Tag: drm

  • Using iTunes Match to get rid of DRM-protected music

    Want to finally get rid of those low quality, DRM infested music tracks you bought from iTunes back before DRM free tracks arrived? Now you can. When the iTunes Store first opened for business back in 2003, all the music tracks were locked up with a digital rights management (or DRM) scheme called “Fairplay” to…

  • Google eBooks review: Liked the rough edge, not much else

    Google’s long-awaited electronic bookstore has finally arrived with the promise of great “openness” for all. But in the end, Google’s offering is merely another in a long line of ebook platforms that offers some pluses and minuses but in no way, shape or form revolutionizes the market. Whether you want to talk about pricing, selection,…

  • Free Kindle apps getting magazines, lending coming too

    I’m not sure what Kindle whiners are going to have left to whine about by next year (well, yes I do, DRM, but I digress…). Some big news emerged on Amazon’s Kindle discussion board the other day. First, the Kindle team revealed that you’re soon going to be able to read electronic newspapers and magazines…

  • Apple still isn’t going to kill Amazon’s Kindle, or any other ereader

    Steve Jobs’ latest mouthing off about the market for electronic books and dedicated ereader devices like the Amazon Kindle has sparked the usual conflagration of comments, interpretations and predictions. Some are way off-base, others quite savvy. But after seeing a bit on Techcrunch claiming that everyone was misinterpreting Jobs, it seems like some further clarity…

  • Sony Reader adds some brilliant features, 3 years late

    Almost three years ago, Sony unveiled the first version of its electronic book reader, dubbed, excitingly enough, the Reader. As I predicted at the time (Short-tailed Sony reader needs a much longer one), the device bombed because it was a product in search of a need. The Reader didn’t offer enough (if any) advantages over…

  • Yes, Virginia, the Barnes & Noble ebookstore is a Good Thing

    Yesterday, I took a whack at explaining why Barnes & Nobles new online ebook store would turn up the competitive pressure on Amazon’s Kindle world and, more than likely, benefit consumers. But now at least two prominent ebook bloggers are disputing the notion that the new Barnes & Noble ebook store provides important competition for…

  • Barnes & Noble eBook Store Great News For Consumers

    Book retailing titan Barnes & Noble has been building its electronic book sales effort this year with some haste, likely hoping to slow the growing momentum of Amazon’s Kindle before it becomes unstoppable. In March, Barnes & Noble bought Fictionwise, maker of a popular ebook reader app for the iPhone and proprietor of several popular…

  • Amazon really blowing it with Kindle DRM

    The other day, I posted about some of the idiotic and inadequately disclosed limitations built into almost every electronic book sold by Amazon in their Kindle store. These limits, enforced by so-called Digital Rights Management, or DRM, software, can dramatically effect the way consumers view Kindle ebooks. And they make complete hash of the argument…

  • Despite complaints and DRM, Kindle is a good value

    I’m starting to see signs that Amazon has successfully injected some major mojo behind its Kindle electronic book program. Dare we call them green shoots? This morning, publisher, blogger and Chris Anderson-fill-in Rex Hammock had a great post up about how his Kindle was aiding his effort to re-read David Foster Wallace’s massive novel Infinite…

  • Scary complaints mounting about Amazon Kindle’s DRM (Updated)

    I’m a big fan of Amazon’s electronic reader, the Kindle, but I have to admit that stories about the digital rights management software embedded in Kindle books are starting to make me very nervous. Digital rights management, or DRM, is the euphemism for restrictive software limits that copyright owners frequently require in digitally licensed versions…