Monday, October 10, 2005
WM5 Pocket PCs Cannot Read DRMed MS Reader eBooks
Posted by Janak Parekh in "NEWS" @ 03:00 PM
A reader submitted the following disturbing "news" tidbit to us:
I made a couple of inquiries, and yes, this is apparently an issue (non-phone WM5 devices as well, apparently, according to comments in the thread). Simple moral of the story? I would not buy MS Reader ebooks in the immediate future. If you've got DRMed ebooks, well, I can't offer any legal recourse at this time.
:soapbox: Complex moral? Ed's ranted about this before, and I will too. It seems like Microsoft Reader is an afterthought at this point. In retrospect, I shouldn't have been surprised. Reader isn't the responsibility of the Mobile Devices team -- it's a completely separate group within Microsoft -- and with the lukewarm reception of ebooks (due to publisher reticence, DRM complications, and a number of other factors), I wouldn't be surprised if it just stops being maintained completely some day. I had high hopes for Reader -- of all the ebook tools out there I liked its typography the best -- but as soon as I saw Reader not present in 2003SE's ROM I stopped using it, and now primarily use MobiPocket (the fact that MobiPocket has a Smartphone reader also helped my decision), and buy from Fictionwise, which offers ebooks in multiple formats. Ed is a big fan of eReader, and I can see why: very simple DRM that's not tied to the device or to an online login system. I've used eReader too, and if you don't need a Smartphone reader app, it's a great choice. All of these companies live and die by their ebook sales, so you know they're going to try their best to make ebooks work. In comparison, I would not buy .LIT files at this point even if I were reimbursed 100% of their cost -- the hassle is simply not worth it.
Quote: I think it's important that you make your readers aware that all secure MS-Reader ebooks are impossible to read on WM5 Phone Edition devices, due to a DRM issue. This was confirmed by me and several of my friends who purchased WM5 PPC phones...
I made a couple of inquiries, and yes, this is apparently an issue (non-phone WM5 devices as well, apparently, according to comments in the thread). Simple moral of the story? I would not buy MS Reader ebooks in the immediate future. If you've got DRMed ebooks, well, I can't offer any legal recourse at this time.
:soapbox: Complex moral? Ed's ranted about this before, and I will too. It seems like Microsoft Reader is an afterthought at this point. In retrospect, I shouldn't have been surprised. Reader isn't the responsibility of the Mobile Devices team -- it's a completely separate group within Microsoft -- and with the lukewarm reception of ebooks (due to publisher reticence, DRM complications, and a number of other factors), I wouldn't be surprised if it just stops being maintained completely some day. I had high hopes for Reader -- of all the ebook tools out there I liked its typography the best -- but as soon as I saw Reader not present in 2003SE's ROM I stopped using it, and now primarily use MobiPocket (the fact that MobiPocket has a Smartphone reader also helped my decision), and buy from Fictionwise, which offers ebooks in multiple formats. Ed is a big fan of eReader, and I can see why: very simple DRM that's not tied to the device or to an online login system. I've used eReader too, and if you don't need a Smartphone reader app, it's a great choice. All of these companies live and die by their ebook sales, so you know they're going to try their best to make ebooks work. In comparison, I would not buy .LIT files at this point even if I were reimbursed 100% of their cost -- the hassle is simply not worth it.
