, as your books are backed up in your Kindle account page, and you can easily see what you've got from there.
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#16 |
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Forum Member
Join Date: Jul 2005
Posts: 1,858
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Hope someone can help. My other half gave me a Kindle for my birthday and pre-loaded it with some books that I wanted and a newspaper subscription. To do this he had the Kindle registered on his Amazon account. Does anyone know, if I deregister it from his account and register it to mine, will the books and the subscription be deleted? I can't find the answer to this on Amazon. Thanks!
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#17 |
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Forum Member
Join Date: Nov 2001
Location: Northumberland
Posts: 4,536
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Quote:
Hope someone can help. My other half gave me a Kindle for my birthday and pre-loaded it with some books that I wanted and a newspaper subscription. To do this he had the Kindle registered on his Amazon account. Does anyone know, if I deregister it from his account and register it to mine, will the books and the subscription be deleted? I can't find the answer to this on Amazon. Thanks!
This must be a fairly common occurrence when the Kindle is bought as a gift. Of course if you want to be absolutely certain, email Amazon.
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#18 |
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Forum Member
Join Date: Jul 2010
Posts: 489
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Books etc online bookselers
I was just wondering if anyone has had dealings with people.
I have ordered two books over the last few months, and neither have arrived. the really bad part though is getting your money refunded- they rarely reply to e mails , and take about 3 weeks to repay you. Needless to say they take your money immediately. |
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#19 |
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Forum Member
Join Date: Jul 2010
Posts: 489
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oops sorry - should have been a new thread
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#20 |
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Guest
Join Date: Sep 2007
Posts: 10,767
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Quote:
The books were bought specifically for display on that particular machine so I'd be very surprised if they didn't move over to the new account.
This must be a fairly common occurrence when the Kindle is bought as a gift. Of course if you want to be absolutely certain, email Amazon. ![]() |
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#21 |
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Guest
Join Date: Sep 2007
Posts: 10,767
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Quote:
Hope someone can help. My other half gave me a Kindle for my birthday and pre-loaded it with some books that I wanted and a newspaper subscription. To do this he had the Kindle registered on his Amazon account. Does anyone know, if I deregister it from his account and register it to mine, will the books and the subscription be deleted? I can't find the answer to this on Amazon. Thanks!
it says about deregistering an account... Quote:
If your Kindle is registered to your account, deregister the Kindle before selling it. Deregistering ensures that your Kindle cannot be used to make purchases on your account. Please note that once the Kindle is deregistered, any books, subscriptions, or other content you have purchased from the Kindle Store will no longer be delivered to the device.
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#22 |
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Forum Member
Join Date: Nov 2001
Location: Northumberland
Posts: 4,536
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The terms and conditions do look a bit restrictive when a Kindle is sold etc.
I can understand that subscriptions might have to be stopped along with anything purchased which has not already been delivered by the time the unit is de-registered. However, the idea that you should be required to purge the kindle of all purchased material is a bit cheeky in my opinion. I would hope that in the context of a gift within a family there would be some way of sorting this out sensibly. |
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#23 |
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Forum Member
Join Date: Jul 2005
Posts: 1,858
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Thanks for your replies. I think I'm just going to give it a go and see what happens...
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#24 |
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Forum Member
Join Date: Dec 2008
Location: UK
Posts: 14,219
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Quote:
Thanks for your replies. I think I'm just going to give it a go and see what happens...
It's a bit problamatic when kindles are being bought as gifts because they would most likely be registered to the account of the buyer so any books bought would be registered to their account aswell. I think it would be best to buy the device as a gift, but to buy gift vouchers instead of buying books with the kindle. That way the person who recieves the kindle can register it to their own account and then use the gift vouchers to buy books. |
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#25 |
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Forum Member
Join Date: Jul 2010
Posts: 489
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Like everyone who posts I love books- the smell , the feel etc etc and swore blind I never resort to e-books or whatever you call them.
But this piece ot kit has got me sorely tempted-nearly every review in the media has been ecstatic, and you can get loads of stuff free. Is it really that good? |
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