How do I download DRM-free books from Amazon? In a previous question, When shopping for ebooks on Amazon how do I
tell if they have DRM?, it is explained that DRM-free ebooks on Amazon
are characterized by the "Product Details" item: "Simultaneous Device
Usage: Unlimited".

I was a bit surprised though that all such books I looked at also had:
"Lending: Not Enabled", which seems a bit contradictory. But this is a
side remark.

My problem is that I do not know how to download these (supposedly DRM-free) ebooks, once
acquired.

I did go to my Amazon page "Manage Your Content and Devices", where all my Amazon
books are listed, one book on each line.

There, it seem that to download a book. I must click it in the Action
column (the second square of the line), and then select an action,
which apparently should be "Download & transfer via USB".

But when I do, I get an error:

Download & transfer via USB
Select a device from the dropdown

            John - Android Tablet
            John's Kindle Cloud Reader

You have selected content that is not compatible with any of your registered
devices. Please remove incompatible content from selection for eligible devices
to appear.
Transfer Tip: After downloading, use your USB cable to connect your computer and
Kindle. Your Kindle will appear as a drive on your computer. Copy your downloaded
file from your computer to your Kindle's documents folder.

All I want is to get the MOBI file in my computer, as I do with other ebook sellers for DRM-free books.

I am running Linux, if that can be any help. But I do not own a Kindle, and my only devices are my PC (running Calibre on Linux) and an Android pad used by another person.

Simultaneous Device Usage: Unlimited is not a reliable indicator of DRM-free books. AFAIK, all free Public Domain books sold by Amazon Digital Services are DRM-protected.

For example, this free Amazon book is listed as Simultaneous Device Usage: Unlimited, however it's not DRM-free.

  I am running Linux, if that can be any help. But I do not own a
  Kindle, and my only devices are my PC (running Calibre on Linux) and
  an Android pad used by another person.

In that case you can easily test for yourself whether a book is DRM-protected:

Install the Kindle for PC app via Wine or Winetricks and register the app with Amazon by entering your logon credentials.
Send the book to your Kindle for PC app via Manage Your Content and Devices and open it.
Open a terminal window and enter the following command to locate the Kindle books folder:

cd ~/Documents/My\ Kindle\ Content
Right-click the .azw file and select Open with Calibre.
If Calibre doesn't display a DRM warning the book is not DRM-protected.

If you buy DRM-free ebooks from Amazon, you could download it onto any Kindle or Kindle app. From kindle app on android, you can probably find the unencrypted file in the Android/data/com.amazon.kindle/files/ Kindle directory.

You will look for files ending in .prc (which are given incomprehensible file names).

I suspect that the unencrypted files for non-DRM files are stored in a similar file location on Kindle devices.

I don't know how ios stores Kindle app files, but I wouldn't be surprised if the only way you can transfer to your computer  is via itunes.

I'm not neutral on the subject, but I think that .epub files are a better archiving format than whatever kindle format happens to be at the moment. If you're trying to store things, .epub is a better archiving format.

The deal Amazon makes with us is: the customer agrees not to worry too much about getting the files,  Amazon provides apps for the major platforms -- all of which are capable of reading your ebook file reasonably well. So far, Amazon has kept its end of the bargain.... Time will tell if this continues...


How can I convert an HTML site into an ebook? I'd like to create a .mobi file from a website like the Python Tutorial, to read on my Kindle.

Is it possible to do it on Ubuntu?

Of course you can. The easiest method is

save the whole site into a folder (e.g. mirror it with some command line tool like wget - it is available on Windows too - or Httrack)
zip the folder
send the zip to your device via Amazon e-mail solution.

Here's the official Amazon page documenting this feature.

If it's not what you want, you can use Calibre to convert HTML to various ebook formats, here is the official documentation.

And even more, you can download the official Kindlegen Linux CLI tool from Amazon and hand tailor the downloaded HTML with your favourite editor then convert it.

(And you can download the official Python docs in EPUB format which Amazon happily convert for you (the mailing method), and every other conversion option I had mentioned above will work with the EPUB too.)

