Quote:
Originally Posted by GhostHawk
Why Epub?
Because its relatively easy to put DRM on it? Same for PDF?
You can't open it on a pc without first loading special software for it.
Which is not true of several other formats.
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My thoughts exactly.
Epub has been pushed as an "open format" but every publisher has its own incompatible form of DRM...I think this is going to end up exploding in Epublishing's face once consumers wise up.
Readers are going to demand DRM-free ebooks (that are inexpensive) and publishers had best get with the program or they will face the same fate the music labels have faced.
I'm pretty sure 5, 10, maybe even 20 years from now, people will still be reading HTML. I don't see Epub having that staying power.
Everything can read HTML, it's easily converted to other formats and there are countless free, easy authoring tools. Sure, there are issues--different specs, non-standard tags, and so forth. HTML books in Zip folders nicely resolve things like "multi-media" books with lots of photos, etc.
But despite the fact that HTML is not the most elegant or sophisticated solution, it is an open, accessible format that millions of people are already familiar with and billions of people can already read with the devices they already own.
PCs, smart phones, netbooks, tablets, Nintendo Wiis, Playstations, XBoxes, palmtops, the new generation of smartbooks that will only have a browser, the IPad, even the Kindle--ALL of them can read HTML ebooks without any additional software. All of them, that is, except for a handful of dedicated ebook readers.
I know I'm going to take a lot of flack for this, but I think HTML could easily be the ebook format of the future, just as MP3 emerged as the clear format of choice for audio despite the format's limitations.