For newer books, well I just buy the damn book since DRM makes me wanna puke.

The only books I have purchased with DRM are those that have pricetag $0.00 at the Sony Store.

There are quite a lot sources for free ebooks on the net. There are also online stores that sell DRM-free stuff, like Baen and as a last resort you can buy DRM-ed stuff where you can remove the DRM protection. One such example is .lit format. Using Convertlit software you can remove DRM protection FOR BOOKS YOU HAVE PURCHASED. You still need to know the password.

Once you get such a book (either DRM-free or DRM-liberated) you can use Calibre, BookDesigner, or MobiPocketCreator to create *.mobi book. You can upload mobi a book to your Kindle using USB cable. Visit mobileread wiki to see exhaustive list of software for creating mobi books for Kindle.

Whispernet [and an Amazon account] are an OPTION, not a necessity for uploading your books.

Yes. It sucks, if you purchased Kindle *solely* to subscribe to your favourite newspaper in electronic form, or to read those $9.99 books from “NY Times Bestseller list”.

If you do not believe there are enough free books to last you a lifetime visit our forums (where Ians story appeared for the first time) at www (dot) mobileread (dot) com and see our Wiki for sources of books (and list of alternative devices if you decide to sell your Kindle). Also see “books” link at the top of the mobileread page and download any of the tenths of thousands lovingly formatted and repeatedly proofed e-books for your Kindle.

kacir from Mobileread forum

Also thanks to all for links for creating your own Kindle content; keep em coming.

I enjoy reading, but I need a stand-alone reader. Books are one answer, but my Kindle gives me magazines and newspapers as well. I’m disabled, and reading a newspaper is hard for me as the huge papers are almost impossible for me to control. I can’t reach high enough to fold it and see many parts of the page. Until the Kindle I had given them up. Books are difficult to keep open due to the weakness in my hands. I can’t carry more than one book, even if I’d like to. The Kindle gives me freedom my disability took away. That’s another reason I love my Kindle.

I see flaws. But what doesn’t have flaws? I hope the music and movie and publishing industries see the light and realize that DRM actually costs them money, but I also have to make my quality of life as good as possible and my Kindle has improved my quality of life.

I also agree in part with #33 as to BB revealing with every Kindle post their connection to Amazon and the Kindle. But I don’t agree that BB sucks on the Kindle. It’s better in a browser, but if you don’t have time to fire up a browser because, like me you can’t fire one up and get off in less than an hour, the Kindle version is okay.

Personally, if I had a BB complaint, it would be that posting an anonymous comment comes with what is clearly a threat. It’s just not nice.

Never, ever buy one.

I don’t buy books from amazon – I put them on the Kindle from my computer using the usb cable. I convert .txt documents to .mobi and put them in the documents folder. It is so easy to do.

Cory, I own print copies of several of your books, but I have also put free electronic copies onto my Kindle.

I don’t have an iphone or a smart phone or an ipod touch, so to me the Kindle, with it’s price and lack of contract made sense – especially since what I like to do is read.

The internet capability on the Kindle is great, but without it, I would use my Kindle just as much.

I am very happy with my purchase, and everyone who sees my Kindle understands why. If for some reason I change my mind about the Kindle, I will be sure to let you know.

DRM sucks, yes. I’m sure a progressive company like Amazon knows that, and it wouldn’t surprise me in the least if, like Apple, they made that DRM go away as soon as possible.

Incidentally, Cory, I plan on purchasing a paper copy of LITTLE BROTHER the next chance I get, having been so pleased with what I’ve read on my Kindle.

Please go and re-read the comments made by Kindle owners.

And to personally respond to your gripes…

1)All newer technology is expensive. The reason why they haven’t dropped the price is because NO OTHER READER QUITE COMPARES. Is it a niche product? Sure. Is it something that everyone will love? Probably not. Does it save you from having stacks and stacks of books cluttering your place? Yep.

2) How is hooking a USB cable to your computer a pain in the ass? If that is a pain in the ass thing to have to do then I’d hate to see you work anything that doesn’t require a hand crank to get it going. How have you survived all this time with all the pain in the ass things around you? Damn! I have to plug in the tv! Crap! I have to program the DVD player. Bastards! I have to backup my computer files…

I own a Kindle 2. I think it’s awesome. Amazon has hundreds of public domain books for free on their site that you can download and certain publishers and authors offer free downloads at different times. As for them shutting down your account, like any retailer, if you abuse the system they have the right to revoke your use. I find it hard to believe that they’d shut you down for authentic returns.

AND,
I’m not a delusional science fiction fan. I prefer mysteries.

Moderator note: Huh?

Those factors might not be so important to you, but to some they’re easily worth the effort of carrying an extra device around. It’s the same reason that I and many other people still use an mp3 player: my phone can happily play mp3s, but a dedicated player does it much better.

Sure, anonymous posting _can_ be misused (or could if the moderators permitted it), but I really don’t think any threat is implied here on BB. Elsewhere, deponent saith not.

Why would anyone want to buy a stand-alone book reader when a smartphone or a netbook will do the job just fine?

Um, no.

1) E-Ink IS different. Find a friend who has a reader. Check it out.
2) Netbooks’ screens are horizontal. Try flaking out on the couch with one, reading a book.
3) They weigh about the same, or less, than a book.

Get a reader which doesn’t have a financial plan based on recouping manufacturing costs and profits from DRMed sales – such as the Kindle. Ideally, find one that uses (relatively) open-source software. I loves me iLiad!

350 USD on Bookeen’ online store, but also available from Booksonboard and Cyberread.

http://www.bookeen.com/

I got one last year and I’m very, very happy with it.

The title of this article is fair and accurate. The implications are scary; why encourage this kind of behaviour by buying a Kindle?

Really? Why encourage them?

Losing your Amazon account wouldn’t delete anything off your Kindle; it would just preclude using Amazon’s service to put new things on there.

Separately, have you read why this happened? Apparently on multiple, multiple occasions, this guy repeatedly returned and then refunded large electronics. That’s the same story for almost everyone who has been ‘banned’ in this way. I’m not saying he did anything wrong necessarily, but rather that Amazon did something reasonable by banning someone whose buying pattern matched that of a potential scammer.

The customer is also told to not open any more new accounts with Amazon, which means that the Kindle becomes an expensive paper weight, as it cannot obtain any new content. Are there other places that sells content for the Kindle? Before I purchase the new Kindle2, I would appreciate if you could point me to their websites so that I can get an idea of what they have to offer.

What especially worries me is that the books they had already purchased for the Kindle then became inaccessible. It’s as if a customer got into a dispute with the retailer, and the retailer retaliates by going to the customer’s home, taking back everything he has bought, and issue no refunds. I would like some assurance that this would not happen to me.”

Everybody, send that email to Amazon sales, but put it in your own words (cause if they get the same identical email, it will go straight to the trash). (The example is poorly constructed, it’s better to send paragraphs 1+2 or 1+3, but not all 1+2+3 together).