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Old 01-15-2009, 04:02 PM   #6
zelda_pinwheel
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Liviu_5 View Post
Two great posts above and I truly appreciate them, but the above paragraph is just a pipe-dream in my opinion.
i prefer the term "optimism." but seriously, i don't think it will happen overnight but i do think it will happen eventually. i think that in some cases the epub will be converted (mobipocket, imp...) but if the conversion is accomplished "invisibly" in the background the first time you open the file, as mobipocket reader does, then to the end user there's not a significant difference.

Quote:
Drm-free, yeah, but then we have html, rtf, txt, pdf already, and while epub is more sophisticated from what I understand, it's just a matter of degree.
well, i guess you can put it that way, but there's a pretty huge difference between any of those and epub, so much so that i don't even see the point of comparing it to, say, txt. and pdf being a format specifically designed for *print* it has some very obvious shortcomings when used as an ebook format, even when it is formatted for a small screen. you *can* compare it to html, because it's based on html + css, but even in that case it brings more sophisticated possibilities than html alone.

Quote:
And the technical problems with device rendering are still there as I saw it first hand on my 700, where epub is pdf like in speed and then why not use reflowable pdf, what do I gain? I can convert faster to reflowable pdf with open_office_org. And the 700 is a powerful device as e-reading ones go...
i'm not really sure what you mean by that. epub is very fast for me, the majority of what i'm reading is epub and i've no problems with delays in page turns or opening the books. pdf is acceptably fast as well, however the pdfs i've tried gave me an inferior experience because of their specific limitations : it's great to be able to reflow pdf if you're obliged to, but when you do that you lose some formatting of the page. i'd much rather read a format which is conceived specifically to be reflowable, rather than has reflow capability hacked into it after the fact. as for creating epub books, using calibre, i can create an epub for my own use with minimal effort in a few seconds from practically any other format. if i want to start from scratch and make a really nice quality epub it takes a bit longer but that is true of any format. i've not tried creating a pdf with open office but i imagine it's comparable or longer.

Quote:
I sort of believe that this technical limitations will be overcome but the drm issue is social and economic and there is where I think epub as universal standard is just a pipe dream...

I profoundly doubt that you will be able to read drm epub on any device. I just do not think that drm works that way - not technically of course, but socially and economically
here, i agree with you : one of the really big problems with ebooks currently is drm. BUT 1. that's not limited to epub, 2. it doesn't prevent you from reading non-drm files (if i want to buy a drm book, which i try to avoid when possible, i buy lit format, remove the drm, and convert this to epub) and 3. just like drm is being abandoned on digital music, i am really convinced it's only a matter of time before we manage to get rid of it on ebooks as well. how much time, i don't know ; hopefully it won't take as long as it took the music industry. we will see. and once ebooks are sold without drm (which is *already* the case for certain publishers !), then there is nothing stopping you from reading epub on whatever device you want.
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