12-29-2009, 05:24 PM | #1 |
Sir Penguin of Edinburgh
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Microsoft is getting back into ebooks!
You may have seen the reports that Blio will be demoed at CES. It's not on any schedule, but I finally found out where and when. I have confirmation from a contact with Kurzweil Technologies that Blio will be on display in the Microsoft booth. I was also told that Steve Ballmer will mention it during his keynote address (Wednesday, 6:30pm).
The Juggernaut is awake, and it's throwing its weight behind a new and unknown format. This may not be new to you, but I've glanced through all the coverage on Blio and I don't see Microsoft mentioned anywhere. Have you? P.S. On a related note, I also found the support site for Blio: www.blioreader.com. Last edited by Nate the great; 12-29-2009 at 07:41 PM. |
12-29-2009, 07:17 PM | #2 |
ZCD BombShel
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Very interesting.
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12-29-2009, 08:32 PM | #3 |
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Microsoft would rather have everyone read on computers running windows.
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12-29-2009, 08:56 PM | #4 | |
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Quote:
The fact that MS Reader still looks good compared to a lot of software is testament to their head start. The fact that almost no one uses it is testament to their bone-headed stupidity in this market. Frankly, Kurzweil should be running away from MS. An MS sponsored substitute for Adobe PDF? Just kill it now and put it out of its misery. Regards, Jack Tingle |
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12-29-2009, 09:00 PM | #5 |
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Wow, talk about a lame website.
Amazedly, Jack Tingle |
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12-29-2009, 09:03 PM | #6 |
Wizard
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12-29-2009, 09:05 PM | #7 |
The one and only
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What the ...?!?? A new format? Don't they ever learn anything?!
Instead of sticking to and developing MS Reader, if at all ... |
12-29-2009, 09:08 PM | #8 |
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Better late than never.
Ever notice how much behind the curve Microsoft is? It is surprising to me. |
12-29-2009, 09:11 PM | #9 |
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Oh geez, another format to compete with ePub and AZW. Here's betting it'll be completely incompatible with anyone else's products, and that they try to buy the competition out of business again... because they're just SO successful with their media ventures. I mean, look at how well Urge flew - or Microsoft Reader format. Or what about the VC-1 codec? EVERYONE supports those now, and it's not like people no longer have access to their DRM'd documents and music because they stopped supporting those formats...
/SARCASM. |
12-29-2009, 09:42 PM | #10 | |
Wizard
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Quote:
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12-29-2009, 10:30 PM | #11 | |
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12-29-2009, 11:56 PM | #12 |
Da'i
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This forum is about ebooks, not just portable reading devices.
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12-30-2009, 01:00 AM | #13 |
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Perhaps they can call it "reads for sure"..
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12-30-2009, 01:21 AM | #14 |
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if they do this MS could either do a great job or make a mess of it...as for the comment about MS always being behind the curve, compared to who? Yup, ApPlE is sure setting the curve aren't they? As in nobody wants ebooks because nobody reads anymore...that worked well, yes?
Anyway given MS pretty much owns the desktop word processing market and will for a long time to come, here is a shot at leveraging MS Word to create ebooks and as the cornerstone for ebook creation. And given the MS Reader was a pretty nice app, there is that design to have worked from...this could be a very significant thing. I wonder how many back catalogs have a ton of original and even edited manuscripts in some Word file so if there was a solid version of Word that could make converting those files into ebooks with less headache then that fills one of the glaring problems for publishers. Of course there also has to be a ton of books in Wordstar and XYWrite as well. but one step at a time...I feel whoever makes it efficient to get back catalogs converted and ready for market will backdoor Amazon and other "boutique" ebook formats. It might be very interesting...people need to get off their high-horse about who is doing this, last time I looked the smug Linux & aPplE users are on systems from companies doing NOTHING to bring ebooks into the mainstream. |
12-30-2009, 05:55 AM | #15 |
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You're all acting like MS created this. They didn't. This is Ray Kurzweil's baby. MS is probably just providing space to demonstrate how well it will work on their beloved tablet monstrosity computers.
Since this "format" (it seems to be nothing more than repackaged PDF with perhaps some added metadata) obviously would work best on a regular PC/Netbook/Tablet, MS is clearly going to want to be the OS of choice for anyone interested in using it as a distribution platform. They aren't going to care at all if it competes with other formats or not, it's just another opportunity to remind people of their relevance. They do it for all kinds of applications of their platforms. |
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