The Body Electric just hit iBooks

[JWolf]

Defcon wrote:

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Which is considerably more work than simply clicking "Buy now" and turn on your WiFi-Connection (if it isn't already active).

Actually, it's only very slightly more work. if you plan on keeping a copy of your eBooks, then it's even less work.

All you do is put the eBook in Calibre, DRM stripped. then plug in the reader to the computer, transfer the eBook to the reader and done. It may take longer, but the actual effort involved is not much more and when you are done, the benefits outweigh any extra effort. And you've paid $2.03 less this way unless you go via iBooks in which case, you've paid $3.46 more.

If you want to pay more for the ever so slightly more convenience with a lot less benefit, feel free. I think it's silly.

[Defcon]

^ The most recent Star Trek Kindle releases are $5.99 at amazon, so I have no idea where do you get the $2.03 gap, when it's only $0.40.

And I still think it is considerably less work to sit in the train, push a button and have the book on my Kindle in about a minute, instead of having to wait till I'm home, download it on my PC, strip it of its DRM (which violates Books on Board's TOS, by the way), convert it and manually download it on my Kindle.

[ATimson]

Defcon wrote:

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^ The most recent Star Trek Kindle releases are $5.99 at amazon, so I have no idea where do you get the $2.03 gap, when it's only $0.40.

There are exactly two books at that price. The Body Electric is still at $7.59, as is anything before Cold Equations 1. I think the $2.03 gap is a good "typical example".

Defcon wrote:

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And I still think it is considerably less work to sit in the train, push a button and have the book on my Kindle in about a minute, instead of having to wait till I'm home, download it on my PC, strip it of its DRM (which violates Books on Board's TOS, by the way), convert it and manually download it on my Kindle.

Then you're overly trusting of Amazon, if it's not a process you're doing for purchases from them directly anyways.

[JWolf]

Most of the recent Star trek eBooks from Amazon are $7.59. The first two Cold Equations eBooks are $5.99 which is still more expensive then BooksOnBoard's price of $5.59. So, if you were to buy all three Cold Equations eBooks from Amazon, you would be overpaying by $2.98 given that at BOB with Google Checkout the final price is $5.53 each.

Given that you feel that stripping DRM is too time consuming (when it's no more time consuming then dropping an eBook into Calibre once properly setup), you must really like DRM. Do you feel that you will always have a Kindle and not some other reader that handles ePub? Do you want all your eBooks locked behind Amazon's walled garden? Personally, I don't want my eBooks locked to any one platform/format. I want them to be free so I can do with them as I want/need.

Sometimes I make changes to the eBooks to suit how I prefer them to be. I can't do that if I have them stuck behind a wall of DRM.

But anyway, feel free to stick with the DRM and higher prices. Having done the DRM removal and the conversion process, I can honestly say that the extra time is very minimal.

[BillJ]

There are very few books I've ever read more than once, so DRM really isn't an issue on e books for me.

[Defcon]

Yes, I am willing to pay a bit extra if that means I don't have to jump through some extra hoops and have to wade through some semi-legal swamps. (As I said above you're violating BOB's TOS every time you strip an eBook of it's DRM, and I'm sure most, if not any other eBook vendor has similar rules in their TOS)

Add to that

... that I'm an Amazon customer for many years now and never had one problem with them.

... that I'm perfectly content with my Kindle and don't see a reason to switch to another brand even if my current device breaks down sometime down the line.

... that I don't need to use a credit card or something like PayPal to pay them.

... that I don't want to give my information to any random website that happens to be a few cents cheaper this week.

... that I don't tinker with my eBooks, cause I yet have to encounter an eBook that was unreadable. (I know for you an eBook becomes unreadable if it isn't in the font you prefer, but not everyone is as anal-retentive as you.)

... that I'm out of my home for at least 14 hours each workday (Commute, work, commute), and don't want to waste time with going through several steps to purchase my books where one step is possible.

... that books are one of the few "luxury items" I buy, so I'm willing to not have to search for what is the cheapest site at the very moment I want to purchase a book.

TL;DR version: Yes, I will continue to buy the overpriced, coded in an obsolete format (another one of your classic remarks IIRC), DRM-infested books via Amazon.

[JWolf]

You do need a credit card to pay Amazon. BooksOnBoard is not just some random website. They have been around for years and are highly reputable.

As for tinkering, sometimes it's a good thing to tinker. Some of the fonts S&S have used with Trek eBooks have been less then stellar for an eink display. Their use of Adobe Garamond Pro is not good because it's too light weight. The same issue exists for Kindle eBooks in KF8 as S&S uses the same fonts.

[Defcon]

JWolf wrote:

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You do need a credit card to pay Amazon.

You don't need one on amazon.de. Not all countries are as Credit Card happy as the US, you know?

[Paris]

^You need one on amazon.ca as well..

[T'Ressa Dax]

It may be only 40 cents, but I do wish The Body Electric hadn't already automatically downloaded onto my kindle on Thursday. At full price. At least the next couple of books I ordered from Amazon were lower priced than I'd expected, which makes up for having to pay the full $7.99.

[JWolf]

T'Ressa Dax wrote:

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It may be only 40 cents, but I do wish The Body Electric hadn't already automatically downloaded onto my kindle on Thursday. At full price. At least the next couple of books I ordered from Amazon were lower priced than I'd expected, which makes up for having to pay the full $7.99.

I would call Amazon and tell them that you bought the eBook at a higher price and now the price has been lowered. I did that when I bought a couple of pairs of headphones. The price dropped and I got Amazon to charge the difference back to the credit card.

[T'Ressa Dax]

Thanks for the suggestion.