Adventures in ebooks - The DRM Chronicles

[Lusiphur]

Rather than continue to derail the original thread further (http://www.fohguild.org/forums/milli...ml#post1277877) I am dropping my experiences with this in here.

The original thread prompted me to finally get round to reading "The Lies of Locke Lamora". I decided that instead of getting a paper version that I would (for the first time) go fully ebook.

As the linked post indicates, ebook versions were more expensive than paper versions so I turned first to torrents. Generally speaking I have found ebooks from torrents to be of a good quality with just the odd spelling or formatting issue ie perfectly readable. The version of Lies knocking about however (sourced from Demonoid) is very bad to the point of illegibility.

For the first time then I thought I would dip my toe into the DRM experience and while I would say my experience was less than satisfactory it wasn't entirely horrible.

Without doing any research beforehand (I wanted to try this as your "average" consumer, normally I would check things out thoroughly before parting with any cash) I purchased the book from Download Diesel eBooks.

The purchasing experience was smooth. They offered the book in 4 formats and I just picked the first one (Adobe Digital). An email came with download links and I plopped the file on to my desktop. That's when the annoyance started.

The file was a .acsm file. Wtf is that I thinks to myself. A quick check on the faq at diesel ebooks indicates it requires special Adobe software to access (The box I was using had an up to date version of Acrobat) on it. Followed the download link from the faq and after clicking on some link a few times (it took repeated clicks because it was some flash based crap) the relevant software installs.

Then it says to "authenticate" my machine I must create an account with Adobe. Sigh. I don't know about you guys but I always approach creating an account anywhere with some trepidation, its usually just a vehicle for a business to spam you to distraction (Amazon I am looking at you). I however remembered I was being "average" consumer so created the account. My XP box is now authenticated. Yay.

At this point I still haven't been able to open the ebook file (about 4 meg, note this number for later) and even after XP installed the software the file type still wasn't recognised. I was able to open it from within the app though.

Now, I want to read this file on my Sony PRS 505 so its back to the FAQ. Apparently this is possible but I first have to update the firmware on my 505 (no big deal) and install Sony's library software. I had never had a use for this before (calibre and windows explorer had sufficed for getting ebooks on to my 505) and I have a natural reluctance to install Sony software after the rootkit fiasco. I grab the relevant files from the Sony site and update firmware and install the library utility. Adobe Digital Editions would now recognise my 505 and I could copy the file over. Oh framptious joy.

So to recap, from pressing the buy button to actually opening the book I had probably spent another 20 mins doing things. That doesn't seem much but imagine you are your grandmother. Now try to describe to her going through all the steps I listed above. Yeah, not gonna happen.

So, now the file is on my 505 and I open it up. It still has some issues though. The text is too small, so I use the zoom function on my 505 which then breaks up the formatting. More sigh. Some quick google shows that the adobe format is locked to an aspect ratio (yeah, wtf) and that you can either make yourself blind or put up with crap formatting. Furthermore you have to skip to page 10 to start reading because they included graphics in the file (yep) and the 505 doesn't really have the horsepower to display graphics. It can take it upwards of a minute or more to display a page with a graphic on it, after all the 505 is a text reader.

In summary then, I paid a premium over the paper book price and had (or will have to) overcome the following restrictions.

1) The ebook is locked to machines I have "authenticated" via adobe software. Should Adobe shut that service down in the future I will not be able to move the file to another machine (like say another ebook reader when my 505 dies). This is important to me as really good books are something I will revisit and I will want to read them decades later.
2) The ebook is only readable on machines that can be authenticated. You would think that is not a big deal yes ? Well, only Windows and the Sony Reader are currently supported. I am typing this on a netbook with linux that is my portable machine. I will never be able to read that ebook on this box.
3) I had to install new programs I must remember to re-add should I have to do a re-install. One of those programs I will never launch.
4) The file is 4 meg,, the average size of all the other files on my 505 is 600K. That's extreme bloat, and even though space is cheap it would become a concern the more ebooks you had.
5) Even without the the drm hassles there were basic usability issues with the supplied file that I cant get around. I have to accept a poorer reading experience that I paid a premium for.

In summary, for the uninformed average person (ie the majority of the market) going full ebook still looks like going full retard. Cost issues aside, ebooks should be delivered in a simple text only format that is merely protected by a password key. Any form of "phone home" drm has a plethora of issues (discussed in depth all over the net) that once a customer compares the simplicity of buying a book with the hoops you have to jump through to get an electronic format makes it a very unsatisfactory experience.

Addendum - Added this at the end so that it will be easy for mods to remove should they see fit.

Some research indicates that the best format to download any drm ebook in is Microsoft .lit (yes Microsoft). You can then use a program called ConvertLitGUI to convert it to a bog standard text (or rtf, doc etc) file and strip the DRM. Lit from a usability point of view also is text only (no pesky pics) and resizes and reformats smoothly (no locked aspect ratios).

However, your average non tech savvy, user would struggle with that and as such ebooks would still fail the "granny" test and will not achieve mass acceptance.

[Celebrindal]

Thanks for the write-up.

[Suineg]

There are two formats to purchase ebooks in.

You purchase them in Mobipocket or LIT.

Both are easily DRM free with a double click of a .exe.

I have a Sony eBook Reader and it only does LRF which means every single website I go to I purchase it and have to rip it to read legitimately.

