Searched, but didnt see a thread on it. Im thinking of possibly doing something different this year, buying all my books via eBooks. I was trying to figure out if its possible to put the eBooks on an eReader (if i buy a eReader it will be a Kindle 2). CourseSmart.com is the website that has all my text books on it. Below is what it says on the website. Does this mean that eBooks are only viewable on computers? Is there anyway to buy the textbooks and be able to view them on the Kindle? Any help would be greatly appreciated. Gracis

Quote :

"# E-Books from CourseSmart are subscription based and most last for 180 days. You can download the eTextbook on one computer only # Download subscription is not available in PDF format # You are required to install software to download the eTextbook # Some downloads may take 45 minutes or more due to the size of the file # The eTextbook will expire at the end of your class # All downloadable eTextbooks are non-refundable"

1/10/2010 6:12:28 PM

I'm not an expert but I'd say that your chances of using it on a Kindle is pretty slim. The Nook would be a better chance since it supports more formats (including most/all of the open formats for e-books). Kindle uses it's own proprietary file type. Why don't you just email the company and ask them if their format is compatible with any existing e-readers?

1/10/2010 6:35:29 PM

so i just chatted with tec support. im trying to make sense of what they said to me

Quote :

"Tonia: I can assist you with this. Tonia: I do apologize, but we do not support any reader other than or the Kindle for the Download Reader. You can only download this onto one computer. However, we do offer the iPhone for the online version only. David: So i can use the Kindle with these books? Tonia: We do not support Kindle either, however, we urge you to try to download it to Kindle. David: that doesnt make sense Tonia: Unfortunately we do not support Kindle or other ebook readers. However we do urge you to attempt to access them on the Kindle device. David: well if the Kindle does not support it why would you urge me to attempt to access them Tonia: Which means it has been known to download onto some. David: I am confused; If i can download them to my Kindle, then I will buy all my books off of this website. But if not, I do not want to buy them. Tonia: We do not support the Kindle, what I mean is that it has worked for some people. However, if you try it and it does not work, we don't support it. David: do you give a refund if it does not work? Tonia: We only offer the refund for the online version. Tonia: The downloadable version is non-refundable. David: that is pretty ridiculous Tonia: I do apologize, Due to the nature of the product, CourseSmart does not offer refunds for subscriptions to Downloadable eTextbooks."

so do u think she is trying to tell me that you can download them but they cant officially tell me that they can?

1/10/2010 6:56:06 PM

ahahahha, I love outsourced tech support.

1/10/2010 7:26:39 PM

^^ That would be my guess as well after what she said. Either that or she's just trying to get you to go ahead and blow your money knowing full well that it won't work. It would really help if there was some way to find out what the actual format is. I didn't think about it before but Amazon will reformat a few different file types for use on the Kindle (MS Word files for example).

There's a couple of different Kindle forums available. Maybe a post there will help you find some other people that have tried it.

[Edited on January 10, 2010 at 7:48 PM. Reason : .]

1/10/2010 7:47:13 PM

someone i kind of know says he uses the kindle 2 for his mba courses and gets all his ebooks on it so there is certainly a way. but i guess making sure that your particular book works is the key

i dont see the point, you can sell the book when you're done with it and depending on the course, are you really going to use it again after the class?

1/10/2010 11:01:46 PM

wow, do you really not understand what she was trying to say? Granted, she's didn't do a great job of communicating what she was saying... but damn.


She's saying, "We do not officially support the Kindle" (meaning that they do not guarantee that their product will work on the Kindle because they didn't intend for it from the get go. "However, some of our products have been known to work on the Kindle. We just can't promise you that it will, because we didn't set out to make sure they worked with the Kindle." -- Some people have tried, and it worked for some things, but not everything.


re. the refund: Think about it, why would a downloaded version be refundable? People would just buy it, download it, ask for a refund, and then continue to use the file. With the online version, they can simply refund the money and then restrict your access.


FYI, e-readers aren't far enough along yet for you to find all of your textbooks in a format that will work well (certainly not on the Kindle, which only supports its bullshit format). The text book industry works differently than regular books. It's gonna be a while before you see hordes of students using e-readers for all of their classes. Plus, getting text books to look right on an e-reader will be more difficult (graphs, images, etc.).


Are you the guy in your photo gallery with "penis" and a mustache drawn on him?

1/11/2010 1:23:18 AM

^haha no that was a guy in my dorm freshman year


yea, i dont quite think everything is far enough quite yet to invest in this technology

1/11/2010 1:59:32 AM