Breaking news!!!!! Sony to sell Epub only - Page 9

DrMoze · 08-13-2009, 09:38 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by kikar

Something I found interesting in this slashgear artiocle....

http://www.slashgear.com/sony-to-ado...eader-1352146/

......." Sony will also provide an update path for owners of the first edition Reader, model PRS-500, so early adopters of the Reader will also be able to enjoy this benefit."

hmmm... depends what is meant by "update path." Although it does say update, and not upgrade.

That slashgear commentary is weak as well. It says that Sony will need wireless to "take on the Kindle." I'm sorry, but I don't want or need wireless. Sony already has it all over the Kindle, with far better battery life (a huge factor) and the ability to handle ePub, including e-library lending access. Kindle needs to catch up at this point. The current announcement just makes this more obvious.

EowynCarter · 08-13-2009, 09:40 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by sminarovich

So if I understand correctly I will be able to convert my lrf books to Epub, will that only be with a vehicle like calibre or what..? Also I like the look of HMTL on ADE what exactly do people not like about epub look, will all the books currently at the connect store go to epub? I know most of this has probably been answered by reading all the posts but I am confused...perhaps a poll on epub or a pro con list...also if sony is switching to entirely epub..hopefully they will correct and advance the tech..look and dislikes that plague epub at the moment..does that sound naive..or what

Well logic would be that if you paid for the lrf version, you'll be able to download the ePub one.

ahi · 08-13-2009, 09:42 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by DrMoze

No, they are not. AApparently, in your case, 'unreadable' is a psychological condition rather than an objective one.

Can't help having standards.

sminarovich · 08-13-2009, 09:43 AM

okay i finally did read the press release does anybody no what "update path" is or means..will I be able to download it?? should I put I start purchasing books using the epub format and storing them in ADE they will store there or in my library until I am able to purchase the 600, or should I just hold off on on ebook purchases for the time being.

wallcraft · 08-13-2009, 09:46 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by HarryT

I'd owned my Opus for a week before I even noticed that they were there

.

The Opus is rendering the in-line page numbers differently from other devices with mobile ADE. It is using an almost invisible page number in the body of the text, which it gets away with because the page number is also in the title bar. On my EZ Reader (Hanlin V3), the page number is very prominent and it can obscure a word. On the other hand, the full screen view on the EZ Reader (no title bar) is otherwise a good thing. For screenshots of the two devices (on different pages) see Just got my Cybook Opus posts #50 and #51.

stustaff · 08-13-2009, 09:59 AM

As a user of a sony 505 all I can say is the move to epub based on the current epubs v's LRF out there is that it is a backward move from a READING point of view.

Epubs in general do not look as good as an lrf due to the poor formatting especially the justification AND the stupid number half way down the page getting into teh text of the story.

I am dissapointed slightly by this.

I AM aware of the benefits of epub but for me in terms of what I use my 505 for sony books will cost $9.99 in LRF and look great or $9.99 in epub and look ok...ish.

booo

igorsk · 08-13-2009, 10:02 AM

Adobe's EPUB compatible devices list includes upcoming PRS-300 and PRS-600 but not PRS-500. This seems to suggest that we are unlikely to get a PRS-500 firmware with EPUB support. Still, I wonder what else could the "update path" be... an exchange program like the one for the 505 doesn't really sound like it.

Wetdogeared · 08-13-2009, 10:03 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by sminarovich

So if I understand correctly I will be able to convert my lrf books to Epub, will that only be with a vehicle like calibre or what..? Also I like the look of HMTL on ADE what exactly do people not like about epub look, will all the books currently at the connect store go to epub? I know most of this has probably been answered by reading all the posts but I am confused...perhaps a poll on epub or a pro con list...also if sony is switching to entirely epub..hopefully they will correct and advance the tech..look and dislikes that plague epub at the moment..does that sound naive..or what

Some pros and cons of ePub going on in this thread.

https://www.mobileread.com/forums/showthread.php?t=53317

igorsk · 08-13-2009, 10:03 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by stustaff

Epubs in general do not look as good as an lrf due to the poor formatting especially the justification AND the stupid number half way down the page getting into teh text of the story.

Latest version of Adobe Mobile SDK does support full justification. And we're getting a firmware update for 505.

krischik · 08-13-2009, 10:07 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by stustaff

As a user of a sony 505 all I can say is the move to epub based on the current epubs v's LRF out there is that it is a backward move from a READING point of view.

We will know that only after the firmware upgrade. Remember the 505 uses an old rendering engine. A newer rendering engine might get better results.

And another - technical point - which got overlooked: If Sony drops LRF from the firmware then this will free memory for other features - a better ePUB renderer prehaps?

Maybe the 500 did not get epub because of memory constraints. Maybe the 500 has only enough memory for one rendering engine?

Lots of maybees....

Martin

tmoody · 08-13-2009, 10:07 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by eReaderPlanet

I understand publishers' fears of piracy, but I also think the consumer has the right to do what they want with their own property.

When you buy a book, the book is your property; the content isn't. With printed books, the content pretty much travels with the book, so if you sell it or give it away, you lose access to the content as you lose possession of the book. When you buy a printed copy of The Great Gatsby, you don't come into ownership of that content. You have acquired an object that presents the content.

