Why I Prefer Sony 505 Over Kindle 2

[sirmaru]

Frankly, I do most of my reading on my 24" LDC Monitor of my PC. I use the Sony 505 to supplement that reading.

For some reason Amazon restricts their books to only being read on their Kindle 2 device. I cannot figure out why they do not supply a PC reader for Kindle books.

However, that being the case, I stick with Sony. If Amazon ever does provide a PC reader for use with their Kindle books, I may switch to them.

[Valloric]

Amazon books are basically Mobipocket books, and those have desktop readers. You just need to remove the DRM from those Amazon books and you're set. Just browse/search the mobipocket and Kindle forums here on MobileRead.

[daffy4u]

You don't have to post the same thing in multiple forums.

[Ervserver]

How are you able to read so much on a lcd? my eyes fatigue quickly just reading posts. I've been experimenting with color schemes trying to find something more comfortable

[sirmaru]

Originally Posted by Ervserver

How are you able to read so much on a lcd? my eyes fatigue quickly just reading posts. I've been experimenting with color schemes trying to find something more comfortable

I have an LCD HD 24" Monitor which has no glare like the conventional monitors. For me it is much better than the little screen on an eBook Reader.

So far as the Mobipocket and DRM removal solutions, I am that not the techy. I need an official Kindle PC Reader which is not supplied.

Does anyone know why it is not supplied by Amazon?

So far as the Multiple Posts, a Kindle Contest was posted here and I was forced to post this again in the Kindle Forum to enter the contest.

[Roy White]

I prefer the sony over the kindle for one reason and one reason only.... I dont HAVE a Kindle 2 yet Cuz of money!!! But I'm saving... I'm saving... I have serious Kindle lust!!!

[sigma8]

Originally Posted by Ervserver

How are you able to read so much on a lcd? my eyes fatigue quickly just reading posts. I've been experimenting with color schemes trying to find something more comfortable

It might be your monitor? Does it use LED's for the backlights? When you have an LED monitor at less than 100% brightness, it dims the LED's via a high frequency flickering (only way to do it). Some people are sensitive to that.

Even with flourescent-bulb backlights, they can get flickery. I have one that does and it drives me insane to read it for more than a few minutes.

If you can get your hands on one (maybe borrow someone's laptop for an hour or something), try using a new, matte (non-glossy) screen at 100% brightness, in a brightly lit area. See if that's better.

IMO, the liquid crystals are fine. The only issues with the crystals are viewing angle related. That's generally not a problem when you're sitting in front of them at a desk. It's the backlights that get ya, and the quality (and qualities) of backlights can be highly variable.

Oh, and glare, of course.. Darn those new glossy screens. What is the world thinking?

[Harmon]

That's a very interesting piece of information. Since I've gravitated to a Sony 505, I haven't thought much about the K2, other than the eReader itself. So I hadn't realized that there's no dedicated Amazon reading program for computers.

Checking over Amazon, it doesn't appear to me that you can buy a Kindle Book without owning a Kindle. That, too, is interesting. I assume that if you own a Kindle, you can download the book from Amazon via Whispernet, then attach the K2 to your computer and manually move the book on to your computer.

But why wouldn't Amazon let you download the book to your computer first - particularly since there are some parts of the country that Whispernet apparently doesn't reach? And taking into account that there actually are some people who prefer reading on the computer itself. The downloading part shouldn't be hard, since you can download mp3s and movies from Amazon.

So...you have to assume that Amazon affirmatively does not want the Kindle books to reside on people's computers. What occurs to me is that maybe they are afraid that we Sony people will buy the K books, strip the DRM, and...um...read them or something equally nefarious.

This is kind of related to another question I've had on my mind, which is, why doesn't Amazon sell eBooks in multiple formats? Putting aside the Sony format, there are other DRM formats out there, aren't there? And for that matter, with all the books in the public domain that Amazon has Kindlized, why don't they sell those books in some open format as well? I'm sure some people would buy them just for the convenience. I know I'd pay a couple or three bucks for public domain books in order to avoid having to play around getting them into a readable format.

I have read posts that suggest that Amazon is trying to follow Apple's model with the iPod, but viewed objectively, the two companies seem to me to be mirror images. The way I figure it, Amazon is in the book business, not the Kindle business, just as Apple is not in the music business, but in the iPod business. So it would seem logical that Amazon would be selling as many different eformats as they could, in order to sell eBooks.

But they seem to think they are in the Kindle business. This is the only thing that seems to explain why they don't make a computer based eReader for Kindle books. They genuinely want to limit the sale of their eBooks to the people who have bought Kindles.

You would think that Sony/Borders would be trying to take advantage of this by selling multiple formatted eBooks themselves. And maybe they do - I use a Mac so I'm barred from browsing the ebook section of the S/B bookstore. But I have to say that the S/B implementation of the eBook buying experience is rather stupid, since it sets up barriers to buying not merely for Mac users, but for anyone who is faced with downloading and learning yet another computer program just to buy an eBook.

