Thank you, Esther. It's good to know that OReilly are making their books available to Bookshare directly, so as to minimize scanning errors.
Teresa On Jan 24, 2011, at 12:52 PM, Esther wrote: > Hi Teresa, Heather, Carolyn, and Others, > > As Teresa notes, if you want to get any of the books published by O'Reilly, > such as "Switching to the Mac: The Missing Manual, Snow Leopard Edition" by > David Pogue as an eBook that you can read on your iPad, and do not have > access to Bookshare, the best place to buy is from the publisher's site as an > epub bundle: > http://oreilly.com/ebooks/epub/ > > Teresa, if you check the download account you created when bought your eBook > from O'Reilly, you'll find that there's also a Daisy version of this book > available now that you can download. If you're on your computer go to: > > https://members.oreilly.com/account/emedia > > and login with your user name and password to access this (or any of the > other formats you use: ePub, PDF, etc.) > > If you're using your iPhone or other mobile device, use the mobile emedia > site to download to your device and enter your login: > https://members.oreilly.com/mobile/account/emedia > > When the app store first opened, before there was iBooks, Kobo Books, and > many of the myriad eBook reading apps, a number of publishers started issuing > individual books as apps. There are still lots of books as apps around, and > their accessibility varies a lot. Mostly they're not accessible, as the > makers were not aware of the guidelines for exposing the controls to > VoiceOver at that time. The book that Carolyn bought is one of these one-off > efforts. Actually, the old O'Reilly ebook-as-app issues used the format of > what was then the Lexcycle Stanza format for eBook readers, and it may have > been their first exploration in iPhone ebooks with the Stanza crowd. This > format was almost usable with VoiceOver on the early version iPhones and iPod > Touches (but would not read continuously), but none of these versions are > even that compatible with the way that VoiceOver works now, and with the > current version of Stanza (which is much more accessible). The individual > ebooks as apps have their own frameworks. None of them seem to have really > recent release dates (e.g., after the iOS 4 updates). You can check out app > eBooks for accessibility by looking for any free or lite versions of these > apps. If you do so for the "Missing Manual" as ebook app series, there's a > "lite" one for the iPhone that was issued in 2009, just after cut, copy, and > paste was introduced. It's mostly inaccessible, but you can get parts of it > to read with VoiceOver if you toggle VO off and on, and manage to navigate > past the cover. > > O'Reilly was an early member of the Stanza eReader app's store, and also > joined the iBooks Store this summer. They regularly send their publications > to Bookshare, supply the same digital media that they use as publishers > (i.e., none of these are scanned), and they also make all the books that they > publish available for international Bookshare use. > > So why would you buy these eBooks from O'Reilly, and why not just use the > iBooks Store if you want a book? Well, maybe you're a user from outside the > U.S., or you might not have a current Bookshare subscription. Or you want to > try out the ePub reading functions immediately on your iDevice or the PDF > format in other applications. Or maybe you have an Android, and want to use > one of the eBook bundle versions that work on an Android, in addition to the > Daisy reader version. You could simply like the fact that the latest > downloadable versions of each available format for your book are always > available to you in DRM-free format from your account, and that if there are > minor version updates or errata, these will automatically get added. Last > year, I got an email from O'Reilly saying that they'd been working with > Bookshare to provide Daisy versions as part of their eBook bundles, so that I > could now access Daisy versions of various eBooks I had purchased from them. > > These ePub bundle versions are more expensive than the apps. I think Teresa > must have bought the Missing Manual for Switching to the Mac at the time I > posted when all their eBook bundles went on sale for $9.99 each, because the > list price for this book is currently $23.99. You used to be able to get a > 40% discount by using "STANZACAT" as the coupon code on checkout -- dating > from the days of their original ebook promotions for the Stanza app, but I > don't know whether this still works. They have an eBook deal of the day feed > that announces specially priced offers: > feed://feeds.feedburner.com/oreilly/ebookdealoftheday > (These are generally computer books, and the listings don't update exactly > every day, so the offers are good for a few days until the next offer.) > > If you buy directly from the O'Reilly site, you have to create an account the > first time you purchase (so there is somewhere you can access the > downloadable ebooks). Since the iOS 4.2 update, if you access your account > page's download screen link from your iDevice