Quote:
Originally Posted by Julius Caesar
I think eBook format is far from mature due to current problems I noticed:
1. Books that contain pictures and diagrams may be poorly transferred at low resolution and may cause ugly pixelated graphics for mathematical notation (even very simple stuff like "¼").
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This is not an issue with the format, it is inept use of it by the publisher. The format (either of the major formats) will handle it just fine.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Julius Caesar
2. Scanning may make a mistake that doesn't exist in the printed format. For example 1" being replaced with "i", words may get chopped off and combined with other words.
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This is not an issue with the format, it is inept use of it by the publisher. The format (either of the major formats) will handle it just fine.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Julius Caesar
3. Many books contain end notes and foot notes that are not properly linked. You have to manually flip back and forth which is very cumbersome for an eBook.
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This is not an issue with the format, it is inept use of it by the publisher. The format (either of the major formats) will handle it just fine.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Julius Caesar
4. Original artwork from the cover are often replaced by an ugly generic cover.
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This is not an issue with the format, it is inept use of it by the publisher. The format (either of the major formats) will handle it just fine.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Julius Caesar
5. Dust jacket and back covers are not scanned.
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This is not an issue with the format, it is inept use of it by the publisher. The format (either of the major formats) will handle it just fine.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Julius Caesar
6. The fact that there is no single acceptable format that works for every e-reader. The most common format, ePub, does not work for the Kindle. Books bought from an online book store may not work with another eReader without hacking.
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This isn't really a format issue either, but rather a problem with the walled garden business model. Formats are trivial to convert. In fact, they can be converted pretty much automatically and invisibly to the user, once you break down the DRM wall.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Julius Caesar
eBook has been in the market for 5 years if not longer. How much longer can we expect before eBook format becomes fully mature?
I know not all eBooks have this problem. Newer eBooks published in 2012 and later may have less problems but what really irritates me is publishers are often rushing to make a profit by scanning their books quickly, selling them quickly without bothering to check for errors. And there is no guarantee that contacting them would do any good.
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I respectully disagree that the format has any issues at all. In fact, the format is so mature that those who feel that they have to improve it to justify their existence are trying to shoehorn more and more useless crap in to it, to make it more like a multi-media web page (yeah, I'm looking at
you, EPUB3). It is the business model of publishers that is immature, and expecting that to be otherwise only five years in to a new industry suggests you haven't even been involved in running a business in a new industry. Business models evolve constantly, and eternally.