YSK: You don't own your Kindle e-books.

Comments

• ByteOnBikes@slrpnk.net ⁨4⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago

  I haven’t used Kindles personally ever, but I helped my neighbor export their kindle collection a few years ago.

  It dumped it into mobi files to use with calibre. Then from there, you can convert them into epubs.

  I recall it being straightforward. Probably something a kindle owner should do periodically to back up their collection.

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  • GenderNeutralBro@lemmy.sdf.org ⁨4⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago

    Another problem with DRM’d platforms is that you don’t really know how long this will be easy or even viable. I recall these tools breaking in the past as Amazon changed their encryption, and it took time for them to be updated.

    For anyone with a large library on Kindle, Audible, or any other DRM-infested platform, I recommend stripping that DRM sooner rather than later. You might think “I can always do it later” but there’s no guarantee that will be true.

    Also, shoutout to ebooks.com for having a dedicated DRM-free section and a simple checkbox to filter search results to only show DRM-free items. Not sure where to go for DRM-free audiobooks though. Anyone got suggestions? Personally I will simply not buy books with DRM, regardless of how easy it might be to crack it. If I’m going to have to break the law anyway (thanks, DMCA!), I might as well pirate it and find some other way to toss the author a few bucks.

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    • localme@lemm.ee ⁨4⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago

      I use downpour.com for drm-free audiobooks. They let you straight up download the mb4 files haha it’s awesome.

      It’s such a win-win b/c I get to buy audiobooks drm-free and I get to avoid supporting audible which has terrible business practices such as locking authors in exclusive deals.

      Also thanks for the ebooks.com recommendation! I was reading this thread specifically to see if anyone knew of a good place online to buy drm-free ebooks :)

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    • boredsquirrel@slrpnk.net ⁨4⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago

      You can get Audiobooks from Spotify using the app Soundbound. You need to insert a list of plugins, then it works.

      Apart from that, youtube? Or sailing the high seas?

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  • Cenotaph@mander.xyz ⁨4⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago

    My understanding is they arent mobi files anymore but a proprietary DRM format. That being said, there are many wonderful calibre plugins that break the drm.

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    • TrenchcoatFullofBats@belfry.rip ⁨4⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago

      FWIW, Amazon deprecated mobi files recently and epub is the new “sideload” standard. You still have to email the file to the kindle address to be able to read them, or convert to azw3.

      If you’re already using Calibre, check out Calibre-Web, which essentially uses a Calibre database as the back end. The interface is so much nicer than Calibre.

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    • tomkatt@lemmy.world ⁨4⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago

      MOBI has been deprecated for a long time. Standard formats now are AZW3 (KF8) and KFX. They’re a bit more advanced than MOBI, and thank goodness, since it was a terrible format. AZW3 is essentially a MOBI/EPUB container, and I believe KFX is equivalent to EPUB2, possibly with some EPUB3 features.

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  • Anivia@feddit.org ⁨4⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago

    It’s better to keep them as mobi files than converting to epub. Mobi works on almost every device, and converting to epub can always result in messed up formatting or chapters.

    If you absolutely have to convert the files to epub for some reason, at least keep the original mobi files as well

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• GaMEChld@lemmy.world ⁨4⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago

  I’ve used Calibre and stripped DRM off eBooks, definitely recommend.

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  • Boozilla@lemmy.world ⁨4⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago

    It’s a really nice app. Very customizable.

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    • Don_Dickle@lemmy.world ⁨4⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago

      Sounds like a lot of work. Since , and I am showing my age, limewire I will just put on my pirate hat and read as I decide.

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  • phx@lemmy.ca ⁨4⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago

    Does that still work? Last time I tried I had no luck

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    • Chee_Koala@lemmy.world ⁨4⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago

      For Kindle specific ripping, I think it changed a year back and now you need to have a kindle connected before the Amazon servers poop out some magic unlock key/the whole book. After that you’re golden, but during the rip you need a kindle device…

      thewindowsclub.com/remove-ebook-drm-with-calibre#….

