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Anyone have any clue if the codexes will ever launch on an android platform. Personally I despise Apple and have android everything. But would love to get my codexes in that format if only for the automatic updates. Was quite annoying when they added the Storm Talon to the SM codex and my old codex is stuck without those rules.

Buy the book and then get a PDF copy for your android device? When purchasing the book you purchase the license to use a copy of it (you don't actually own the physical version, it's just loaned to you so you can use it's contents). If you have the physical copy with you I doubt anyone would complain if you were to use your device to look up rules rather than the physical copy (as long as it's quicker).

 Blaggard wrote:
When purchasing the book you purchase the license to use a copy of it (you don't actually own the physical version, it's just loaned to you so you can use it's contents).

That's not precisely true, or at least not everywhere.

Here in Oz, it's legal to make a format-shifted backup copy of a book you have bought (so scanning it in to put onto an e-reader, for example)... but distributing copies on the internet is still illegal.

If you have the physical copy with you I doubt anyone would complain if you were to use your device to look up rules rather than the physical copy (as long as it's quicker).

The whole point of having a digital copy is to remove the need to carry books around...

 insaniak wrote:

 Blaggard wrote:
When purchasing the book you purchase the license to use a copy of it (you don't actually own the physical version, it's just loaned to you so you can use it's contents).

That's not precisely true, or at least not everywhere.

Here in Oz, it's legal to make a format-shifted backup copy of a book you have bought (so scanning it in to put onto an e-reader, for example)... but distributing copies on the internet is still illegal.

I agree, it is down to the state/country legislation on it, but it's generally true.

 insaniak wrote:

 Blaggard wrote:

If you have the physical copy with you I doubt anyone would complain if you were to use your device to look up rules rather than the physical copy (as long as it's quicker).

The whole point of having a digital copy is to remove the need to carry books around...

He's only said he wants it on his phone for the automatic updates rather than not to carry around books. You yourself just stated that you can have backups of it rather than not carrying it about.

Do the apple codexes auto update as according to the errata's and FAQs?

They will eventually launch for more than apple products. They have said this is their first step.

If something is on Apple you can probably find some way of getting it onto other platforms. I'm sure there are dozens of programs for altering file formats to fit different devices.

 Blaggard wrote:

 insaniak wrote:

 Blaggard wrote:

If you have the physical copy with you I doubt anyone would complain if you were to use your device to look up rules rather than the physical copy (as long as it's quicker).

The whole point of having a digital copy is to remove the need to carry books around...

He's only said he wants it on his phone for the automatic updates rather than not to carry around books. You yourself just stated that you can have backups of it rather than not carrying it about.

Do the apple codexes auto update as according to the errata's and FAQs?

Yes, which is pretty nice.

 Blaggard wrote:
You yourself just stated that you can have backups of it rather than not carrying it about.

Sorry, what?

You have to own the physical book in order to legally have a digital copy unless it was purchased as a digital book to begin with. That doesn't mean you have to have the physical book with you in order to use the digital one. Again, that would defy the point of having the digital one.




Automatically Appended Next Post:

 Grey Templar wrote:
Yes, which is pretty nice.

Or it would be, if the digital codex's updates were the same as those for the print book.

Prism962 wrote:
Personally I despise Apple and have android everything.

While I don't despise them, I do only have Android, and will stay that way for some time.

Prism962 wrote:
But would love to get my codexes in that format if only for the automatic updates. Was quite annoying when they added the Storm Talon to the SM codex and my old codex is stuck without those rules.

If you do get scanned copies, add annotations to the FAQ'd and errata'd sections.
The Storm Talon is a royal pain, as the ONLY way to get the rules now is on Apple gear.

We keep backup copies on our Kindle Fires, its sooooo nice. Especially if you bookmark them and such.

But yea, I'd like to see something akin to an e-copy you can purchase straight to an Android device.

