I've been reading about problems of DRM and e-books for some time here and of course here. I love e-books, but I avoid "secure" e-books , a lesson learned through hard experience. When I was new to the technology, I purchased a few secure books in Microsoft Reader format, and a few days later my pda somehow de-authorized itself and I could no longer access them. I spent hours on the phone to some of the politest people in the world (in India, I believe) and they couldn't solve the problem. Now, of course, Microsoft doesn't even offer tech support for its reader (and I've switched to Mobipocket and purchase only multiformat books).
Recently, I lived my own e-book horror story: I needed Robert's Rules of Order in order to deal with a problem on a faculty senate committee. My copy was at home, I was in the office, and I didn't have time to travel to the library or bookstore, obtain a copy, travel
back to my office, and deal with the RRO problem before my meeting.
No
problem, I thought, I'll buy an e-copy. I'm sure I can find one and download it in minutes..
I figured it was worth owning an e-copy in addition to my print copy because I could keep RRO handy on my pda at every committee meeting and eventually become that crotchety faculty member who brings all business to a halt by saying things like, "No, no, no! You must not discuss that motion until it has been seconded!"
Sadly, the latest version of RRO is only available in Secure Adobe format. I hadn't yet downloaded Adobe Reader (I hate cluttering up my pda memory), but I do get a slight discount here because I'm a member of the BuyWise club. Also, a former grad school prof has just written a book that's available in Secure Adobe format, so maybe I would purchase that book, too.
Next step: download the software. I located the free Adobe Reader 2.0 software and tried to install it on my pda. After working for 5-10 minutes, the installer informed me that it had failed because I had Adobe Acrobat 1.0 already installed on my ppc. I was told to uninstall Acrobat using my ppc Remove Programs feature.
So, I ran Remove Programs, and Acrobat was quickly uninstalled except for a few files/folders that I was instructed to remove using File Explorer. I removed those files and folders, confirmed that Adobe Acrobat appeared in no menus whatsoever on my pda. Check. Tried again to install Adobe Reader.
This time I got a message telling me I had to UNinstall the Reader from my desktop, where had installed itself first before trying to go to my pda. OK--did that.
Then, again I tried to install Reader. Again, I got an error message because supposedly Acrobat was on my pda. Again, I checked for evidence of the program on my pda and found none.
People, this cycle happened THREE MORE TIMES. I never was able to solve it. Thank goodness I'd never actually purchased that e-book! I'd have wasted my $9.34.
Finally, in my remaining few desperate moments before my meeting, I called my husband, interrupting something important to make him search the house for my book and look up the information I needed. Fortunately he was able to rescue me . . . and my committee problem was eventually solved.
So there you have it. I recognized the ideal situation for an e-book, I readied my credit card to make the purchase, and instead all I got was a techno-hassle. Plus I no longer have Adobe Acrobat on my pda, so I will be cursing again when I need it and have to reinstall. Assuming that the installer doesn't also insist it is still there..
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