Not so fast
In my previous post on ‘ebook displays’ (for won’t of a better term) I forgot to mention the important bit. You buy a real book and you can read it anywhere you like. Not so with an ebook. There is the dreaded DRM (digital rights management) to battle with. I know an ipod has it when you buy music from itunes but I can’t see me changing from itunes at any point soon and I’m more inclined to rip a CD from Tesco’s than download an MP3. Plus my mum was adding music to her Nano the day it arrived even though they only had the computer. That alone makes the ipod/itunes combo a good deal. And they’ve kept the prices low.
The same can’t be said for an ebook. You can’t rip a book the same as a CD so you’re left with the download only option and you have a variety of formats to choose from. The Irex Iliad (and the Cybook Gen3 how did I miss this?) use Mobipocket for their DRM books. Sony Reader is exclusive to Sony Connect. Amazon Kindle is exclusive to Amazon.com (even though it owns Mobipocket!). Not one of them (as far as I can tell) supports Adobe or Microsoft ebook formats (the main ones on WHSmith’s eBookshop).
On top of that I’ve just looked at some prices. It’s just me I’m sure and might be why I’m not a big downloader from itunes (I only get the occasional single) is that if I’m going to spend £8.99 on a CD I’d rather have something for my money rather than a file on my computer and if I’m going to spend £18.99 (£11.00 on Amazon) on the latest William Gibson (which is selling as an ebook for $25.95) I want a nice big hardback.
