[Wylug-discuss] advice on ebook reader or similar...

[Smylers]

Dave Fisher writes:

> On 22 September 2011 11:59, Smylers <Smylers at stripey.com> wrote:
> 
> > Dave Fisher writes:
> >
> > > On 22 September 2011 11:26, Smylers <Smylers at stripey.com> wrote:
> > >
> > > > Have you tried borrowing any e-books from a Leeds library?
> > > > Browsing the catalogue suggests they are variously in 'Adobe
> > > > EPUB eBook' and 'Adobe PDF eBook' formats. Are these different
> > > > from normal epub and PDF? Maybe they have DRM which isn't
> > > > compatible with the Kindle?
> > >
> > > I'll find out and report back
> 
> OK, it's a bad as one might imagine.
> 
> The Leeds library e-books are DRMed and they require "Adobe Digital
> Editions" software. Windows- and Mac-only ... no prospect of a Linux
> version ... ever.
> 
> ... it's basically impossible to borrow+use these e-books without
> paying the Windows/Mac tax ... whatever ebook reader you own

Actually that's _worse_ than I'd imagined. The OverDrive page listing
supported systems lists various e-book readers so I'd naïvely presumed
buying one of those would suffice (and that the separate 'desktop/
laptop' list only applied if wanting to read an e-book on a computer).
Not being able to read them even with a compatible reader is appalling.

Library computers run Windows; I wonder if they already have the
relevant software installed. Though obviously having to visit a physical
library building during its open hours in order to borrow an e-book does
rather miss out on many of the benefits of an e-book ...

Smylers
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