My First DRM eBook

I just bought my first DRM ebook from Fictionwise.com. I have to admit that the experience was a bit complex but painless. I also have to admit that I have been avoiding buying DRM (copy protected) ebooks for some time now.

Anyway the book I bought is in eReader (Secure Palm) format. I prefer to read ebooks on my Palm handheld so I uploaded the file to my Palm Pilot just like I would any other file. With a eReader (Palm) secure ebook it requests your name as it appears on your credit card and your credit card number the first time you try to access the ebook so I typed those in (you only have to do this once) and bingo I'm good to read.

Now there are obvious limitations, if you no longer remember your old credit card number you will eventually loose access to the book. If you collect books that could be a problem. However, I'm running out of room for books here in the house and I have found that I rarely reread a fiction book. So once I have read a novel, I'm pretty well done with it. Therefore, I can live with buying DRM ebooks if I see something I really want, but I can understand why others might hesitate.

This is not a problem with open format (Fictionwise calls them multi-format) books which have no copy protection. You can access them anytime I do give preference to non-DRM ebooks when I shop.

Buying a secure ebook is not as scary as it sounds, and may be worth trying at least once.