Is my iPad protecting me from the non-commercial use of my own content?
May 5, 2010 6:47 AM Subscribe
Can I use an iPad for something I haven't purchased? Specifically, do the ebook apps only work on content I've bought or obtained through either Amazon or the iBookstore?
Here's the deal. I work for a publisher and I've got some books in the Kindle program. One of our books is a mushroom field guide. The first time Amazon converted the PDF into a Kindle file there was a problem with the captions. They weren't anchored to their images so they would reflow and seemed to be describing the image after the caption rather than the image before a caption. We pulled the book and asked Amazon if they could fix the file, which they did and they sent me a .prc file to proof the change they made. The .prc file doesn't seem to have the DRM an .azw file does. I checked it using the Kindle for Mac application on my laptop and it looks great, but now I want to see what it looks like on my iPad using the Kindle app. But I can't for the life of me figure out how to get it on the device. I tried dropbox but that didn't work. I tried attaching it to an email and that didn't work either. Any ideas?
Here's the deal. I work for a publisher and I've got some books in the Kindle program. One of our books is a mushroom field guide. The first time Amazon converted the PDF into a Kindle file there was a problem with the captions. They weren't anchored to their images so they would reflow and seemed to be describing the image after the caption rather than the image before a caption. We pulled the book and asked Amazon if they could fix the file, which they did and they sent me a .prc file to proof the change they made. The .prc file doesn't seem to have the DRM an .azw file does. I checked it using the Kindle for Mac application on my laptop and it looks great, but now I want to see what it looks like on my iPad using the Kindle app. But I can't for the life of me figure out how to get it on the device. I tried dropbox but that didn't work. I tried attaching it to an email and that didn't work either. Any ideas?
Response by poster: But the point isn't to use the file on any app, I want to see how the Kindle app will handle the layout. I worry that converting it won't give me an accurate version of the layout and design of the book as a Kindle edition.
posted by Toekneesan at 7:09 AM on May 5, 2010
posted by Toekneesan at 7:09 AM on May 5, 2010
No, there is currently no way to view a non-Amazon purchase in the Kindle App on the iPad. You could us Stanza to view the PRC, but again, that's not going to give you exactly what you want.
posted by griffey at 7:11 AM on May 5, 2010
posted by griffey at 7:11 AM on May 5, 2010
Have you considered talking to Amazon about this? I mean, it seems like it's in their best interest to make sure the book works properly on all platforms before release; otherwise when you approve it and it doesn't work on the iPad, they'll have to go through this process again.
I find it hard to believe that if you asked them, they wouldn't be able to temporarily add the proof-book into your personal Kindle library for downloading onto your iPad. We all know that they can pull the books from your library even if you've bought them, so I can't imagine they'd be afraid of you "stealing" a copy.
So, no, as it is there isn't a way, but I'm sure through dialogue with Amazon you'd get this figured out. Good luck!
posted by InsanePenguin at 11:02 AM on May 5, 2010
I find it hard to believe that if you asked them, they wouldn't be able to temporarily add the proof-book into your personal Kindle library for downloading onto your iPad. We all know that they can pull the books from your library even if you've bought them, so I can't imagine they'd be afraid of you "stealing" a copy.
So, no, as it is there isn't a way, but I'm sure through dialogue with Amazon you'd get this figured out. Good luck!
posted by InsanePenguin at 11:02 AM on May 5, 2010
The bulk of your question is Kindle specific, but your intro mentions iBooks too, so for completeness, I'll add that you can add a book in epub format to iBooks, but only by adding it to your iTunes library and syncing it from your computer. Opening it from email or mobile safari won't work.
posted by Good Brain at 12:13 PM on May 5, 2010
posted by Good Brain at 12:13 PM on May 5, 2010
It is theoretically possible for iPad apps to tell the operating system which file types they are capable of opening, so you could do such things as open an email attachment with an app that can display it. Unfortunately, few app developers have chosen to make use of this feature yet. It is also theoretically possible for iPad apps to expose shared folders which you can drag and drop files to and from using iTunes, but again, it's dependent on the app developer to enable this. If Amazon has not done so with the Kindle for iPad app, then you're out of luck on that front.
posted by Nothlit at 12:14 PM on May 5, 2010
posted by Nothlit at 12:14 PM on May 5, 2010
I had an idea of putting the prc file up on a website linked to from your amazon profile, and then navigating to it with the web-browser it uses to display the help section of the amazon.com website, but while you can surf all about the amazon site, it ignores clicks on links to sites outside of amazon.com.
This leads me to the next idea, which is to setup a dedicated wifi network at home that resolves amazon.com to a local http server, and putting the prc file there, but I will have to wait until after work to try that. This all assumes that it will take any prc or azw file downloads from the in-app browser and use them to load the local library....
posted by nomisxid at 1:00 PM on May 5, 2010
This leads me to the next idea, which is to setup a dedicated wifi network at home that resolves amazon.com to a local http server, and putting the prc file there, but I will have to wait until after work to try that. This all assumes that it will take any prc or azw file downloads from the in-app browser and use them to load the local library....
posted by nomisxid at 1:00 PM on May 5, 2010
Have you tried emailing it to your kindle app using your kindle email address?
posted by Brent Parker at 6:15 PM on May 5, 2010
posted by Brent Parker at 6:15 PM on May 5, 2010
I've investigated and it doesn't look like kindle for iPad and iPhone have email addresses associated with them. Sorry man.
posted by Brent Parker at 6:30 PM on May 5, 2010
posted by Brent Parker at 6:30 PM on May 5, 2010
I'm rather late to this party, but as the question's still open and unresolved, it seems worthwhile to mention Amazon's Kindle Preview App. Currently at v 1.5, it's downloadable for Windows and MacOS X from here: http://www.amazon.com/gp/feature.html?ie=UTF8&docId=1000234621 ... I haven't compared its Kindle for iPad emulation against real world conditions, but it's worth looking at.
posted by mumkin at 2:08 PM on January 18, 2011 [1 favorite]
posted by mumkin at 2:08 PM on January 18, 2011 [1 favorite]
This thread is closed to new comments.
posted by ConstantineXVI at 6:56 AM on May 5, 2010