But anyway, I hadn't realized that basically, Amazon doesn't want anyone reading their books on the computer, while Sony does. But at the same time, neither Amazon nor Sony want me to read their books on my Mac. Fortunately for me, I don't, either. But I will say that if Sony gave me the ability to use my Mac to buy books from the S/B bookstore, I'd probably buy a few in eBook form that I will wind up buying from my friendly local used book store in pBook form. Because I'm not inclined to buy pBooks from either Amazon or Borders these days.

[daffy4u]

I just tackle a few of your points.

Originally Posted by Harmon

That's a very interesting piece of information. Since I've gravitated to a Sony 505, I haven't thought much about the K2, other than the eReader itself. So I hadn't realized that there's no dedicated Amazon reading program for computers.

Checking over Amazon, it doesn't appear to me that you can buy a Kindle Book without owning a Kindle. That, too, is interesting. I assume that if you own a Kindle, you can download the book from Amazon via Whispernet, then attach the K2 to your computer and manually move the book on to your computer.

You are correct that you must have a Kindle registered to your Amazon account in order to buy Kindle books. You don't have to transfer a book from your Kindle to your computer. You can download it directly to your computer.

But why wouldn't Amazon let you download the book to your computer first - particularly since there are some parts of the country that Whispernet apparently doesn't reach? And taking into account that there actually are some people who prefer reading on the computer itself. The downloading part shouldn't be hard, since you can download mp3s and movies from Amazon.

For people who are not in a Whsipernet area, content can be downloaded to a computer and transferred to the Kindle Via USB. For people who prefer reading on the computer, there are other ebook sellers where they can purchase content to read on the appropriate desktop reader.

So...you have to assume that Amazon affirmatively does not want the Kindle books to reside on people's computers. What occurs to me is that maybe they are afraid that we Sony people will buy the K books, strip the DRM, and...um...read them or something equally nefarious.

Kindle owners can do the same thing.

This is kind of related to another question I've had on my mind, which is, why doesn't Amazon sell eBooks in multiple formats? Putting aside the Sony format, there are other DRM formats out there, aren't there? And for that matter, with all the books in the public domain that Amazon has Kindlized, why don't they sell those books in some open format as well? I'm sure some people would buy them just for the convenience. I know I'd pay a couple or three bucks for public domain books in order to avoid having to play around getting them into a readable format.

I have no answer on why Amazon does not sell ebooks in other formats. I do know that every format except .lrx can be converted for use on the Kindle. You should check out MobleRead's library as well as Feedbooks.com and Manybooks.net for FREE public domain books formatted for your particular reader.

[pilotbob]

You can d/l the book to the computer yes. But, you can not read it on the computer. I think that was the point/issue that OP was making.

BOb

[julia103]

Originally Posted by Harmon

I know I'd pay a couple or three bucks for public domain books in order to avoid having to play around getting them into a readable format.

Have you looked at the ebooks available here at MobileRead? A lot of the folks who post here have already formatted public domain books in multiple formats, including the Sony-specific LRF. And they're free!

You would think that Sony/Borders would be trying to take advantage of this by selling multiple formatted eBooks themselves. And maybe they do - I use a Mac so I'm barred from browsing the ebook section of the S/B bookstore.

No, the Sony bookstore only sells in one format, and those books are designed to only be read with the Sony software.

[Harmon]

Originally Posted by pilotbob

You can d/l the book to the computer yes. But, you can not read it on the computer. I think that was the point/issue that OP was making.

BOb

If you can get your Kbook onto your computer, can't you read it in caliber? or Stanza Desktop? Both seem to be able to handle the format.

[gwynevans]

Originally Posted by Harmon

If you can get your Kbook onto your computer, can't you read it in caliber? or Stanza Desktop? Both seem to be able to handle the format.

I'd expect that they'd only be able to display it after you've stripped the DRM protection of it. My understanding is that it's possible to do that with the majority of Kbooks, although not all, as some use an alternative form of DRM that's not been broken. I've no idea about the legality of such an action though.

[Harmon]

Originally Posted by gwynevans

I'd expect that they'd only be able to display it after you've stripped the DRM protection of it. My understanding is that it's possible to do that with the majority of Kbooks, although not all, as some use an alternative form of DRM that's not been broken. I've no idea about the legality of such an action though.

Ah, yes, that pesky DRM. I read a post recently about viruses in eBooks, and someone remarked that DRM was the only virus he was aware of.

All the different formats are bad enough, but DRM just makes it worse. My sense of it is that DRM only retards the development of a profitable eBook market, second only to how much eReaders cost.

[daffy4u]

Originally Posted by Harmon

If you can get your Kbook onto your computer, can't you read it in caliber? or Stanza Desktop? Both seem to be able to handle the format.

No, neither Calibre nor Stanza can read DRM'd Kindle .azw files. You would have to remove the DRM in order to read Kindle books on any desktop reader.