So, those of you who buy e books- How do you feel about e book formats that allow for interactive content (video, hyperlinks, etc.) and which can be legitimately password protected (and therefore disabled and potentially returned if one was really dissatisfied) V/s say PDF files.

Magic has always been, once you know the secret, you bought the trick, book, etc. No returns! So I do not think your idea would work. Only defects in fine workmanship (India products do not apply) can or should be returned for replacement only.

Dealers are not libraries!

I meant as a consumer, how would you feel about such an item, more than do you think it would work or not. More specifically the interactive part. Also, this restricts the E book to one user, one computer. So if someone tries to share or copy it, it won'r work.

Lisa and I have used the Adobe Reader format for our eBooks, and we have been very pleased with the results. Not only can we easily incorporate text, photographs, and video clips, but the integration of the other Adobe products allows us to design a very eye-appealing product.

Although Adobe Acrobat allows the creator to password protect the document, we have never chosen to do so with any of our eBooks. I feel that copy protection is a lost cause; anyone with a strong enough desire to make an illegal copy is going to do so. Consequently, copy protection ends up being an inconvenience to the honest end user rather than a deterent to thieves.

We have also tried to offer as clear a description of our products as possible, with reviews and comments by purchasers, so potential buyers will know what they are purchasing.

I may be idealistic, but I think the best way is to offer a well-produced, informationally valuable, reasonably-priced product. By respecting the end user in this way, I hope that they will respect me and not make illegal copies.

You can take a look at the eBooks we offer here:

http://www.MichaelClose.com

Best

Michael Close

PDF files allow you to do all the things you mention obove.
Embed links, videos and offer a large range of security features,
both built in and third party.

Of the many hundreds of pdf ebooks I've sent out over the last few years,
both books on mentalism and magic marketing I've sold,
and publicity kits for my own business, I've only
ever had one person unable to open a file.

Of the hundreds of ebooks and "interactive products" I've purchased
and recieved, the ones that have problems , (loading, accessing, security etc)
are always non pdf.

I know what I'll be sticking to in my next series of books.

Timothy Hyde

Thank you SO much for your input. Perhaps I was/ am too worried about the piracy issues.

Do you send these out Via e mail as atachments on a per order basis, or do you have the process automated?

Titan created a watermark with the prucashers name on it, which I thought was a clever approach- definitely obvious who did what with it.

Many Thanks Again for your input!

At Lybrary.com we have since the beginning in 2000, always opted for no copyprotection. I am personally testing and monitoring developments in digital rights management (DRM) systems and methods, but so far I have not found a single one which works well, does not inhibit the honest user and provides a solid protection.

On top of it, there are many legitimate reasons why a customer might want to make a copy. For example, to backup his ebooks, or to have a copy available on his desktop and laptop, maybe even his PDA or computer at work. We encourage and highly recommend our customers to make a backup. Hard discs die and computers crash. You want to make sure your investment in your ebooks is protected.

As Michael noted above, I also feel that a good product at a fair price with a committment to service and quality will convince a majority of customers to purchase rather than pirate.

On top of that you get much more if you purchased your ebooks at Lybrary.com. For example, you have now online access to some of our ebooks (soon a majority of our ~300 ebooks will be available online). This means that you can view your magic e-library from any internet connected computer in the world. Maybe you are on a trip or at the military where you are not allowed to download ebooks to your computer. If you purchased at Lybrary.com, you can still view your ebooks online. And you can exchange comments with fellow customers who purchased the same ebook. In the end, you get much more than the ebook you can download. All of this and many more features will be available in the future from Lybrary.com, because we are committed to the digital format. If you pirate, you have none of these benefits.

On the format issue, I think PDF and HTML are the two most compatible and flexible formats. Lybrary.com was the first to incorporate hundred video clips into our Card College 1 ebook. Card College 2 has continued this practice and others like Michael Close have successfully copied this practice. PDF has become better over the last years and we are migrating towards PDF, but still fully support HTML, and will so for a long time. Check us out at http://www.lybrary.com/

I have mentioned in another thread that I despise all those exe-file-ebooks. They are not compatible, not customer friendly and frankly unprofessional. I have purchased some exe-file ebooks in the past and have regretted the purchase. Several of them I can't access anymore. The advantage with PDF and HTML is that they are open formats. You can find many software products which can read these formats. You can even program your own software if you know a little bit of programming. It is not hard. With a little Perl, Python or PHP script you can read, modify and display PDF. This means you are not dependent on one manufacturer of a particular ebook format.

Chris,

I really appreciate your input. It was most helpful and informative.

I'm having bad experience with Magicians & Web Pages that sells e-books and never shows the Rights and Restrictions that you have before purchase.

Most of them don't have any idea of how technology law works; for all of them I suggest to read the "Copyright & Fair Use" documents before make business otherwise one day could have a big problem ($$$).

For example I just bought Benson's Chop e-book at a well known company and I was able to download the PDF file to my PC but with complete restrictions:
Copy: No text selections can be copied from the book to the clipboard.
Print: No printing is permitted on this book.
Lend: This book cannot be lent or given to someone else.
Give: This book cannot be given to someone else.