DO NOT TOUCH ADOBE WITH A 10FT POLE

A good website to check out is MobileRead Forums

[CnCGOD]

Yea I do the LIT->Sony conversion all the time. Best way to go IMHO.

[Axire]

Have you ever considered Audio Books rather than Ebooks? I would much rather read an actual book than one on a PC screen, however listening to Audio Books while at work (when no ones looking into my office!) on the Ipod has let me get through a great many more books than i would have normally.

Its a shame i rarely have much time for reading, listening to 2 Discworld books a week at work is awesome though :P

[Sharmai]

I did the whole discworld series on audiobook it was awesome. The BBC sherlok holmes series is also awesome on audio book.

[Suineg]

I don't do audiobooks because I have a hard time tuning everything out and listening to their monotone voices. If they aren't monotone then they are cheesily acted half the time.

I don't read on a PC screen, I read on an ebook reader which looks surprisingly like a used book with greyish pages. I get to hold something portable and look at page sizes that look like real pages instead of a wall of text on a 19" screen.

Plus I speed read and the audiobooks are abysmally slow.

[Lusiphur]

The thread was specifically intended to show the hassles of ebooking and why few people bother with it. Audiobooks is a whole 'nother mess o potatoes.

I like to read, I don't like to follow a story by listening.

Ebooks should have these advantages over paper books (and dont get me wrong, I probably have over 1000 books in my pokey, wee, 2 bedroom flat).

1) Portability. Without an SD card my PRS 505 has 256 MB of storage .. that's over 200 books. Stick a bog standard £10 4gig SD card in there and that's over 4000 books.
2) Accessability. I stick a bunch of books (in rtf format) on my webspace. I can then access them from anywhere. If I am bored at work then its a case of download and off you go (it looks like you are reading a document so no one thinks twice).
3) Durability. Theoretically an ebook will last forever and as long as it is in a generic format should be accessible via any future technology.

DRM interferes with all of the above advantages. It's a crazy situation where a business can't market on the selling points of something because they have invalidated all those selling points ! This is surely not a sustainable business model.

For those going on about reading on your computer screen you should realise that I (for one) only do that when I am bored at work. Look into the Sony PRS 505, it really is just like holding a book. The screen is nicely lit and doesn't strain your eyes over a long session (in fact I find it easier on the eyes than paper). I suppose the Kindle is ok too but I dont like the look of it or its requirement to phone home on a regular basis. My PRS 505 has never (or will ever) be registered with Sony. The battery holds a charge for forever as well (approx 10,000 page turns). It's really a sweet piece of kit.

[EmiliaEQ]

Fuck legally downloaded ebooks.

After seeing all the crap with the Amazon Ebook & the PRS 505 i decided to get a Tablet...
You are the living proof i made the right choice.

FuJitSu Stylistic ST4121 Tablet PC P3 933MHz 512MB - eBay (item 350144024323 end time Dec-29-08 08:59:39 PST)
(Runs Starcraft / Diablo 2 / Neo Geo CPS1CPS2 Emulators, great for LANS too)

And then with some waiting on Emule / Torrents :

[Suineg]

Originally Posted by EmiliaEQ

Fuck legally downloaded ebooks.

After seeing all the crap with the Amazon Ebook & the PRS 505 i decided to get a Tablet...
You are the living proof i made the right choice.

FuJitSu Stylistic ST4121 Tablet PC P3 933MHz 512MB - eBay (item 350144024323 end time Dec-29-08 08:59:39 PST)
(Runs Starcraft / Diablo 2 / Neo Geo CPS1CPS2 Emulators, great for LANS too)

And then with some waiting on Emule / Torrents :

I have those same books but the new stuff I buy if I was going to buy the hardcover already. I travel too much to carry around 6 hardcovers at a time.

[stehle]

I'm very close to buying a Sony 505 ebook reader, but I still can't quite pull the trigger. My biggest hangup is wrapping my mind around the formats I should be getting my books in and where / if I can get the books I want in said format. The other hangup I have is making sure I can get a lot of my legacy books (erikson, jordan, martin, etc) in any electronic format to import to my ebook reader.

From what I have read, the Sony 505 is one of the best ebook readers out there (especially when compared with the lockdown on the Kindle) but I think I need to do a little more research.

[Faille]

That tablet seems to be considerable cheaper and potentially more powerful. What am I missing?

[Suineg]

You are missing battery life.

An ebook reader measures it's battery life in page turns and that is in the thousands.

A small tablet has a very short battery life even if longer then a full sized laptop.

[EmiliaEQ]

Aye i get 4H battery life instead of something like 500H on a PRS505, and size (4 Pounds)

But when i bought my tablet the PRS505 wasnt available in europe.
And having to deal with a DRM clusterfuck wasnt acceptable either.

So i'm satisfied.

[Lusiphur]

Originally Posted by EmiliaEQ

Aye i get 4H battery life instead of something like 500H on a PRS505, and size (4 Pounds)

But when i bought my tablet the PRS505 wasnt available in europe.
And having to deal with a DRM clusterfuck wasnt acceptable either.

So i'm satisfied.

Heh, I bought my PRS 505 before they were available in Europe. Ebay is a wonderful thing.

You are coming off a little stroppy here when there is no need to. I downloaded the same torrents you did to get 6 gig of ebooks (non DRM) long before I ever made this thread. However, it should be pointed out that the quality of these is variable (the Stephen Brust ones were iffy which was a cause of much disappointment).

The thread was meant to convey what the experience would be like for the typical non tech savvy customer.