Dark Horse Digital Launched, What Do You Think?

IanG · Post by **IanG** » Fri Apr 29, 2011 8:05 am

Dark Horse Digital opened a couple of days ago. I tried it out on my iPad last night and it's a decent app. Issues seemed to be priced about $1.99 each. You can get "bundles" of 4 or 5 issues that bring it down to about $1.50 an issue. There's a bunch of free preview and zero issues you so you can try it out. You can also view issues in a web browser. There's a serious lack of information about the issue when click on it in the browser. It doesn't say when the issue was released. Also the so-called "new releases" are new to digital, but hardly new to print. There aren't a lot of Dark Horse's actual new releases. The latest one I can find is BPRD The Dead Remembered #1 that was realesed April 6. That release is the exception, not the norm, right now, as most issues are from the backlist. All in all an enjoyable first digital offereing from Dark Horse. Although there's a lot of room for improvement.

Of those that have tried it, what do you think?

onemaddog · Post by **onemaddog** » Sat Apr 30, 2011 11:51 pm

Tried out some of the free stuff tonight and it looks good. Its yet another user interface to learn and it took me a while to figure out how to get back to the main menu. I was all over digital comics when I first got the IPAD but I dont really read much in digital form anymore. I much prefer pdf versions to these propriety interfaces.

IanG · Post by **IanG** » Tue May 03, 2011 8:19 am

onemaddog wrote: I much prefer pdf versions to these propriety interfaces.

I agree I don't understand why customers can download a whole music album from an online store like iTunes but we can't download a comic. What happens if and when Dark Horse gets bought out by another company? Will the comics transfer over somehow? Maybe, maybe not.

Danscomics · Post by **Danscomics** » Tue May 03, 2011 9:50 am

IanG wrote:
onemaddog wrote: I much prefer pdf versions to these propriety interfaces.
I agree I don't understand why customers can download a whole music album from an online store like iTunes but we can't download a comic. What happens if and when Dark Horse gets bought out by another company? Will the comics transfer over somehow? Maybe, maybe not.

The stuff you are downloading from iTunes is still proprietary. It has a DRM embedded in it so you can only play it on up to 5 devices that you have registered with Apple. If Apple went out of business then all of that downloaded music would probably become unplayable. The difference is that there is very little chance of that happening at this point with Apple whereas publishing companies are on very shaky footing at the moment.

BobBretall · Post by **BobBretall** » Tue May 03, 2011 10:57 am

Danscomics wrote: The stuff you are downloading from iTunes is still proprietary. It has a DRM embedded in it so you can only play it on up to 5 devices that you have registered with Apple.

This is true, but Apple seems to project the "image" of it being more open than it actually is.

You can get non-DRM MP3s from Amazon.....I've been doing that more lately.

Danscomics · Post by **Danscomics** » Tue May 03, 2011 11:35 am

BobBretall wrote:
Danscomics wrote: The stuff you are downloading from iTunes is still proprietary. It has a DRM embedded in it so you can only play it on up to 5 devices that you have registered with Apple.
This is true, but Apple seems to project the "image" of it being more open than it actually is.

You can get non-DRM MP3s from Amazon.....I've been doing that more lately.

You're right, they do. I'm sure it helps that they are using the mp3 format which carries the image of being free and open.

I didn't realize Amazon was doing DRM free mp3s. There is no limitation whatsoever? They have no way to stop you from giving them to all your friends, family, and neighbors?

BobBretall · Post by **BobBretall** » Tue May 03, 2011 1:10 pm

Danscomics wrote: You're right, they do. I'm sure it helps that they are using the mp3 format which carries the image of being free and open.

The default format in iTunes is MP4 (their proprietary format). You can change to MP3s if you change some (really non-obvious) settings, but they're DRM.

Danscomics wrote: I didn't realize Amazon was doing DRM free mp3s. There is no limitation whatsoever? They have no way to stop you from giving them to all your friends, family, and neighbors?

http://www.amazon.com/gp/help/customer/ ... =200143320

What does DRM-free mean?

Digital Rights Management or "DRM" commonly refers to software that is designed to control or limit how a file can be played, copied, downloaded, shared, or accessed. DRM-free means that the MP3 files you purchase from Amazon.com do not contain any software that will restrict your use of the file.

Danscomics · Post by **Danscomics** » Tue May 03, 2011 2:23 pm

BobBretall wrote:
Danscomics wrote: I didn't realize Amazon was doing DRM free mp3s. There is no limitation whatsoever? They have no way to stop you from giving them to all your friends, family, and neighbors?
http://www.amazon.com/gp/help/customer/ ... =200143320
What does DRM-free mean?

Digital Rights Management or "DRM" commonly refers to software that is designed to control or limit how a file can be played, copied, downloaded, shared, or accessed. DRM-free means that the MP3 files you purchase from Amazon.com do not contain any software that will restrict your use of the file.

That's what I thought, I just find it amazing. Wonder how the got that past the music industry.

ComicTrekker · Post by **ComicTrekker** » Tue May 03, 2011 8:26 pm

I've been buying non-DRM mp3s from Amazon for some time now, and I really like it. I love digital comics, especially on the iPad, but it sure would be nice if open CBZ versions, or the equivalent, would become more broadly available. Then I would feel I really own the title.

The Dark Horse app is okay. I hate the way it, and others like Comixology, crop some panels on "guided, panel by panel " view. I want to see the whole panel. That's one thing Graphicly got right, though I rarely use it any more. In most other respects, Comixology is my favorite.

spid · Post by **spid** » Wed May 04, 2011 6:54 am

Danscomics wrote:
BobBretall wrote:
Danscomics wrote: I didn't realize Amazon was doing DRM free mp3s. There is no limitation whatsoever? They have no way to stop you from giving them to all your friends, family, and neighbors?
http://www.amazon.com/gp/help/customer/ ... =200143320
What does DRM-free mean?

Digital Rights Management or "DRM" commonly refers to software that is designed to control or limit how a file can be played, copied, downloaded, shared, or accessed. DRM-free means that the MP3 files you purchase from Amazon.com do not contain any software that will restrict your use of the file.
That's what I thought, I just find it amazing. Wonder how the got that past the music industry.

They really did not sneak it past the music industry. At the time the industry was looking to prop up Apple's competitors so there would be real competition. As one of the perks they gave Amazon was DRM free music.

Danscomics · Post by **Danscomics** » Wed May 04, 2011 7:45 am

spid wrote:
Danscomics wrote:
BobBretall wrote: http://www.amazon.com/gp/help/customer/ ... =200143320
That's what I thought, I just find it amazing. Wonder how the got that past the music industry.
They really did not sneak it past the music industry. At the time the industry was looking to prop up Apple's competitors so there would be real competition. As one of the perks they gave Amazon was DRM free music.

Sorry, I wasn't clear. I wasn't trying to imply they snuck it by. I was really wondering how they got the necessary approvals from the industry (because I'm sure there was an application process).

www.ComicBookPage.com

Dark Horse Digital Launched, What Do You Think?

Dark Horse Digital Launched, What Do You Think?

Digital comics need to be non-DRM