Apparently Barnes & Noble is going out of business.
At least, that's the only logical explanation I can come up with.
See, Mom has an ebook reader. She's had an audiobook reader before, so she's kinda familiar with how screwed-up DRM can be, and so she tries to be careful to buy things that are compatible.
She bought an ebook from Barnes & Noble. If you go to the web page for that ebook, it says "Works with any computer or mobile device." Well, that's pretty nifty. It comes with a sample chapter that does, in fact, read fine. Yay!
Except the bought-and-paid-for full version doesn't actually work with the Sony. There's a pale blue "Learn more" link next to the "Works with any" claim that, when you click on it, lists a few readers it works with. Oh, wait, apparently those are the *only* readers it works with. B&N points out that she can always sit and read it at the PC, and no, refunds are quite out of the question.
So why would a company so plainly say "Works with any" when it so plainly doesn't? That seems like a quick way to alienate e-customers for the future... unless, of course, one wasn't planning to have a future, and one wanted simply to "sell" as many things as possible whether they worked or not.
Hmm.
Surely not.
See, Mom has an ebook reader. She's had an audiobook reader before, so she's kinda familiar with how screwed-up DRM can be, and so she tries to be careful to buy things that are compatible.
She bought an ebook from Barnes & Noble. If you go to the web page for that ebook, it says "Works with any computer or mobile device." Well, that's pretty nifty. It comes with a sample chapter that does, in fact, read fine. Yay!
Except the bought-and-paid-for full version doesn't actually work with the Sony. There's a pale blue "Learn more" link next to the "Works with any" claim that, when you click on it, lists a few readers it works with. Oh, wait, apparently those are the *only* readers it works with. B&N points out that she can always sit and read it at the PC, and no, refunds are quite out of the question.
So why would a company so plainly say "Works with any" when it so plainly doesn't? That seems like a quick way to alienate e-customers for the future... unless, of course, one wasn't planning to have a future, and one wanted simply to "sell" as many things as possible whether they worked or not.
Hmm.
Surely not.