11-19-2007, 08:00 PM | #76 | |
Grand Sorcerer
Posts: 11,470
Karma: 13095790
Join Date: Aug 2007
Location: Grass Valley, CA
Device: EB 1150, EZ Reader, Literati, iPad 2 & Air 2, iPhone 7
|
Quote:
Dale |
|
11-19-2007, 08:07 PM | #77 |
Wizard
Posts: 1,531
Karma: 8059866
Join Date: Oct 2007
Location: Canada
Device: Kobo H2O / Aura HD / Glo / iPad3
|
Both Sony and now Amazon are trying to emulate the Apple iTunes model but they're only seeing the model through the greedy eyes of a corporation. They've failed to see how Apple managed to get to where they are.
When I bought my original iPod I could import my existing CD library at no cost. I could also continue to buy CD's from other music stores (if I wanted to) but it was easier to buy from iTunes. If I did buy from iTunes they allowed me to burn it to a CD. In other words they threw me enough bones and gave me enough leash that I ended up eating the dog food and now my music library is all on iTunes. They also haven't upset me enough to consider going through the effort of converting it. Amazon has demonstrated zero good faith with this model. Their interpretation of fairplay is play by our rules and you can't buy from anyone else. I can't see how this can succeed. |
11-19-2007, 08:20 PM | #78 |
Junior Member
Posts: 8
Karma: 10
Join Date: Nov 2007
Device: Kindle
|
I ordered a Kindle today, before knowing this forum existed. What I have read thus far confirms my decision.
I understand how anyone who has invested in an e-reading Sony, or iliad or other device would be upset that the Kindle is not compatible. However, the current market in e-books is far different than the music market when Apple introduced the iPod. CDs were a huge mass market....and a large number of people were already converting them to MP3. This has never been the case with e-books, and I know of no way to easily convert the mass market reading format (print) to any ebook format. I bought today because for the first time eBooks cost less than print, and because they promise a wide variety of titles. I think that will be most important to most new buyers, and in the eBook market, generating new buyers is what is most important to Amazon, and I expect to the future of eBooks. George |
11-19-2007, 08:23 PM | #79 | |
creator of calibre
Posts: 44,020
Karma: 22669822
Join Date: Oct 2006
Location: Mumbai, India
Device: Various
|
Quote:
I've been looking over mobipocket and its not HTML, its a proprietary customization of HTML, for example, to specify text indent on a paragraph you have to use the width attribute on a <p> tag which is not part of the HTML spec. It doesn't support CSS. Even microsoft's .lit format is superior technically to mobi and is more usable thanks to the guys at convertlit. And when I say more usable I mean one can convert both to and from it, on multiple platforms. I don't care about DRM. Another problem is that .mobi is a technically inferior format. This is because it was designed originally for very low performace devices with very small screens. Witness the numerous threads on images in mobipocket in this forum. So to summarize, if Amazon cared about the device rather than about selling books, they should have added support for a decent, open ebook format. |
|
11-19-2007, 08:30 PM | #80 |
Junior Member
Posts: 9
Karma: 10
Join Date: May 2007
Device: Sony PRS-500
|
"PDF is designed expressly for the purpose of preserving the page layout, that specific design point is totally contrary to e-books where the screen size is necessarily variable."
I couldn't agree more. PDF is very poorly suited to ebooks. Almost any other format (e.g., RTF) is a better choice. Andy Baird http://www.andybaird.com/travels/ |
11-19-2007, 08:30 PM | #81 | |
Grand Sorcerer
Posts: 11,470
Karma: 13095790
Join Date: Aug 2007
Location: Grass Valley, CA
Device: EB 1150, EZ Reader, Literati, iPad 2 & Air 2, iPhone 7
|
Quote:
Dale |
|
11-19-2007, 08:33 PM | #82 | |
Reborn Paper User
Posts: 8,616
Karma: 15446734
Join Date: May 2006
Location: Que Nada
Device: iPhone8, iPad Air
|
Quote:
Ebooks have been around for a long time. If you think of it closely, every book has to go through an electronic phase for print, it's only natural that it lives this way for us to appreciate. There have been numerous ebook readers in the past and most of them have partially failed for numerous reasons. But it's coming back now since the introduction of eink. Browse through the site, do searches, use our excellent Wiki section and you'll find all about ebooks and their associated devices around here. And beware... there is a lot to read! Have fun! |
|
11-19-2007, 08:45 PM | #83 |
creator of calibre
Posts: 44,020
Karma: 22669822
Join Date: Oct 2006
Location: Mumbai, India
Device: Various
|
It will be interesting to see how comprehensive the HTML support is. Will it support CSS? links to other files on the filesystem? links to images? Will it pre-paginate the HTML file? What will the layout and rendering performance be like?
