ext_63157 ([identity profile] pslasher.livejournal.com) wrote in [community profile] fanfic_ebooks2010-12-19 12:42 pm

Buying an ereader: Kindle, nook or Sony Pocket Reader


Hey everyone! I’m probably going to be buying an ereader for Christmas and have narrowed it down to the nook, Kindle or Sony Pocket Reader. But I keep debating over them and thought I’d see what the users have to say.

Amothea says that the Sony Pocket Reader supports collections and has excellent sorting abilities:
My Supernatural collection has over 300 stories but I can within the collections sort by date, author, title, and etc. And once I have the title or author selected it gives me a list A-Z so I can jump to the author at the end very quickly.
Do the Kindle or Nook do anything similar, like support the tags from Calibre? I prefer the look and feel of the nook and Kindle, and they are less expensive than the Sony, but this feature is excellent.

 
Kindle: I REALLY like the long battery life and light weight of the 3G but I have a few questions.

1. I think I heard that fics uploaded to the Kindle from Calibre can be tagged and the Kindle will display those tags and the related ebooks, but I’d like that to be confirmed.
2. Can you browse the web on the Kindle? I think I’d really use that feature for finding new fic that I want to put on the device, and I know the nook can do it.

 
Nook: I LOVE the ability to add extra storage, and to browse the web. I think I’d use the web browsing to find new fic often.

1. Does the nook (black and white) have the ability to create My Shelves like the nook color? Can you sort through books in a collection by author, title, ect?


Is there anything I need to know, good or bad, about the devices? I think I’m leaning towards the nook, but I’m still not sure. I’ve got more thoughts about ereaders here.

[identity profile] nessaancalime.livejournal.com 2010-12-20 05:33 pm (UTC)(link)
Honestly I don't get why people are so upset with Amazon. It's a book store and all book-stores have their policies. Do you get gay porn in your local book-store? I don't, but I do get it on Amazon. Again they did not remove anything, only made it harder to find. Due to massive reactions from users, it was quickly changed back.
You are not committing to Amazon when you buy a Kindle. Books in Kindle format are available from book-stores all over the net, including adult ones. With a built in browser you can download directly.
I have also discovered that restricted e-pub is no problem. It is easy to remove restriction and Calibre will make e-books for Kindle with better quality than the original e-pub. Where I live that is legal as long as I have bought the book and is converting it for my own reading device.
amalthia: (Default)

[personal profile] amalthia 2010-12-21 04:28 am (UTC)(link)
There was a huge debate on this issue at the Mobile Read forums but most users agreed yes it's amazon's store they can sell what they want and etc...but at the moment Amazon does have a near monopoly on the ebook market and if author's can't publish their books there due to the content then they probably won't write it as much, which is tantamount to censorship.

I think the main issue is that amazon has not listed their restrictions so authors don't know if they are publishing a story that Amazon will boot from the site.

True, an enterprising publishing house could decide to cater to all the books that amazon refuses to host.

Also, as an adult I like to make the choice of what to read or not. Amazon's been good at providing a wide variety for every user but now that's no longer the case.

[identity profile] nessaancalime.livejournal.com 2010-12-21 09:13 am (UTC)(link)
Amazon is biggest because they were early, and someone has to blaze the trails. But I don't think one can say they have a monopoly any more, not for the last year. Like with everything else, when enough people start to have the devise, content providers will flourish.
I keep discovering new online stores. Interestingly I've found that even for stores specialising in adult stuff, Amazon will have all the same and often cheaper. So I'm not really sure what type of stuff you mean that they don't have a variety of?
My only complaint is that a lot of books on Kindle are only available in US. But that is the publishers deal, not Amazon.
Over here a lot of people using readers with e-pub are frustrated because book stores in UK who sell them, have stopped selling outside UK. Publishers again... They seem to be as short-sighted as the music corporations.
amalthia: (Default)

[personal profile] amalthia 2010-12-22 03:09 am (UTC)(link)
the publishers I think are their own worst enemy. People want to buy the ebooks but they just won't sell them and the geographic restrictions are ridiculous for online content.

I also don't think amazon is going to get a complete monopoly. But still 75-85% of the market is a big chunk and I still think it has a lot of influence. The Agency model only came about because of Amazon's pricing strategy.

As for my statement about variety. If they are removing fiction ebooks that contain adult consensual incest then that's one type of book I'll have to look elsewhere to find a copy. But in all honesty, I don't buy ebooks from Amazon because I have a Sony. My main store is Books on Board and Baen.

Right now I'm just irked about the principle of the thing. If I had known people were publishing adult incest type stories...I'd be tempted to try them out, though in all honesty I think I prefer the Flowers in the Attic type stories vs erotica. I like plot with the sex. Though I have heard some erotic stories have both...

I mostly stick to reading fan fiction because in fandom the shipper wars are worse than the kink wars.

[identity profile] nessaancalime.livejournal.com 2011-01-02 10:13 pm (UTC)(link)
Withdrawing sold contents is not cool. But again, as far as I know, this only happened once, and it was not Amazon who wanted it, it was the publisher. Amazon has removed books from sale after that, but has stated that bought content will not be taken back again. However, you will not be able to download it again. The problem is really not the bookstores, its the rightowners, like it is with music, except there the rightowners own the whole chain of distribution, a deplorable situation.
I found this for removing DRM from E-pub:
http://i-u2665-cabbages.blogspot.com/2009/02/circumventing-adobe-adept-drm-for-epub.html
You need to have Adobe Digital Editions in order to download the epub of course, and install a software called Python as well. Then you run this retrieval script which you only need to do once on one pc, and then you just run that decryption script every time you want to decrypt a file. Not exactly quick and easy, but once you have done it all, removing the DRM is done in a minute. Then I use Calibre to convert it to mobi.