using the mobile version > electronic download address: > https://members.oreilly.com/mobile/account/emedia > double tapping the ePub version of the book (e.g., the link that says > "Download ePub") will download the file, and you'll be able to double tap an > "Open In" button that lets you select from apps on your iPhone that can > handle this format (e.g. "Open in iBooks", or "Kobo", or "Stanza"). Your > iPhone will remember your selection and the next time you download an ePub > will present you with your choice (e.g. "Open in iBooks") along with a second > "Open in" button that allows you to choose an alternate app from the menu. > There's one thing about the screen listing you should be aware of if you have > multiple eBooks: the download links are announced before the heading for the > book. (Try doing a two finger flick up "Read all" to check this.) So if you > have many books on your account, and want to download the ePub version, set > your rotor to "headings", flick down to the heading for the book, then flick > left (that's correct, I said "left") past the icon_gif image for the book to > the links ("Download PDF", "Download Mobi", "Download ePub", "Download > DAISY", "Download APK") and double tap the format you want. > > Once again, I'll list all the links in one place. The O'Reilly ebooks page > is: > http://oreilly.com/ebooks/ > The first time you make a purchase, you need to create an account that will > hold your downloads, so you can always access the latest DRM-free file > versions. Once you make your purchase you'll be sent an email with the > receipt, and you can download your files either from the electronic media > page for your computer: > https://members.oreilly.com/account/emedia > or from the mobile version of this page for your iPhone or iPod Touch: > https://members.oreilly.com/mobile/account/emedia > (iPad users can use either URL). The O'Reilly ebook deal of the day RSS feed > is: > feed://feeds.feedburner.com/oreilly/ebookdealoftheday > > And for Carolyn, the specific entry for "Switching to the Mac: The Missing > Manual, Snow Leopard edition" at the O'Reilly site is: > http://oreilly.com/catalog/9780596804268/ > > HTH. Again, these books are also available through the iBooks Store, but you > don't get the multiple versions and the coupon code discounts when titles go > on sale can only be used for purchases made on the O'Reilly site. I'll paste > in the entry that appears on my downloads page: > <begin quote> > You get lifetime access to ebooks you purchase through oreilly.com. Whenever > possible we provide them to you in five DRM-free file formats — PDF, ePub, > Kindle-compatible .mobi, DAISY, and Android .apk — that you can use on the > devices of your choice. Our ebooks are enhanced with color images, even when > the print version is black and white. They are fully searchable, and you can > cut-and-paste and print them. We also alert you when we've updated your > ebooks with corrections and additions. > > Please contact customer service if you have any questions. 1-800-998-9938 / > 707-827-7000 / accou...@oreilly.com > <end quote> > > Cheers, > > Esther > > On Jan 24, 2011, at 06:35, Teresa Cochran wrote: > >> Hi, all, >> >> I have to say that I'm puzzled. This book is available from OReilly media in >> both epub and pdf formats. I find it quite easy to read in Preview. I did >> have to pay $9 for it, but that's cheaper for me now than getting another >> Bookshare subscription. IMO, Bookshare seems to have too many errors in too >> many of their books for my taste. Anyhow, is this book not on the OReilly >> site anymore? >> >> Teresa >> On Jan 24, 2011, at 7:58 AM, Carolyn Haas wrote: >> >>> Hi Candie: >>> Thank you for that. I've never done bookshare. Guess it's time. Again, >>> thank you. >>> >>> Carolyn H >>> On Jan 23, 2011, at 7:50 PM, Candie Stiles wrote: >>> >>>> That book is available from book share if you'd like to download it there. >>>> On Jan 23, 2011, at 2:03 PM, Carolyn Haas wrote: >>>> >>>>> Hi: >>>>> I wanted a purchased copy of this book, and thought I was finding a gem >>>>> at the app store. I bought an iPad version, and it is a mess with VO. I >>>>> brought it into my Apple store, and my trainer says indeed it isn't >>>>> accessible. Guess I waisted $5.99. That store can sure confuse me >>>>> easily. I thought it was odd seeing that book as an App. >>>>> >>>>> >>>>> Anyhow, Guess I'm disrecommending the app. >>>>> >>>>> Carolyn H >>>>> > > -- > You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups > "MacVisionaries" group. > To post to this group, send email to macvisionaries@googlegroups.com. > To unsubscribe from this group, send email to > macvisionaries+unsubscr...@googlegroups.com. > For more options, visit this group at > http://groups.google.com/group/macvisionaries?hl=en. > -- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "MacVisionaries" group. To post to this group, send email to macvisionaries@googlegroups.com. To unsubscribe from this group, send email to macvisionaries+unsubscr...@googlegroups.com. For more options, visit this group at http://groups.google.com/group/macvisionaries?hl=en.