      They explain the Kindle difference when using Calibre DeDRM tool in this article.

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• sunshine@lemmy.ml ⁨4⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago

  You don’t own your Kindle books because you bought them from Amazon

  I don’t own mine because I pirated them

  We are not the same

  edit: I actually try to circle back around and buy physical copies of any book I really enjoy. But I’m much better about paying for video games, tabletop games, and even journalism than I am fiction… I think my bezos resentment gets in the way a bit there.

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  • tabularasa@lemmy.ca ⁨4⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago

    Better to give to their patreon if possible. Awesome authors like Shirlatoon have them. Because, quite frankly, fuck the publishers too.

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    • Starb3an@sh.itjust.works ⁨4⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago

      I’m subscribed! It’s one of my favorite series. Also, The Mark of the Fool is another good series.

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    • Delphia@lemmy.world ⁨4⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago

      If you like HWFWM check out the Mayor of Noobtown.

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• IphtashuFitz@lemmy.world ⁨4⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago

  I use Calibre to remove the DRM from all ebooks I buy. Not that I buy a lot of them, but hell if I’ll let Amazon be the keeper of the keys.

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  • Boozilla@lemmy.world ⁨4⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago

    Yup, making a DRM-free backup somewhere is the only way to protect the content you paid for from the whims of the overlords.

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• tomkatt@lemmy.world ⁨4⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago

  Like hell I don’t. Calibre plus NoDRM says otherwise.

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  • Agent641@lemmy.world ⁨4⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago

    Buy, rip, refund, repeat.

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    • tomkatt@lemmy.world ⁨4⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago

      Nah, no need to be a shitheel. I’m cool with paying for books, authors gotta eat. I wouldn’t refund a book I’ve read.

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    • greywolf0x1@lemmy.ml ⁨4⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago

      i support this against amazon, also kindly put it on libgen or anna’s for humanity’s benefit

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    • Appoxo@lemmy.dbzer0.com ⁨4⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago

      Buy, rip, refund, repeat.

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• zeekaran@sopuli.xyz ⁨4⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago

  🏴‍☠️

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  • Fredselfish@lemmy.world ⁨4⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago

    As someone who publishes on Amazon if you buy my book and Amazon takes it from you PM I will send said customer a epub version for free.

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  • tanisnikana@lemmy.world ⁨4⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago

    I’m an author of two books, and whenever someone asks me for a copy (or even says they want to read it), I straight-up hand them a free ebook. I just want people to read me.

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    • JackbyDev@programming.dev ⁨4⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago

      My wife wrote a book and brought copies to sell. Someone asked her if she brought ones to sell and my wife said yes. Later when we meet with her she’s like “you’re sure I can have this?” My wife says something like “yeah I brought enough” and then she never paid lol. Even worse, the next day she wasn’t randomly holding a $20 bill and put it away. Either she’s the most rude and insanely conniving person ever or our life was a sitcom because wtf. There’s more context but I don’t wanna yap too long. My wife almost even took the money out of her hand thinking she just didn’t have cash the night before.

      All that said, you deserve to get paid for your work!

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• sirico@feddit.uk ⁨4⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago

  You can strip the DRM if needed

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  • MeatsOfRage@lemmy.world ⁨4⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago

    Yea Audible too. I can’t remember the name of the tool but you can connect to your account and it pulls all your purchases locally DRM free. It was handy for setting up Audiobookshelf

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    • conciselyverbose@sh.itjust.works ⁨4⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago

      Libation (add audible to your search to find it)

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    • ByteOnBikes@slrpnk.net ⁨4⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago

      Thanks for the reminder! I’ve gotten a bunch of free audible books and haven’t backed them up in a while.

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  • johannesvanderwhales@lemmy.world ⁨4⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago

    That’s true for the older Kindle format but not the newer one.

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    • Anivia@feddit.org ⁨4⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago

      Not entirely correct. If you own a legitimate copy of the book on your Kindle you can strip the DRM even on the newest version.