So, you only can read it in your computer alone?, you practice the routine at the front of your PC?; you can not pass the rights to another person? (sell it); you carry the computer if you need to consult the document?; If I got a virus and lost all of my files?; Does the same happen with books?
Well there are a lot of questions.
That’s why I keep buying books & CDs.

I call mine eNotes rather than eBooks...Not all that technically minded to adapt to the latest methods...I don't use pdfs and so far after hundreds of How-to's and Routines sold and sent out I have also not had a problem or concern or complaint. I choose to compose a well written (The KEY!) piece and send it eMail. NO downloads No attachments.(images only when requested) I compose it my Atlantis Word then transfer and format in the email client.

Personal preference only but that's the way I do it. It works for me and those I've sent them to so far without all the downloading and propritory software etc.

It's the quality of the information that counts to me more than anything...there have been MANY well foprmatted eBooks I have bought that I immediately delete as useless blather. And some that looked kind of crappy that were dynamite.

I respect all the web publishers who use what ever means to provide the info as long as it's good stuff and well thought out.

I try and only provide that which is available no where else....so my buyers are happy I take care in writing it and care in making sure the info is worth the buy.
I also do my freebies the same way.

Just another take on e info.

OH...and as to restrictions...I agree with above...if someone wants to copy it they will find a way. I just ask my readers politely not to make copies and respect my hard work. I Trust they do. I also charge little for valuable info so there is not the impetus to need to steal it or sell it.

Doug Higley

This is a most interesting discussion but there is one aspect that is not mentioned.
That is DELIVERY of an e-book via e-mail.

Some of the authors have got the delivery down to an art form - almost instant delivery - FANTASTIC. Virtualy as soon as I have placed the order the PayPal Receipt & download are in the mailbox together.

Others, unfortunately, seem to take up to 24 hours (or more) to send the download.
Am I being unreasonable to expect instant delivery? It's only a software issue.

Ok- so, let's talk about that.... Any input on delivery methods

I check my mail constantly throughout the day from 6 am till about 9pm...then again about 11:30pm. As instant a delivery as I can make it. No complaints so far!I don't want to make it automatic either as I like to edit in new ideas and tips etc as they come up or in many cases to customise the response when questions are asked with the order.

When I order an e Book to be emailed TO me, I expect the sender to not be online at that moment so no biggie for me to get it after a bit. But..when downloading after a purchase from a site...I like it to be instantaneous and not wait till th next day for a confirmation and url.

I personally prefer the pdf books. As for password protection, I'd rather not have it. I'd like to know in advance of purchase if the file is password protected. The problems I have with this are forgetting the password or losing the paper I wrote it on. I also like to print out some of the pages of an ebook for more careful study. If I can't do that it's almost worthless to me.
The advantage of pdf is that it seems to have become a standard format, so it is widely supported. But this is no guarantee for the future -- it's hard to think of any software that has remained the industry leader over the past twenty years. The leading spreadsheet used to be Lotus; WordPerfect was the leading word processor for a time. If you have any old computer magazines a quick browse through them will reveal hundreds of products that were briefly popular and then supplanted by or made obsolete by others. At least if you stay with the currently standard products, like Adobe, you are guaranteed an installed base and the likelihood of a compatibility pathway in the future (you can still import Lotus spreadsheets into Excel). This is not likely with those .exe file based systems. Their creators may lose interest, go out of business, die, or become financially/technically incapable of supporting their product in 10 years or so. I'd like to think that I'd still be able to read those books in 10 years. (As an example: I have some older computer books that came with 5 1/4" floppies. Some of the code on those floppies might be useful, but I'll never be able to read them -- the last computer I had with a compatible drive was 15-20 years ago. I hope the magic on the current ebooks will still be of interest 15-20 years from now. And that I'll still be able to read it.)

The advantage of PDF is that Adobe has made it an open format...meaning that anyone can create applications that read or write it, without having to pay royalties to Adobe.

Their strategy is to make the best applications for creating and using PDFs, not to own the file format itself.

I password protect all my e-books, just to keep track of where they came from. They can be printed out, if the purchaser prefers, though.

Yes, I like Michael Close's concepts in his "CGS" ebook, which I find enjoyable to read and at the same time, I would be able to view the clips how the moves looked like, etc.

Andrew

Just to add my thoughts.

I don't use windows, this effects my choice severely

Pdfs allow interactive content, hyperlinks, and everything you may need, they can also be password protected.

It may seem harsh, but I refuse to support anything with heavy DRM, I don't share my ebooks, I buy them for me. If I don't have the right or ability to print them if I so wish, to put them on my pda for when I'm not at home, or just can't plain use them then I won't get them, as much as I miss out it's useless to me if I can't.

For example, Fearson (not such a good reputation), he had a couple of effect I'd want to try out, for example shirt happens, and his vanish (which I have the vague idea about anyway). However, all his books are in .exe, I can't use them. what's the point in my paying my hard earned cash to get an ebook I can't use if it allowed printing at least, then it wouldn't be so bad, I'd print the ebook to pdf on another computer and make use of it on my pc.

Pdf is the only format that's legitimately and simply available to any computer user, and has all the features you would need. I'd reccomend it to anyone who thinks of putting out an ebook.

If you REALLY want to make it hard to pirate, use their credit card number, or other details for the password (i'd rather you didn't, but it's an option), but please use pdf.

Bit of a rant, sorry about that, any questions PM me.

Best,