I can’t help but always worry that one day I’ll need paper books. I don’t know what it is, but I feel like I should start collecting paper books instead of every single book I have is on my Kobo. Which do you do? If you get paper books, is there a source that sells cheaper books. Books are kind of pricey where I look.

  • helmet91@lemmy.world
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    2 days ago

    I prefer ePub. Much more convenient for me than a paper book.

    • I simply don’t have the space to physically store a lot of paper books
    • It’s much easier to bring my Kobo with me when commuting or traveling
    • Much easier for me to buy eBooks than physical books
    • Even though I’ve been having my device for like 8 years, I’m still fascinated by how cool the e-ink display is

    On the other hand, paper books have only one thing to offer that sometimes holds:

    • They’re all DRM-free, while some eBooks I’ve been wanting to buy are DRM-enshittified. Still hasitating about those, as I’m not willing to spend money on such books.
    • ZapBeebz_@lemmy.world
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      2 days ago

      I’ve recently bought a Kobo, and had great success removing the DRM from my Kindle library, then loading all my books there onto my Kobo. Just food for thought that such a thing is possible

      • helmet91@lemmy.world
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        2 days ago

        I don’t know, there are a couple of books that have Adobe DRM on them at every bookstore where I found the book.

        Are you saying, it’s possible to get Amazon books onto a non-Kindle device? That’s actually pretty much the only bookstore where I never looked at before.

        • penquin@lemm.eeOP
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          2 days ago

          Unpopular take and I might get beaten up for it, but if you have already paid for the book and you can’t take it with you because it has DRM, then IMHO, it’s ok to pirate it. You paid for it, it’s yours and they’re taking it away from you because you chose not to use their device.

          • conciselyverbose@sh.itjust.works
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            20 hours ago

            I don’t feel super bad about acquiring ebooks if I have a physical copy either. I legitimately own a lot of content, including both a physical hardcover and an audiobook in many cases. If I want use margin notes on thinking fast and slow when I have the other two copies, I’m just going to.

            • penquin@lemm.eeOP
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              2 days ago

              100%. I’d like to support people who work hard on their products, but corporations love to be the unnecessary middleman that enshitifactes things along the way.

              • ZapBeebz_@lemmy.world
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                2 days ago

                When my grandmother passed, my grandfather took most of her books to her favorite local buy/sell/trade bookstore and got a pile of store credit for my brother and I. It took us over a decade to spend it all, and we probably only had $300 or $400 in that account to start with. But the store sold most books for less than $5. Amazon is out here charging $25 for a 40 year-old book as an ebook, and there’s no equivalent to buy/sell/trade secondhand bookstores in the ebook space.

                • penquin@lemm.eeOP
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                  2 days ago

                  I’m sorry for your loss first <3
                  Second, is this store available around the states (assuming you’re from the USA)? That also reminded me of a store near me that sells discounted books. Also, fuck Amazon. They ruined the book industry, they’ll never receive a single penny for me on any book.

        • mesamune@lemmy.world
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          2 days ago

          yep you can go into the order page and get the ebook in their format. Then go to calibre (or other such tools) and export it as an ebook.

          From then on, enjoy your de-drm reading!

        • conciselyverbose@sh.itjust.works
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          2 days ago

          Unfortunately, the easiest way is to have an old kindle on your account with DRM that’s been beaten. Then you can download the files like you’re going to copy them via USB to that device, and use that device’s serial with the de-DRM calibre extension and it’s pretty easy.

          I haven’t found an equally effective way without it, though I haven’t looked as much as the first method works for me.

          You can rip Audible audiobooks with Libation. It’s not applicable to ebooks, but worth just tacking on since we’re on the subject of Amazon lock-in.

          • ZapBeebz_@lemmy.world
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            2 days ago

            The method I used actually (currently) doesn’t require a physical Kindle. I just had to download a specific version of Kindle for PC (Version 2.3.70682) and was able to quickly and easily use the Calibre extension to remove the DRM.

            I’m not super confident it’ll always work, so I’m not planning on buying more books from Amazon, but it’s a good solution to pull my existing library into the ePub world.

      • helmet91@lemmy.world
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        2 days ago

        In my use case it doesn’t have any relevance, as my device lasts for months with one charge. During that timespan I have plenty of opportunities to charge.

        • penquin@lemm.eeOP
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          2 days ago

          Which device is that? My Kobo sage needs charge every 3 days or so and that’s the only thing I dislike about it. They messed up big time for not making the battery bigger on it.

          • mesamune@lemmy.world
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            2 days ago

            Some of the original kindles had ridiculous battery life without a backlight and turning off the wifi. Wifi and backlight kills most ebook readers.

            I still have my kindle from a long time ago and it still gets around a week of battery life. I also have a kobo (because the kindle has some blotches on the screen) and it works wonderfully. It can work for about a week with heavy reading…but only if the backlight is mostly off and wifi is off.

            • penquin@lemm.eeOP
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              2 days ago

              I always have the backlight off, but I need to turn off the WiFi then to see. I thought koreader turns off wifi automatically, but I’ll double check