|
11-19-2007, 08:51 PM | #84 | |
Grand Sorcerer
Posts: 11,470
Karma: 13095790
Join Date: Aug 2007
Location: Grass Valley, CA
Device: EB 1150, EZ Reader, Literati, iPad 2 & Air 2, iPhone 7
|
Quote:
Dale |
|
11-19-2007, 08:54 PM | #85 |
Developer
Posts: 345
Karma: 3473
Join Date: Apr 2007
Location: Brooklyn, NY, USA
Device: iRex iLiad v1, Blackberry Tour, Kindle DX, iPad.
|
DRM does not limit the Kindle; it's just like the iPod.
I don't see what all the DRM hooraw is about. Sure, the Kindle supports a DRMed format, but it also natively supports popular non-DRM formats. Look at the parallel:
PHP Code:
There's nothing stopping you from keeping your whole library in mobi format on your computer and updating to the Kindle by USB, in the same way that many people never buy from iTunes, keeping their music library in mp3 files. If you don't trust Amazon, you don't have to go through them. Use the Kindle like you'd use an iPod. You still get these bonuses:
But the ease of wirelessly buying and downloading books and newspapers directly from Amazon is what will sell this to the average user and make it take off in a larger sense. We enthusiasts may be big in heart, but we're small in numbers. The Kindle is designed for the average user, not us. And just like iTunes, with increasing popularity Amazon will eventually sell books without DRM restriction, probably for a small price markup. The rising tide of the Kindle+Amazon combo will eventually improve and open up the e-book business, in exactly the same way that the DRMed iPod+iTunes combo changed music publishing. |
11-19-2007, 08:57 PM | #86 |
Developer
Posts: 345
Karma: 3473
Join Date: Apr 2007
Location: Brooklyn, NY, USA
Device: iRex iLiad v1, Blackberry Tour, Kindle DX, iPad.
|
A couple of details:
The Kindle supports mobi and txt natively. However, html and doc formats are NOT native and must be converted. Curiously, the Kindle user manual doesn't mention PDF support in any context. As for criticism of mobi as a technically inferior format, please point out to me a decent open-standards format that is more commonly used for ebooks than mobi is. Like it or not, mobi is the de facto standard at the moment. Last edited by jharker; 11-19-2007 at 09:17 PM. Reason: Changed "converted via Amazon" to "converted". |
11-19-2007, 09:04 PM | #87 |
creator of calibre
Posts: 44,020
Karma: 22669822
Join Date: Oct 2006
Location: Mumbai, India
Device: Various
|
That's the point, there isn't one and Amazon is doing its best to make sure there never will be one. But as far as technically suprior formats for ebooks are concerned, a simple zip file with a opf file in it and HTML files for content would be superior. That's essentially what mobi is except that for legacy reasons they use a non-standard HTML variant.
|
11-19-2007, 09:05 PM | #88 | |
Grand Sorcerer
Posts: 11,470
Karma: 13095790
Join Date: Aug 2007
Location: Grass Valley, CA
Device: EB 1150, EZ Reader, Literati, iPad 2 & Air 2, iPhone 7
|
Quote:
Dale |
|
11-19-2007, 09:56 PM | #89 | |
Wizard
Posts: 2,999
Karma: 300001
Join Date: Jan 2007
Location: Citrus Heights, California
Device: TWO Kindle 2s, one each Bookeen Cybook Gen3, Sony PRS-500, Axim X51V
|
Quote:
Derek |
|
11-19-2007, 10:01 PM | #90 | |
Wizard
Posts: 1,531
Karma: 8059866
Join Date: Oct 2007
Location: Canada
Device: Kobo H2O / Aura HD / Glo / iPad3
|
Quote:
The Kindle is the correct choice for many people's needs but I think it would have met many more people's needs with a slightly different sales model and that would have been good for the whole industry. Let us know what you think when you receive your Kindle and enjoy the forum. |
|
|
Similar Threads | ||||
Thread | Thread Starter | Forum | Replies | Last Post |
Buying Amazon.com books on a UK Kindle? | PeteWilliams | Amazon Kindle | 21 | 09-07-2013 10:38 PM |
The 10 Worst Books | Dr. Drib | Reading Recommendations | 514 | 02-26-2012 11:44 AM |
Newbie Kindle owners...looking for Kindle books on Amazon? | desertgrandma | Amazon Kindle | 9 | 10-03-2010 10:27 AM |
What's the strangest thing you've ordered from Amazon? | carld | Lounge | 21 | 08-29-2010 08:04 PM |
worst thing about 505 | hello | Sony Reader | 57 | 10-16-2007 11:36 AM |