      If you acquired the file through illegitimate means and it still has the DRM on it, then the newest DRM is indeed not possible to remove yet

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• homesweethomeMrL@lemmy.world ⁨4⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago

  Yaar, matey.

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  • TriflingToad@lemmy.world ⁨4⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago

    I hate that pirating is the ONLY way to even semi own what you buy. Bought an album off Bandcamp (DRM free music) and when one of the songs on that album got in a pointless argument about copyright and got taken down from my Spotify playlists.

    I was glad I bought it DRM free… until I saw they took it from me there.

    Pirating literally gives me the same experience as buying it for literally no issue. (except the lossless files but who cares)

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    • accideath@lemmy.world ⁨4⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago

      For ebooks in particular, owning what you buy isn’t that difficult though. You can legally buy DRM protected epubs in a lot of online book stores and then use the software calibre (open source) to strip the DRM. Much easier than with music, movies or software.

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    • JackbyDev@programming.dev ⁨4⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago

      Some songs get taken down and relisted under different albums. I’ve had this happen with a lot of lofi music I thought was gone. Worth double checking!

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  • BaroqueInMind@lemmy.one ⁨4⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago

    Yes, most Kindles allow you to load your own PDFs and .ebook files, so pirating them is inconsequential.

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    • accideath@lemmy.world ⁨4⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago

      I‘d recommend the software calibre. Great for managing your ebook library and it can convert epub into amazons azw, mobi or kfx formats (depending on which generation kindle you have). With the right plugin you can even create WordWise data for your kindle-converted ebooks.

      You don’t even necessarily need to illegally download the books, as calibre can also handle the DRM of .ebub books you bought from almost any store. Of course, sailing the seven seas is still always an option though.

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• AbouBenAdhem@lemmy.world ⁨4⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago

  There are also Kindle books sold without DRM at the request of the author.

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  • SatyrSack@feddit.org ⁨4⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago

    I know that would allow you to back up the ebook file elsewhere and use it however you please, but could Amazon still potentially delete the file from your Kindle device?

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    • AbouBenAdhem@lemmy.world ⁨4⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago

      I don’t know.

      You can put unmanaged files (in a readable format) onto a Kindle via USB, though, so if you’d backed up the file somewhere you could presumably put it back again.

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    • NuXCOM_90Percent@lemmy.zip ⁨4⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago

      Doesn’t even really let you do that.

      A “DRM Free” kindle ebook still basically requires a physical kindle (or shenanigans with apps) to even access the raw file of. If you just go to your content library to try and download it to transfer via USB you get told to pound sand and buy a kindle. That might change if you have a physical kindle registered to your account (I currently read exclusively via my phone and my onyx boox) but… yeah.

      And yeah, as long as it is in The Cloud, amazon can do whatever they want. I am not aware of having any books removed from my account but I do recall having the option to “upgrade” an ebook to a newer version in the case of publisher screw ups.

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  • southsamurai@sh.itjust.works ⁨4⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago

    Yup, mine are drm free.

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• mctoasterson@reddthat.com ⁨4⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago

  I am now of the opinion that you should just download books off indexing sites/IRC/ Usenet/torrents and if you like the book and want to support the author, buy a physical copy, or buy 2 and put one in a neighborhood free library. That maximizes the good you are doing and helps your community instead of just generating Bezos bux.

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  • Maggoty@lemmy.world ⁨4⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago

    Some authors straight up tell you where they get the most money for your purchase. Hardcopy is almost never it. But also those mini share libraries are cool and I like dropping sci fi books in.

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• caboose2006@lemmy.ca ⁨4⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago

  Jokes on you I pirates mine!

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  • roguetrick@lemmy.world ⁨4⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago

    "I’m aware, Amazon just hosts things I got from libgen and the #bookz underneath irc channel.

