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Ebooks battle for next chapter
From the Guardian UK
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Last edited by Moejoe; 04-24-2009 at 09:19 AM. |
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zeldinha zippy zeldissima
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interesting article. it's great that make a point of talking about the format war (or "tower of e-babel") because i suspect many consumers aren't too aware of that. and it's probably the biggest hurdle ebooks have to overcome in the near future (there are a few other ones like drm and prices but format is very important). the good news is that at least in europe epub is making huge strides, as this quote seems to attest :
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zeldinha zippy zeldissima
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it does seem to be amazon's intention... using an open format goes against their strategy so far. but i hope they'll add epub support nonetheless because it would be pretty ridiculous to maintain such a pointless division, particularly given how easy it would be to create mobi files from epub sources (if they really insist on keeping mobi as their main format). if they sell and support both formats they could reach a much wider market, although so far that doesn't seem to be what they want. but maybe with the new iphone kindle app they're thinking about it.
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Amazing!!
Sony conceding that their own closed unique format is a bad idea!!
![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() There is hope yet. Roll on the Cybook Epub format upgrade. |
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#7 |
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The big advantage of a switch to ePub, and ePub exclusively, is that it allows more advanced formatting to be used. If you look at the recent Lord of the Rings, for example, the formatting of the ePub is almost entirely consistent with the LIT version (A Comparison of format limitations based on The Hobbit ). So a world-wide release like this one, even of an ebook where investing in better layout might pay off in higher sales, is still constrained by older formats. On the plus side, it does seem that LIT is the minimum standard now, and MOBI and others are downconverted from that.
My problem with ePub-only is that it is effectively Adobe ePub-only and Adobe Digital Editions isn't a very good ePub viewer. It isn't completely terrible if you accept its concept of operation, which is that the publisher is always right and the reader should have virtually no control over layout, but even then I would argue that it should (optionally) implement hyphenation for example. If you are used to a Reader that gives you some control over the layout of text on the screen then Adobe Digital Editions is not for you. So if the UK publishers stick to their ePub-only and DRM-mostly strategy, then FictionWise's plan to add ePub to eReader Readers (including eReader-like DRM) starts to make very good sense. Anyone who wants to stick around in the ebook market has to have an ePub strategy, and it probably has to include a unique DRM scheme for their particular reader. |
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The Introvert
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Imagine epub DRM infected....from adobe, fictionwise, diesel, sharkebooks etc... Incompatible versions of the same format? People who have life and don't have time to live on mobileread will buy epub from all shops for the ebook reader only to realise that only one epub out of many is supported? ![]() |
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The Introvert
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People don't buy extension. Most people have no idea what "file extension" mean and have by default "hide known file extension". People buy ebooks by format. PDF, MS Lit, ePub, Mobipocket.... |
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#12 | |
Grand Sorcerer
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#13 |
The Introvert
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From my personal experience with average Joe, forcing people to deal with extension might not work. Many of them have difficulties understanding folder structure in Windows environment.
People want to read books, not to invest their free time into learning new concepts. |
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