Ebooks?

Discussion in 'Trek Literature' started by MarciaCat, Jan 16, 2009.

  1. JD

    JD Fleet Admiral Admiral

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    How many Trek books are available on the Kindle, do they keep up with the new releases?
     
  2. Marie1

    Marie1 Rear Admiral Rear Admiral

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    You are very welcome, Dimesdan.

    Thanks for the info, ATimson.

    Infern0, if you haven't, and if you can, change the background colour from white to a pale gray. It makes a world of difference. Also, LCD monitors are way easier on the eyes, if you're still using CRT. Also, for reading for long periods, dim the monitor lighting.
     
  3. Snaploud

    Snaploud Admiral Admiral

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    I did a quick search on amazon's kindle section for "star trek." The selection appears quite substantial (680 results) and up-to-date with the newer trek novels.
     
  4. JD

    JD Fleet Admiral Admiral

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    Cool. I don't own one or anything, I was just curious since it's more of it's own thing, how much Trek it had.
     
  5. MarciaCat

    MarciaCat Lieutenant Red Shirt

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    That's what has me worried/concerned/upset. I really, really, really hope the MS Lit versions come out soon. (Like next week! ;) )
     
  6. Thrawn

    Thrawn Rear Admiral Premium Member

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    Almost all of the Trek novels, past and present, are available, believe it or not; there are occasional odd gaps (like New Frontier #5 is missing but all the rest are available, and some VOY numbered novels aren't available either) and the Kindle editions are named haphazardly and often linked to the wrong print novel, but if you're sufficiently determined you can find almost all of them.

    As for new releases, they tend to run between a couple of weeks and a couple of months behind when the print books hit shelves, but the e-book versions always show up eventually.
     
  7. ATimson

    ATimson Rear Admiral Rear Admiral

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    That's why I said "screw it", bought the Mobipocket versions, and will convert them to MS Lit. ;)
     
  8. MarciaCat

    MarciaCat Lieutenant Red Shirt

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    I've mastered converting MS Lit to Sony's LRF format with the <removed by moderator> and <removed by moderator> but I'm unsure of and a bit scared of the <removed by moderator> stuff. Something with the name <removed by moderator> in it gives me the heebee-jeebees!!:lol: :( Without a GUI I'm totally lost.:eek: :eek: Believe me, if I could figure it out, I'd buy it and convert it. What I'm looking for is available at the Sony store but I've got nearly $100 of Fictionwise micropay just waiting to be spent! :drool: :cool:
     
    Last edited by a moderator: Jan 26, 2009
  9. LightningStorm

    LightningStorm The Borg King Commodore

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    After much deliberation it has been decided that discussing the specific software you all are using to convert these files can't be allowed. Because that software also removes DRM protection.

    Sorry.
     
  10. Thrawn

    Thrawn Rear Admiral Premium Member

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    DRM on ebooks is so patently stupid.

    Which is not to say I disagree, LightningStorm; I think you made the right call. It's just...sad that conversations where someone is trying to find a way to read ebooks they already bought can be termed illegal.
     
  11. MarciaCat

    MarciaCat Lieutenant Red Shirt

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    Sorry, I didn't realize it was a no-no! I spend too much time at mobileread ;)where it's OK to mention them but not discuss how to use them. I do remember the previous incarnation of the one that is also the measure of the diameter of a bullet was in a post I read here a year ago (libprs500). Also I didn't realize that the snake named programming language wasn't allowed since I saw it used in the "If programming languages were religions" and "LCARS Program Links" threads.

    Once again, let me say I'm sorry, it won't happen again. :(
     
  12. ATimson

    ATimson Rear Admiral Rear Admiral

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    Python. Python Python Python.

    (Overzealous censors who don't know the first thing about what they're censoring and end up randomly deleting stuff because they don't know better can bite my shiny metal ass. :techman:)
     
  13. LightningStorm

    LightningStorm The Borg King Commodore

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    I agree 100% on that.

