Quote:
Originally Posted by Harmon
Did you read the article I linked to? The writer makes two points: (1) the technology underlying epub is ancient tech and (2) the publishing industry is being disaggregated.
Do you believe either point to be untrue?
As I understand the writer's conclusion, the net effect of these two factors is that dedicated EBRs based on epub and related formats are increasingly irrelevant, because they are being left in the dust technologically, and the publishing ecosystem they depend on is disappearing.
|
(1) is untrue as reading the comments on that blog (about EPUB 3) will tell you. (2) What does the publishing industry being disaggregated have to do with having a preference for reading on non-backlit screens? Furthermore, the publishing industry no longer existing does not mean that having the ability to package up long form writing into discrete packages with metadata that can be stored/transmitted/archived/processed in ways that webpages cannot, becomes irrelevant. A point also made in the comments on that blog.
That blog, like most blogs, is a classic example of someone generalizing globally from their own experience.
I think that as long as dedicated EBRs are the only way to read long-form digital text on reflective, refresh-only-power-draw screens, they will remain relevant, at least to me. I know many people are happy reading on LCDs, but, by the same token, many people are not happy doing that.
And it is important to note that dedicated EBRs will never be a huge market, given the limited number of people that read a lot, unlike say smartphones. So the declining sales numbers are inevitable as that market get saturated.