I think the problem is that all the digital codexes have been built using Apple's own i-books authoring software so far, meaning it's not easy to port them to other formats, so for the foreseeable future I think we're likely to only see ios versions.

If Apple Allowed a locked-down release of the i-book app for Android, I'd go crazy buying books for it.

Stoopid GW.

Do you just buy them off itunes?

Yeah its become a very annoying aspect. Every company goes apple everything and it annoys me and im sure plenty of other. Most companies port there software to multiple platforms. And yes a friend of mine has an ipad so thats where we got our Storm Talon. I Copied down all the details as I have the physical codex and those are rules to my codex after all.

I for one one would lap up android version, codex's, white Dwarf and a rule book with a search function to quickly end a rule discussion!

GW doesnt care about you.

So dont care for them, and just bootleg stuff until they learn a little respect.

 d3m01iti0n wrote:
GW doesnt care about you.

So dont care for them, and just bootleg stuff until they learn a little respect.

Wow, so if someone (or a company) doesn't do what you want then you advocate outright theft as the cure? Great sense of ethics. [/sarcasm]

 insaniak wrote:

 Blaggard wrote:
You yourself just stated that you can have backups of it rather than not carrying it about.

Sorry, what?

You have to own the physical book in order to legally have a digital copy unless it was purchased as a digital book to begin with. That doesn't mean you have to have the physical book with you in order to use the digital one. Again, that would defy the point of having the digital one.

To have the backup is a good enough reason. You stated that having back ups was one of the legal reasons for it. You then discount that reason because it doesn't follow the "it takes less room in my 20 bags full of models" argument.

 insaniak wrote:

You have to own the physical book in order to legally have a digital copy unless it was purchased as a digital book to begin with. That doesn't mean you have to have the physical book with you in order to use the digital one. Again, that would defy the point of having the digital one.

Wrong.

Owning a physical book does not give you any rights to make a digital copy even for personal use.

Nearly every physical book comes with the following text in the front:

No other part of this book may be reproduced in any form or by any electronic or mechanical means including information storage and retrieval systems without permission in writing from the publisher.....

The Fair Use clause doesn't even allow it.

tldr; Making a digital copy of a book, even just for your own personal use, is illegal.

that depands on the country . But doesnt change the fact that if you make your own pdf of a book at any tournament or shop you will be asked to show , if you have the actual codex or an apple version of it .

True. It does depend on your country.

Taking a few of the top ones:

1. US - illegal. Our copyright laws are difficult to navigate. In many cases it depends upon the actual thing under copyright.

2. UK - currently illegal unless it is a transient copy and has no economic significance. So, best judgement on whether format shifting a physical codex you actually own involves no economic harm to GW. Probably depends upon your point of view which is rarely a situation you want to be in front of a judge about.

3. Australia - 10% of the book can be copied provided the book is still in print.

I never understood why they chose Apple as their medium.

How many hipsters with their parents credit cards play 40k?

The people I know who dig 40k tend to be not just be PC users, but PC snobs, building their own computers and such, and won't touch an apple product with a 40 ft stick.

The idea makes sense, just the medium is nonsensical. While I have an interest in how the tablet computer market develops, I'll be damned if I ever buy an apple version.

Apple guarantee a locked-down format for their books. They're essentially un-piratable. The book stays in Apple's format, and is only available from Apple.

Android's equivalents are more open, but even if there was an equivalent to i-book, GW still wouldn't care.
2 formats is 2 contracts, and 2 ways for them to lose control over their content.

Also, Android users are generally less likely to pay for their apps, or content on them. Apple users are used to bleeding money through their device, so are GW's preferred customer.

 MajorStoffer wrote:
I never understood why they chose Apple as their medium.

Another (often overlooked) point is that with Apple, you only need to develop for one OS, and one equipment spec.
With Android it's a mess of technical specifications and platforms.

clively wrote:
3. Australia - 10% of the book can be copied provided the book is still in print.