    I don't think it has ever come up before which is partly why it took so long to modify it. After looking into various policies about DRM it was unclear as to if removing it for personal use is considered illegal or not. The only thing that was fairly universal was that it is against specific policies to do so at all.

    So erring on the side of caution it was removed.

    Cute, and smug. However I am a Software Engineer and a damned good one if I do say so myself. And I am quite aware of what Python is. It, however, was removed from the original post as well due in part to the fact that the programming language's name was also apart of the name of the software.

    I was going to simply delete the entire post lock stock and barrel, perhaps that's what I should have done. But let's not assume I know not of what I am doing simply because I might have invoked an over abundance of caution with the modification.
     
  14. tmclough

    tmclough Lieutenant Commander Red Shirt

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    I'm looking forward to the day when ebook publishers take a hint from the music industry, and even the e-audio book publishers, and do away with DRM. Then we won't have to worry about mentioning DRM-removing software, because it will be pointless software.

    Also, the way I figure it, when ebooks are DRM-free, there will be a much greater demand for eink readers, which will drive up production and competition, and eventually lower prices. Which would also make me happy.
     
  15. Marie1

    Marie1 Rear Admiral Rear Admiral

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    Its a "taboo" subject with movies too. There are people who will buy the movies, and who only want things to make backups for expensive movies in case something happens- yes, it breaks the encryption, but some feel that is okay since its theirs and they aren't doing anything "bad" with it. But with that comes the nefarious uses, so even though it has positive uses, its more important to keep discussion off places to prevent the abuse.

    DRM provides a measure of protection. And from what I see, the ebooks are pretty good prices if you don't mind reading off a screen. I must say, I'm pleased with the free ebooks being offered, I think thats cool of them to do, since the copyright expired long ago. Yet they're willing to still use the space etc. to have them...
     
  16. chris32482

    chris32482 Lieutenant Commander Red Shirt

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    You're not kidding. I had a bunch of ebooks (mostly trek ones) that I had purchased through Adobe Digital Editions, and one time it told me i needed to update my software, so I did, and I lost all rights to my ebooks. Couldn't open them. I tried to get help from their costumer support but it was pointless.

    I was so pissed off, I just pirated the damned books from a website I will not mention here. I know it's wrong, but it sure made me feel better at the time. :)
     
  17. LightningStorm

    LightningStorm The Borg King Commodore

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    Well it's not pirating if you already owned them. Now, if you gained some you didn't own in the process... tsk tsk :p
     
  18. Karnbeln

    Karnbeln Lieutenant Commander Red Shirt

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    I've got a question. I was poking around the Simon and Schuster website as I'm curious about ebooks. There were two books that I remember clicking on for details, SCE's Wounds and Enterprise: Kobayashi Maru. I was kind of shocked looking at the cost comparisons to the mass market paperbacks; Wounds showed no difference in price between the print form and the eBook form, and Kabayashi Maru... well, it actually cost two dollars more to buy the eBook.

    I'm confused. eBooks are supposed to be cheaper, it's part of the attraction. What was the cause of this? Is it just the way it is on that website, is there some sort of catch involved with the paperback, or is it just something anamolous about these particular books?

    (PS to MarciaCat: Sorry for hijacking your thread, I just figured there are probably enough threads asking about eBook details that I should post in an existing one.)
     
  19. Thrawn

    Thrawn Rear Admiral Premium Member

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    ebooks are sold at different prices depending on where you buy them; it does seem like S&S pricing is a bit wonky, but if you look at Kindle prices, for instance, the ebooks are more or less reliably cheaper, if only a little.
     
  20. JWolf

    JWolf Commodore Commodore

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    According to the DMCA exceptions, it is legal to remove the DRM from eBooks when the DRM gets in the way to prevent the read-aloud feature from functioning. So that makes all MS Reader format eBooks legal to have the DRM stripped because the DRM does block the read-aloud function.