The problem is that ebooks are essentially content, and the reading device or software is the object that presents the content. In this way, ebooks are fundamentally different from printed books. DRM, as I understand it, is an attempt to make ebooks more like printed books, but it's an unsatisfactory solution since, in the end, they're just not the same kind of thing. The difference between printed books and ebooks is ontological, and DRM schemes can't really get around that.

Getting back to the actual topic, and speaking as someone who has yet to buy a dedicated reader device, I see this move on Sony's part as a good thing, and it inclines me to think more seriously about buying a Sony. For one thing, this will put pressure on Amazon to follow suit, since it will cost them market share. The academic market is potentially huge and if it will favor the ePub format, which makes sense to me (for one thing, the anglophone academic market is pretty international, and Amazon isn't), then Amazon stands to lose if they don't get on board with ePub.

This is a bold move on Sony's part, not because of anything to do with DRM, but simply in providing a major nudge toward an ebook market that doesn't tie content to specific devices. As much as they might like to tie people to their devices, they can probably discern that the people who are willing to be tied are probably going to get Kindle anyway, because Kindle has the best selection and prices. I mean, if you don't care about lock-in, and you're in the US, why wouldn't you go with Kindle? Sony is gambling that there are a lot of people who do care, including the large and lucrative academic publishers (textbooks and scholarly books), and the international anglophone market. They also know that by choosing to compete in the ePub market, they'll drive content prices down, including their own, but they see it as leading to greater volume and more profit in the end. That's what makes it bold.

Todd

Who are you? · 08-13-2009, 10:08 AM

The Sony software is pretty modular and the 300 is supposed to get the same processor as the 500, so it would probably be possible to simply copy the epub .so from the 300 image to the 500 and update the kconfig.xml. The biggest problem would be to make Digital Editions authorize the reader so you can read drm epub.

sminarovich · 08-13-2009, 10:11 AM

Thanks to all the Wizards and Gurus

guri

: what would we / I do without mobileread...I hope that the Aug 25th pr will make things more clear and that purchase of the 600 is forthcoming to Canada

wallcraft · 08-13-2009, 10:18 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by krischik

And another - technical point - which got overlooked: If Sony drops LRF from the firmware then this will free memory for other features - a better ePUB renderer prehaps?

They can't drop support for LRF/LRX in their Readers, because they are still selling LRX ebooks and because maintaining customer loyalty is important for selling new devices. So the new devices have to support "legacy" ebooks, probably for years to come.

krischik · 08-13-2009, 10:26 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by wallcraft

They can't drop support for LRF/LRX in their Readers, because they are still selling LRX ebooks and because maintaining customer loyalty is important for selling new devices. So the new devices have to support "legacy" ebooks, probably for years to come.

Did BeBook not do precisely that only from Mobipocket to ePUB? Remember: you don't have to update!

And they could just convert all LRX into ePUB and let you re-download.

08-13-2009, 10:11 AM	#133
sminarovich Connoisseur Posts: 95 Karma: 3133 Join Date: Jan 2008 Location: Ontario, Canada Device: sony ereader 500 & 600	Thank You Mobileread Thanks to all the Wizards and Gurus guri: what would we / I do without mobileread...I hope that the Aug 25th pr will make things more clear and that purchase of the 600 is forthcoming to Canada

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08-13-2009, 09:43 AM	#124
sminarovich Connoisseur Posts: 95 Karma: 3133 Join Date: Jan 2008 Location: Ontario, Canada Device: sony ereader 500 & 600	okay i finally did read the press release does anybody no what "update path" is or means..will I be able to download it?? should I put I start purchasing books using the epub format and storing them in ADE they will store there or in my library until I am able to purchase the 600, or should I just hold off on on ebook purchases for the time being.

08-13-2009, 09:59 AM	#126
stustaff Wizard Posts: 1,055 Karma: 2110 Join Date: Nov 2007 Location: Derbyshire UK Device: sony reader PRS505 and 600	As a user of a sony 505 all I can say is the move to epub based on the current epubs v's LRF out there is that it is a backward move from a READING point of view. Epubs in general do not look as good as an lrf due to the poor formatting especially the justification AND the stupid number half way down the page getting into teh text of the story. I am dissapointed slightly by this. I AM aware of the benefits of epub but for me in terms of what I use my 505 for sony books will cost $9.99 in LRF and look great or $9.99 in epub and look ok...ish. booo

08-13-2009, 10:02 AM	#127
igorsk Wizard Posts: 3,442 Karma: 300001 Join Date: Sep 2006 Location: Belgium Device: PRS-500/505/700, Kindle, Cybook Gen3, Words Gear	Adobe's EPUB compatible devices list includes upcoming PRS-300 and PRS-600 but not PRS-500. This seems to suggest that we are unlikely to get a PRS-500 firmware with EPUB support. Still, I wonder what else could the "update path" be... an exchange program like the one for the 505 doesn't really sound like it.

08-13-2009, 10:08 AM	#132
Who are you? Groupie Posts: 184 Karma: 300001 Join Date: May 2009 Device: 505	The Sony software is pretty modular and the 300 is supposed to get the same processor as the 500, so it would probably be possible to simply copy the epub .so from the 300 image to the 500 and update the kconfig.xml. The biggest problem would be to make Digital Editions authorize the reader so you can read drm epub.

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