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   Terence Eden (edent@mastodon.social)'s status on Sunday, 16-Feb-2025 01:09:00 JST Terence Eden

   It looks like Amazon are going to prevent Kindle users from downloading purchased books to transfer over USB.

   I assume this is to stop people stripping the DRM from the files.

   So now I'm looking at Kobo and trying to work out if their price-matching or VIP scheme is worth it.

   (No need to reply to me saying how evil Amazon are, thanks.)

   #Kindle #DRM #Kobo

   • Embed this notice
     Terence Eden (edent@mastodon.social)'s status on Sunday, 16-Feb-2025 01:08:59 JST Terence Eden

     in reply to

     Fair play, a few hours after I submitted the price match, Kobo credited my account.

     Looks like I'm switching my book buying!

     GreenSkyOverMe (Monika) repeated this.
   • Embed this notice
     Terence Eden (edent@mastodon.social)'s status on Sunday, 16-Feb-2025 01:08:59 JST Terence Eden

     in reply to

     To summarise:

     💶 Kobo will undercut Amazon Kindle pricing by 10%.
     📖 You can download regular ePubs from them; you don't need to use a Kobo device or app.
     🔓 DRM is trivial to strip.
     🔃 Calibre will convert to any other format if you want to read on a Kindle, Palm Pilot, or whatever.
     🧮 There is a loyalty point / discount scheme. But I'm not entirely sure it is worth it.

   • Embed this notice
     Terence Eden (edent@mastodon.social)'s status on Sunday, 16-Feb-2025 01:09:00 JST Terence Eden

     in reply to

     Kobo will price match Amazon - refunding the difference + 10% of the competitor's price.

     I found a Kobo book which was £4.99. Kindle was £4.31.

     So that would get me a credit of £1.11. Nice!

     Or, I can join the Kobo VIP scheme for £6/year. That comes with reward points and price discount.

     The VIP discount for that book takes it to £4.31. Same as Amazon.

     So, I *think* I'm better off getting the £1.11 discount (effective price £3.88).

     Anyone else done the maths on this?