The 10% rule applies to straight copying. But current Australian copyright law allows for format shifting - You're allowed to make a copy in a different format to the original, provided that the original it's a legal version to begin with. This was specifically added into the law to allow people to legally put stuff on e readers and iPods, since Oz was a little slower than the rest off the world to start offering such things for legal download.

 marv335 wrote:

 MajorStoffer wrote:
I never understood why they chose Apple as their medium.

Another (often overlooked) point is that with Apple, you only need to develop for one OS, and one equipment spec.
With Android it's a mess of technical specifications and platforms.

Same argument as to why games haven't been keeping up with current technology. It's easier to develop for consoles than actually make something worthy.

Although funnily enough it's more to do with the hardware than the OS most of the time. Sure there's some idiosyncrasies, but java, .net, c, etc. all practically run on everything anyway. Unless they are developing using apple's own includes, then god help them.

I imagine that as with everything to do with GW the key consideration is protection of their IP. Since Apple apps are closely locked down and not easy for randomers to crack or copy, etc they are happy to put their stuff there as it protects their IP. Android is looser and would possibly see all sorts of messing about. GW don't like people doing anything they don't specifically authorise, especially not to something as fundamental as their 40k codex line. That's what I think.

It would be trivial to release them for Android as well. Someone I know wrote a pretty developed app on Apple, Android and Blackberry that does way more than a simple e-book (which is effectively what these are) in a matter of days. They're not Apple only because it is hard or a stretch to do Android apps, it is because they don't want to. Probably a similar issue with Kindle releases, they might not think the format is secure enough.

Basically stated already, but Apple is crazy. I work in the wireless industry, and I know this only to be true. My understanding is that the GW books are closer to apps than books. Add this to Apple's xenophobic and anal stance on formatting (like how an iTunes tv series can basically be used on nothing bu the computer you purchased it on) and we have these "book" pretty much never leaking. There is also a disgusting attitude that Apple is some kind of magic wand and that everyone owns everything Apple and nothing else. The truth is that Apple has a sliding market share, and far more people use Windows, Android, and other mobile (and desktop) operating systems than Apple products.

I too would like to see codecies released on other formats. I simply cannot justify $60 per codex (plus the physical size) for the many armies I sort of collect (many, many years of collecting). Without a better method of digitial distribution, GW gets a lot less money from me than if I could buy each codex at an acceptable price and format and then add models to the aforementioned armies.

At the end of the day, digital distribution has been proven and functional for years. Drive Thru RPG and similar venues are doing better than ever, and the option of buying digital products has only strengthened the gaming industry. Hopefully, GW will catch on and at least try to meet us half way. In the meantime, I will continue using scanned copies of whatever books I do buy. GW's legal department is big and crazy, but not that big and crazy.

 MajorStoffer wrote:
I never understood why they chose Apple as their medium.

How many hipsters with their parents credit cards play 40k?

The people I know who dig 40k tend to be not just be PC users, but PC snobs, building their own computers and such, and won't touch an apple product with a 40 ft stick.

The idea makes sense, just the medium is nonsensical. While I have an interest in how the tablet computer market develops, I'll be damned if I ever buy an apple version.

God how that defines my entire circle of friends and myself. PC geeks we are.

Oh and before I forget. Even though its illegal ive never heard of anyone getting fined or punished for electronically copying a book into a pdf for personal use. So while it may be illegal I doubt they much care unless they have a digital form of the product that they want to make you buy. Or your distributing it.

 MajorStoffer wrote:
I never understood why they chose Apple as their medium.

Probably because Apple offered them a deal. That's how it usually goes down in business.

A non-Apple digital Codex would certainly be nice. Hopefully they get around to doing that by the time the BT Codex rolls around (well, they do have like a decade of time by the way things are going). Personally I'd want a PC copy for my netbook, no Android stuff here either. Indeed the biggest draw of a digital copy is the updateability, my BT Codex's FAQ printout will soon be thicker than the Codex itself.