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Comment by vvnraman | Hacker News Reader

No. You need to own a Kindle whose serial no. is used by Calibre to convert to any other format.

If you download it to any of the desktop apps, I think you should be able to convert it without a serial number; I've done it several times before and I don't have a Kindle. Here[1] are some Calibre plugins that automate it fairly easily. You could also use the Cloud Reader if you don't want to go through the hassle.

[1] http://apprenticealf.wordpress.com/2010/02/11/hello-world/

My issue (well, one of my issues) is that I'm on a rather pristine new work computer, and while I do use Calibre at home, I don't want to put it on this machine. Additionally, I don't want do deal with the hassle of creating a Kindle account and installing an application that I would literally use once.

In comparison, if it was a DRM-less epub, or even a PDF, it would be the work of maybe 30 seconds to SCP it to my iPad, open it in iFile, and load it into iBook. No extra applications, no obscure steps to remove the DRM.

The note about the Calibre plugins is appreciated, though, and I'll be sure to keep it in mind if this comes up again. It was more a point about the fact that I've don't recall having an experience with DRM so blatantly removing value from a product that it was the difference between consuming it and walking away.

That's fair; I also find trying to get books off of the Amazon store irritating. I personally have a nook, but I'll buy eBooks from any store. Regardless, I have to either go through the Kindle desktop app or (ugh) Adobe Digital Editions before I can get it into Calibre, and it's always more of a hassle than it should be.

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