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• ieatpwns@lemmy.world ⁨4⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago

  Jokes on Amazon I can almost always find a copy of what ever book on libgen that I end up owning crazy how that works

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• EmperorHenry@discuss.tchncs.de ⁨4⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago

  yo ho yo ho…a pirate’s life for me…

  Sorry, what are we talking about?

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• madcaesar@lemmy.world ⁨4⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago

  Kobo and epub only. Anything else, you don’t own and you shouldn’t pay for it.

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  • humorlessrepost@lemmy.world ⁨4⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago

    [deleted]

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    • Appoxo@lemmy.dbzer0.com ⁨4⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago

      Is it an epub download? Anything else is DRM and thus useless.

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  • lastweakness@lemmy.world ⁨4⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago

    Technically, we’re one update away from Kobo taking our device away too. I do love my KOReader on my Clara 2E though

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    • madcaesar@lemmy.world ⁨4⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago

      Doesn’t matter. All my books are epub. If kobo starts eating dick, I go somewhere else.

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    • barsquid@lemmy.world ⁨4⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago

      I just want a nice eReader that I can put something like Alpine on.

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• FlyingSquid@lemmy.world ⁨4⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago

  I’ll just keep using my local public library.

  Most of them lend eBooks these days so I know I won’t get to keep them regardless, but I also don’t have to pay for them.

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  • kent_eh@lemmy.ca ⁨4⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago

    And the author is getting paid.

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• SplashJackson@lemmy.ca ⁨4⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago

  Throw the Kindle to the ground and get a Kobo, they let you pirate books a million times easier

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  • Boozilla@lemmy.world ⁨4⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago

    Happy Prime Day to the GROUND!

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• bokster@lemmy.sdf.org ⁨4⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago

  Duh. Same goes for Steam games and most of digital content.

  If you want to keep it, there’s usually always an option to sail the high seas.

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  • Noobnarski@lemmy.world ⁨4⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago

    Except Steam never deletes games that you already own or takes them away from you for other reasons.

    Yes, they could do that in the future but its the one company where that is unlikely.

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    • loutr@sh.itjust.works ⁨4⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago

      Yeah, while Gaben is still at the helm…

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    • Appoxo@lemmy.dbzer0.com ⁨4⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago

      Not Steam/Valve but others will surely try something.
      Example: Best case scenario happened to Rocket League.

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• scarabic@lemmy.world ⁨4⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago

  Any Kindle owner should go find out how easy it is to get library books on their Kindle. It’s totally the way to go. You don’t have to buy their shit and deal with their rules.

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  • SemioticStandard@lemmy.world ⁨4⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago

    Every single fucking time I try to get an ebook from my library there is a wait list weeks or even months long.

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    • scarabic@lemmy.world ⁨4⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago

      That’s a shame. They need more licenses per book, it sounds like. But at least your community is highly engaged with your library!

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• YeetPics@mander.xyz ⁨4⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago

  This is why I pirate my media, and you should too!

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  • finestnothing@lemmy.world ⁨4⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago

    Readarr + calibre makes it very convenient and easy (the rest of the arr suite is great for other forms of media too)

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    • BaroqueInMind@lemmy.one ⁨4⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago

      Too bad there’s no easy way for a tech illiterate dumb person such as myself to read a step-by-fucking-step instruction to get it all working for myself in an easy way.

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    • EncryptKeeper@lemmy.world ⁨4⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago

      Well, it would be if Readarr worked consistently.

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• M0oP0o@mander.xyz ⁨4⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago

  You are right I get my books for my kindle from torrents. I do not own them. I also don’t pay for them.

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• lightnsfw@reddthat.com ⁨4⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago

  I own the 1000s of ebooks I’ve downloaded to my personal media server.

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• Draconic_NEO@lemmy.world ⁨4⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago

  That’s why you shouldn’t buy books from Amazon or other online ebook stores instead just download the ePubs elsewhere.

  I’d also highly recommend KOreader if you have a Kindle or Ereader which supports it, as it supports many more formats and has a nice interface.

