Q: How Can I Read iBooks on my Laptop?

Scratch that, Just finished reading the T&C's  no removal as part of the agreement we have with iTunes.

So, looks like we are stuck with buying non-DRM books only.

From T&C's

You acknowledge that any iBookstore Product purchased on a computer will not be viewable on any computer, and will be viewable only on an iOS device with compatible software.

So, until iBooks for Mac and/or Windows comes out...  'nuff said.

JaneTeis wrote:

 

Are you all saying that I can only read copyprotected books only on my iTouch?!!! Oh, boy.

Every single purchase page at iTunes tells you in the Requirements section that an iOS device is required.  If you want to read paid-for books on your OS X machine, you should buy them from another source and use the free ereader apps they provide (kindle, nook, kobo, googlebooks).

Thank you for responding "freshly" to my question without criticism, I  appreciate it (Padraig, and Tom Gewecke)! I was worried after reading some earlier comments in this thread.

Of course there are check boxes stating our Agreement, but many of us are not aware of the limitations until AFTER the purchase. I abide by the Agreement, I just wanted to know for sure. Also, it would be nice to be able to read an iBook on both type of devices. But I don't want to have to buy the book twice.

It seems inconsistent to me that some EPUB books can be read on the iMac and some cannot. Anyhow, maybe someday that will change. I guess I will have to read my iBook purchases on my iTouch until I buy an iPad. Not all of us can afford to buy ALL the latest and greatest.

JaneTeis wrote:

 

It seems inconsistent to me that some EPUB books can be read on the iMac and some cannot.

I doubt there is anyone anywhere who would disagree with you.  Why Apple has failed to issue the iBooks app for OS X during the last 18 months is a total mystery.  Maybe they will say something tomorrow at the big "textbooks" event....

Does anyone know the technical specifics of what DRM scheme is being used by the iTunes epub format? I'm aware of at least two that are apparently standardized. One is used by Adobe, and one by Barnes & Noble. Does iTunes use a completely different scheme? For the DRM used by Barnes & Noble epub books, there's a DRM key which is based on the credit card number used to purchase the book originally. If iTunes DRM is implemented similarly, and the key can be identified, it may be possible to adapt some of the publicly available epub readers to access this content.

Thoughts?

John McCash

Hi John,

I have been following some of the legal wrangles here in Europe and know that they may use "Fairplay" for music DRM, might be the same for ebooks.

I have been reading thru the T&Cs for iTunes since I stumbled across this thread and have copied in the section, which I think relevant to your question.

--snippet--

You agree not to violate, circumvent, reverse-engineer, decompile, disassemble, or otherwise tamper with any element of the Security Framework

-blah-blah-

You agree not to access the Service by any means other than through use of software provided by Apple Inc. or its affiliated group companies (“Apple”) for accessing the Service. You agree not to modify the software that is provided by Apple to access the Service in any manner or form, or to use modified versions of the software, for any purposes including obtaining unauthorised access to the Service

-- end snippet --

From that, I would assume that there is a requirement to get your key from their (Apple's) Security Service, which does seem to suggest that there is a Apple specific DRM scheme in use.  And that they would take "umbrage" at using a 3rd-party reader.

Pádraig

Apple  uses its FairPlay DRM as described by Pádraig and no other reader can be adapted to read stuff protected by it.

I had the same problem except my purchased book from ibook was not downloading on my iphone either as it said it was protected.  I contacted Apple and they have reversed the charges.  I am still not happy that i cant read the book but at least i didnt loose money.   If any of you guys have issues like that go complain to them as they might finally realise that there is a big issue with this.

Good luck all

Kitzy

In my college information design classes, I have a saying I give to all my students: the biggest problem with placing barriers on users is that the barriers really work.

As an author and college instructor, for me to seriously consider iBook Author, there needs to be an iBook Reader for MacOS.

Having my students, who are on MacBook Pros, excluded from reading my book is a complete barrier to entry.

100% of my students have MacBook Pros and 0% have iPads. (They absolutely need laptops, and can't afford both a laptop and an iPad. Nor would they tolerate carrying both devices anyway.)

So it's pointless for me to develop a textbook in iBook Author.

It's less than ideal to have content that is specific to one company.

But it's completely unworkable for me to have my material limited to one device.

How do I un-subscribe from notifications from this thread? I posted one reply, my post was deleted due to allegedly promoting pirace (which was not true) and now I am stuck with receiving updates to this thread.

hi threesixty,

unless You put DRM on the book, I think it would be readable by one and all.  As i previuosly mentioned, i purchased 4 books from the bookstore via ibooks that were DRM free, by an author called Michael McCloskey.  iBook Author should allow you to create nonDRM works, I am not 100% certain, but will investigate. 

Pádraig

hi threesixty,

So I downloaded iBooks Author and had a play. I was able to export and open an ibook in calibre, but all the lovely formatting was removed.  Export to PDF is available, which does produced a nice usable document.

Another option is to try Sigil. I use this little product to create my epub format ebooks, which are readble by most third party apps/readers.

Pádraig

I finally found a more-or-less authoritative reference to iBooks DRM; The Apprentice Alf blog at

http://apprenticealf.wordpress.com/

From this source, it apears that iBooks use a variant of Apple Fairplay DRM, and there's currently no known way to do anything with them on non iOS devices.

Oh well, at least now I know.

John McCash

As a college professor who travels and works in multiple locations, I need to access my books from various sources.When home, on the couch, my iPad is preffered. But in my office or a meeting where I am writing or producing content, the iPad is not feesible. 

My students are the same: most have Mac laptops, and cannot afford to own or carry both a laptop and iPad.

So, I buy my books from Amazon.  Always. And I recommend the same to the students.

I can buy music or video via iPad and play such on my computer. Why not books?

Odd.

I'm hugely loyal to Apple, but this errodes my confidence in you doing what is right and logical.

Please develop a iBooks for the MacOS.