How Can I Read iBooks on my Laptop?

As Tom asked, please provide the title of at least one copy-protected book purchased from the iBooks Store which you are able to open via the Adobe Digital Editions app. Note that the free books from Project Gutenberg available from the iBooks Store are not copy protected, so being able to open them with ADR is not the issue at question.

i purchased 3 books, they are not free.. bottom line not here to argue, in the time you sent me this you could have tried the solution.. im hear reading a book now, please if ypu just want tp argue bother someone else..

dennisfromkenmore wrote:

in the time you sent me this you could have tried the solution.

I told you already I have tried your solution and it does not work. If I open a purchased book from the iBookstore I only get blank pages. Please provide a title so I can duplicate your experience. In the last 18 months, none of the people who have posted your solution here has ever been able to provide a title. You will make history by being the first.

The title of the post is "How can I Read iBooks on my Laptop" perhaps you would like to change it to "How can I read DRM'd books purchased from iTunes and only iTunes and we don't want to hear from anyone about other possible solutions"

Tom and Dave, there really is no need to be rude and condescending, I got here through an Internet search for information about eBooks and iTunes. So while these solutions may not fulfill YOUR needs they may be quite valid and useful to others.

I would also like to point out that there are books available on iTunes, other than Project Gutenberg books, that can be used and read with these methods, a specific example is:

"iPhone User Guide for iOS 5"

This book is quite useful on the desktop screen as I am using the iPhone to implement the information therein. Note that the aforementioned book is free and does not appear to have any DRM attached.

The original poster was asking about how to read non-free iBooks - Sleeptite asking about purchased books - on a computer, and that was answered long ago. All this subsequent discussion is both irrelevant to the original discussion and is in many cases inaccurate. If you want to consider our replies to such misinformation to be "condescending", you're free to do so.

Questions about how to open iBooks that are not copy protected or other formats of e-books would be best taken up in a new thread.

here to end this, Tom and Dave , ever wonder why maybe no one responds to your request, fisrtd of all I am using this out of itunes and here is one of the books purchased , not that is any of your business, the fact I stated I purchased a book and read them in the system I explaine on a laptop and on a palm pre and desktoip using this softwar and the books are on my itues should have surficed, after I am done sending this going to file a complaint against you too, like if all we have it time to argue with people who cant read, so why buy any books?. and I agree with JJordan the sailor, if you would have read the original post this was what others were discussing and is how I found the reader, it said some books had issues but most worked and sincew I have an updated fle it works, Now good day, if you cant understand anymore that what is been written, then dont bother buying any books, since that would show you cant read!

As both Tom and I have said, we have been unable to get Adobe Digital Editions to open any copy-protected book purchased from the iTunes Store via the iBooks app. We have asked you to provide the title of a book from the iTunes Store (and one for iBooks, not a ePub book packaged and sold in an app wrapper) for which the ADE reader has worked so that we can try to see why it might work for some, if your claim is correct, and not for others. It seems a simple-enough request to me. Why you feel the need to start insulting us is beyond me.

And if you read, the entire thread, you'll see that Tom was the first to post in this thread, a year and a half before you jumped in, so it should be clear that Tom, at least, as completely clear on what was being discussed.

File a complaint all you want. And don't bother to respond unless you're willing to have a civil discourse about the matter.

dennisfromkenmore wrote:

here is one of the books purchased

Sorry, I could not see the title of any book in your post.

It's well-established for a long time now that nobody can read the best sellers and other DRM'd ibooks they buy from the iBookstore on their Mac or PC. That means they should buy them somewhere else if they want to do that. Also it means that Apple owes its users an iBooks app for OS X. So when you suggest that all users have to do is get ADE and this problem will go away, without any way for others to replicate your experience, it can be really misleading and unhelpful.

Well, its an annoyance which stops me from buying any iBooks. I was offered a free iBook from a Publisher to review and accepted, thinking I could at least read it on my PC. Downloaded it and installed iTunes only to find I cannot. Embarassing to say the least as I had to go back to the Publisher and say mea culpa, I cannot read it - and its only available in English in iBooks.

Ah well, at least I can read Kindle books on a PC

nigelfromhelsinki wrote:

Ah well, at least I can read Kindle books on a PC

Or Nook or Kobo or Googlebooks I think.

It seems to me that the Publisher should have been able to find a way to send you a copy of the epub without DRM for your reviewing purposes.

This is why I never bought an iPod, and never bought a song from iTunes. It just always rubbed me wrong that iTunes purchases could only be used on Apple devices.

I just got my first iPhone (I use the Rhapsody app for my music; I still refuse to use iTunes) and made the mistake of buying a few iBooks. Never again. The Kindle app looks like the way to go.

DCU4Life wrote:

It just always rubbed me wrong that iTunes purchases could only be used on Apple devices.

iTunes for Windows was released in October of 2003.

You're missing the point. Back when iTunes only sold proprietary DRM music, the only PORTABLE device that would play the songs were iPods. Why should I be locked into one brand of hardware to play my music collection? That's like saying that my CDs purchased back in the day at Best Buy would only play on Best Buy brand CD players. Not cool. It looks like iBooks is operating the exact same way. I just don’t agree that legally purchased content should be held hostage by a single hardware provider.

And before you call me some late arriving curmudgeon, I've been buying music online legally long before iTunes ever existed.

DCU4Life wrote:

It looks like iBooks is operating the exact same way.

Not exactly, since there is a lot of Apple hardware on which you cannot read any purchased ibooks (the topic of this thread), It will be interesting to see if Apple will produce an ibooks app for os x, windows, and android. The iBookstore is at a huge disadvantage compared to rivals as long as it does not.

Tom Gewecke wrote:

Not exactly, since there is a lot of Apple hardware on which you cannot read any purchased ibooks (the topic of this thread)

True, which is even worse than the old iTunes DRM music days. Not to mention just plain odd.

Tom Gewecke wrote:

The iBookstore is at a huge disadvantage compared to rivals as long as it does not.

Agreed. I'm just kicking myself for not looking into this shortcoming before buying a few books, especially since I was keenly aware of Apple's history of locking their DRM media into their hardware. Shame on me. At the same time I'm glad I only purchased 3 titles before discovering the issue. We'll all hope for the best in the long run.