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  • AusatKeyboardPremi@lemmy.world ⁨4⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago

    Thank you for introducing me to KOReader and Kindle jailbreaking.

    Fortunately, the Kindle Paperwhite I use is no longer supported, and is compatible with few of the jailbreaks out there.

    A good rabbit to dive into over the weekend. :-)

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  • conciselyverbose@sh.itjust.works ⁨4⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago

    The interface is 100% of the reason I won’t use it. It’s by far the worst experience for navigating a library I’ve ever seen. It’s just access to your filesystem, except with effectively no files on the screen at all time.

    There’s no tags, no ability to choose between by author, series, publisher, genre, etc, just a really bad presentation of your filesystem.

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  • MonkderVierte@lemmy.ml ⁨4⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago

    [deleted]

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    • Draconic_NEO@lemmy.world ⁨4⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago

      Everyone is entitled to their own opinion. I personally like it, even so my main reason for recommending it is the fact that it has many features and supports a wide range of ebook formats, more than the stock Ereader apps usually do.

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• JackFrostNCola@lemmy.world ⁨4⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago

  Also to add that amazon has been caught encouraging users to “refund” e-books and purchase a different one, without telling users that these refunds are clawed back from the Authors.

  Then to double fuck the Authors they didnt give authors detailed statements - only payments of the monthly total, so any “refunds” were deducted from the total sales from that month and author paid the difference. This was only noticed when an author with an accounting/finance background noticed a negative payment statement one month and looked into this and found amazon routinely charging back authors, sometimes for multiple copies of ‘refunds’ that didnt actually take get refunded, straight up stealing from the Authors.

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• celsiustimeline@lemmy.dbzer0.com ⁨4⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago

  This should be like a PSA when signing up for internet service. Like, hello new internet user! Welcome to the glorious, uncensored world wide forum of information, of which there is a 30+ year established culture of lying and manipulation in order to get you to buy things and/or steal your information in order to advertise to you. By the by, should you sign up for one of the hundreds of content streaming services, YSK that none of the content is yours to own ever. If it’s not physically in your hands, it’s not yours.

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  • yonder@sh.itjust.works ⁨4⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago

    Even if you can physically hold it, you better be damn sure it will work without internet.

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• Corkyskog@sh.itjust.works ⁨4⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago

  Jokes on them, I have a Gen1 Kindle that won’t even connect to wifi.

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  • TrenchcoatFullofBats@belfry.rip ⁨4⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago

    My Gen 2 only had whispernet, which relied on the Sprint EVDO network, both of which no longer exist (the company and the network type).

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• HappyTimeHarry@lemm.ee ⁨1⁩ ⁨month⁩ ago

  Well I stole mine, I can always steal them again

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• TheEighthDoctor@lemmy.world ⁨4⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago

  I do, I get them directly from IRC

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  • Another_earthling@lemmy.world ⁨4⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago

    How lol Books are the only thing where I find it hard to … well, get a legal copy from cough

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    • TheEighthDoctor@lemmy.world ⁨4⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago

      IRCHighway channel #ebooks don’t use a web client, I won’t give you links but this should be enough to send you on your way

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• tibi@lemmy.world ⁨4⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago

  Amazon is on my shit list and will not buy any products from them ever again. They are one of the worst monopolist mega corporations. They treat their employees like slaves, are anti-repair, anti-consumer.

  I gifted an older Kindle to my sister, and the screen broke (out of warranty). I contacted Amazon about it, and they basically said they don’t make replacement parts and don’t service the kindles, they can only give me a small discount for buying a new one.

  I looked up a guide on doing it myself, and even if I find a replacement screen, it’s really difficult. The screen is glued with a strong adhesive. The entire device looks very cheaply built and deliberately made really difficult to repair.

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• nutsack@lemmy.world ⁨4⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago

  it’s the same with Google Books. you can’t copy text from the book you bought into your notes. i literally want to buy books for my research, but i cant use any of this shit.

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• neidu2@feddit.nl ⁨4⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago

  Damn right I don’t.

  Yarrrrrrr

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