The Sony ReaderHere. Alas, writer Terry Teachout misses out on details such as the inability of the Sony Reader to read DRMed PDF. If you want the big best-sellers, you’ll be a captive of the Sony store. As for obscure writers selling their works directly–well, it will be interesting to see how well Sony plays up these e-books, or whether in some cases it sells them at all. (Via Brian at MobileRead.)

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2 COMMENTS

  1. “If you want the big best-sellers, you’ll be a captive of the Sony store.”

    As long as the device supports some sort of open format, whether it be PDF, HTML, RTF or even plain text, there will always be an alternative method of getting the “big best-sellers” to which you refer onto the device. And while such a method might not be legal (because of the need for circumvention) I don’t see it as a problem. Heck, it’s (still) illegal to rip CDs and put them on your computer or portable media player over here in the UK, but I’ve never heard of anyone getting prosecuted for it.

  2. Thanks, Dan. (1) Most users will lack the ability to do the conversion. (2) Due to the Hollywood-bought DMCA in the States, yes, this stuff is illegal here. But your suggestion is certainly excellent for people outside the States and other countries with DMCA-style laws. This is one reason why I cherish posts and comments by folks outside the States. Thanks again! David

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