Does anyone know WHEN the powerPC will be supported for ereader?

[Kidsafe]

Support at the MAC level is really required for me if I want the Nook.  I have been trying to see ifthe ereader fulfills my needs before the nook purchase but I only have the orginal PowerPC Mac.  Any posted timeframe for this version/support?

Thanks

[very-simple]

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Kidsafe wrote:

Support at the MAC level is really required for me if I want the Nook.  I have been trying to see ifthe ereader fulfills my needs before the nook purchase but I only have the orginal PowerPC Mac.  Any posted timeframe for this version/support?

Thanks

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Probably never, given that PowerPC Macs are a depreciated system by several years at this point, and if they haven't designed software for it yet, they probably aren't going to start now (and I say this as someone who uses multiple macs and has family members who still use my old powerpc macs).  

[Kidsafe]

Thanks for your reply.  Thats a shame since these lastforever (even without a reboot!).   Are there any other readers for the PowerPC. I really want to take my ibook on a long trip and thought I would try out reading this way before purchasing a new $250 toy.

[very-simple]

I don't know if they work with powerPC chipped computers, but other companies that have desktop e-readers include stanza, ereader.com, Adobe Digital Editions...not thinking of others right now.  I would investigate those first to see if they would work, and also what content is available for them.  

[Perry_Mason]

Apple no longer supports the PowerPC, so I doubt seriously you'll ever see an epub app that runs on that chip.  

[GoldenHeart]

If you mean for the e-reader software for Mac, it is compatible with PowerPC. I have the both the original and latest version running on my Mac G5. I think they have the system requirements listed incorrectly on the mac software because this is copied directly from the mac e-reader help guide.

"To run eReader on a Macintosh computer, you need Mac® OS 8.6 or later with CarbonLib 1.6 or later. If you are running Mac® OS X, eReader requires version 10.1 or later. Mac® OS 10.1.5 or later is recommended.", [Barnes&Noble, eReader for Mac 1.0 Guide]

Version 8.6 is a vintage Mac OS at this point and it's supported. It won't even run on my mac or the newer Intel Macs.

It's worth downloading it for free to see if it works on your setup.

If you mean you want to hook up a nook e-reader to an older Mac, even that probably wouldn't be a problem with many G3 and G4 macs as long as they have USB ports. I had a 2001 iMac and it had USB. In any case, once you have your nook setup, the only reason you'd need to hook it directly to a computer would be to transfer photos and music or e-books from different websites.

[Kidsafe]

The Barnes and Noble ereader doesn't seem to work with the G4 Mac.  I downloaded it again and it never opens up.  It has a suffix of .app.  Don't think that works with non intel Macs.  The problem with not using the B&N ereader is that when you download or select samples its online and only availble through the ereader library feature.  You cannot get to it through ereader pro from Fictionwise.  But this ereader seems to work with their secure ebooks.

Thanks for your response.

[katworley]

The B&N eReader for Mac doesn't connect with the online library either. That's a feature that so far is only available for the Windows version of the Reader, so it doesn't matter if you use the B&N eReader or the one from eReader/Fictionwise, it's the same (lack of) functionality. I know what the B&N website says about the features of their eReader, but I've contacted the support people and they've confirmed that regardless of what the website says, you have to download samples/books to the computer hard drive from the B&N website and open them in the eReader for Mac. There's no access to your online library through the Mac version of the reader software.

[MechaNab]

As PPC has not been used for years, I would say that it will never be supported. Apple doesn't even support it in its OS updates any more. I am a Mac user, and my advice to all mac users is to update your outdated hardware. I know this sacrilege for many mac users, but you just need to get a new computer.

BTW, ereader software does not work on my 6502or 680XX based Apple products either.

[rfruth]

I have a G3 iMac, no eReader support now or ever (for the PPC) ?

[riseaslarks]

If you have OSX 10.4 or later, down load eReader here:

http://www.ereader.com/ereader/software/product/15008_pro_mac.htm

This will work with B&N ebooks even if you have a powerpc (I have an ibook g4). I just tried it with a sample ebook.

[rfruth]

Thanks rise !

[naomi_]

I made the mistake of updating the B&N eReader on my PPC Mac running OSX 10.4. I used the link below to download ereader and even though you indicated the B&N ebooks would work via this reader they do not. Any suggestions?

[whattheh311]

The link riseaslarks posted does work but only on .pdb ebooks ( not .epub )

which are epublished book from B&N

Unfortunatly when you are looking for books it is not easy to distinguish one from another

[tirofiban]

If you're feeling geeky, you can run Linux on that PowerPC. There are some ereaders for Ubuntu. There are reports of running Android on a PowerPC, but unless you're an uber-geek, it's not going to be easy.

[cooker47]

I own a late 2005 Mac Mini G4, the last one Apple made with a Power PC processor before switching to Intel. I've been messing about with this "how to read e-books" issue myself and here's a summary of what I found out:

e-Book readers for OSX 10.4 Tiger

PRODUCT  /  CAN OPEN FILES OF TYPE

- Stanza is just a Beta but it will open .epub, .mobi

- Acrobat or Preview /  .pdf

- eREader will open .txt, .pnut.pdb but not .plkr.pdb, .pdb from memoware.com or Open Office, but will not load .epub or .mobi

- SONY Reader will load  .epub, .pdf, .txt, .doc, .rtf, etc. .. it uses some components from ..

- Adobe Digital Editions which opens  .epub, .pdf .. requires Adobe registration.

So, which e-book reader software you want to use depends on the type of e-book you've got and there are really 4 generally useful formats: file types .txt, .pdf, .pdb (which seems to have at least 3 flavours), plus .epub, and not to mention Palm .mobi format and a whole slew of other less popular formats.

Since B&N's e-books are .epub format I suggest the SONY Reader software which you can get for free from http://ebookstore.sony.com/. It's fast, flexible and free and you can readily use it to load files from anywhere on your 'puter, whereas Adobe Digital is more of a closed system, quite a bit more clunky to use, plus you have to register.

For writers, lots of word processing programs can generate different types of e-book from different types of input. For example, Open Office can save files in Palm .pdb format which eReader can read. Also check out the WSIWYG .epub editor program Sigil at http://code.google.com/p/sigil/  For OSX 10.4 you'll want Sigil-0.2.4-Mac-Package.dmg. Lastly, Calibre can convert .txt files into .epub format. See http://calibre-ebook.com/download_osx You'll want calibre-0.7.2.8.dmg for OSX 10.4. 

This information doesn't seem to be collected anyplace else so I'll also be posting it on my blog at m06orama.blogspot.com and in the OSX section of my Hints and Tips section at http://www.skyprod.net

If I can help further, just reply to this message and I'll get an e-mail.