In step 1 you can use Website to PDF to save entire website as one HTML file.

The html pages must be merged. That can be done online at http://websitetopdf.net/. The result have to be one large HTML file. At the and just have to close the print program.
If you work in Firefox, you can use PrintEdit addition to remove some menus,advertising banners and more.
You have to save the html file on your computer.
Using a Calibre you can convert the html file into the required e-book format (MOBI).


How practical is it to learn to develop apps for e-ink Kindles? I provide e-ink kindles to schools in Kenya (10 schools so far) where we also help the schools acquire relevant ebooks for teaching the pupils based on curriculum topics. We'd like to develop apps for the teachers to use on their e-ink kindles however there seems to be little information on how to do so.

Please can you suggest what skills are needed to develop these apps and good approaches to learn them? And any recommendations on useful resources (paid-for and free) would also be helpful.

Learning to develop apps for eBook readers is very practical:

The reason being, the same technology that applies to creating ebooks; also applies to developing websites, software, etc.

Meaning that the skills you learn from developing apps for eBook readers improves your overall skills as a Web or App Developer in general.

These skills in turn can allow you to start developing more complex skills for becoming a Programmer, Software or Application Developer.

Now that we know the type of jobs related and the career path that follows, we can look at the skills and technology required and used by those in the related industry; to learn how to do the same development.

Basic Skills Required by Web and App Developers:

HTML
CSS
Javascript

An ePub is a zipped up package of content, containing items such as the above, for the purpose of creating the ePub Book/App:

HTML (eBook content)
CSS  (eBook code to stylize layout, etc.)
JavaScript (For Advanced Use) such as eBook App development.

If we learn the above technology then we will have the core skills needed to develop applications for eBook readers.

Learning Priority Order:

Learn first: HTML this is the document that holds all your content.
Learn second: CSS this is the document that stylizes your HTML content.
Learn third: JavaScript this is the programming language that gives the 'app' like look and ability to your HTML, CSS content.

Where to Learn Online:

http://www.lynda.com/

courses such as:

"HTML Essential Training"
"Developing Applications for Amazon Kindle Devices"
"Creating Ebooks for the Kindle"

Udemy is another website for online learning.
Code Academy (learn to code)
Coursera - (Take free online classes from 120+ top universities and educational organizations.)

Learning Offline:

Books of course! O'Reilly is a good publisher to checkout for technical skills.

Comparison Chart of eReader Features and Supporting Platforms:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Comparison_of_e-book_formats#Comparison_tables
I apologize, there are many more resources and links I'd like to give you but for now my reputation will not allow more than two links so I've provided the most important two links.

However, learning to develop apps for the e-ink kindle devices specifically is a bit too narrow for me to personally consider it "practical".

For example the Kindle Fire has much better support for epub3 formats, app like content, etc.

That being said, what is practical may depend on your use or application as it is a matter of opinion.

What you DO NOT need to know for eBook App Development:

Databases such as MySQL, MongoDB, etc.
Frameworks (although you may find boilerplates that help your app development, packages, libraries, etc.)
C++, C#, Python, Java to name a few.

Good to be Familiar with but may not Need:

AJAX/JSON
PHP

Above Skills related to Web Developers more so than having practical use for eBook app development

Final Thoughts:

I've worked for a major Distribution Book Publishing company for the last two and a half years as a digital content engineer managing the QA of our eBooks and can say without doubt, that if you use the above information, it will lead you into the correct direction.

That being said, there are many vendors that provide a service for ebook conversions and ebook app development. At some point you may consider or decide to look into what is available if you have the time or resources.

First of all I have to know what kind of e-ink is it. As far as I know there is no single e-ink device can have apps run on it. You can simply create ebook and put it on that devices. If this is a case comment and I will put link about how to write and ebook or you can Bing it out. If you want app, I am Windows Phone app developer and I can say that you can create simple app with easy UI to tutor your teachers. If you do not want to build Windows Phone app you can build Android app, does not matter.