01-23-2014, 02:03 PM | #91 | |
DRM hater
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Quote:
I know this is circumvent-able (at the moment) by us tech-saavy, but still. Not just an open standard, precisely. Still, ebooks have plenty of variants - I ended up with a Topaz book once, and Kobo has their kepub variant (which I don't know a lot about, but fear of getting it has stopped me from buying books from them). Something to think about also - since people continue to buy DRM, and mostly Amazon, nothing is stopping Amazon from tightening up the DRM down the road - so this easy convertibility/access could dry up. Last edited by GreenMonkey; 01-23-2014 at 02:09 PM. |
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01-23-2014, 02:47 PM | #92 | |
Ex-Helpdesk Junkie
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Quote:
I can of course use openssl or PGP to encrypt my plaintext files, just like Amazon or Adobe or Barnes & Noble or Kobo can use their encryption methods, but that has nothing whatsoever to do with the underlying format of either plaintext files or EPUB/AZW3, all three of which will be easily read. (Since open-source projects can translate the AZW3 wrapper, support cannot be withdrawn, and there will always be a way to read it. EPUB is even easier, since it just requires an OS that comes with unzip, the most basic/universal compressed storage method out there.) "And I thought EPUB was mostly xhtml..." Well, XHTML unlike HTML doesn't like errors, but if you are going to quibble about that of all things.... Whatever. Fine. You're right. It uses the XML extension to HTML, by which it requires more exact definition of tags, plus a few other minor details, about which you will never care whatsoever. Other than that, they are practically identical. I'll even change my original post, just for you. (The meaning, on the other hand, will not change remotely.) Last edited by eschwartz; 01-23-2014 at 03:01 PM. |
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01-23-2014, 02:58 PM | #93 |
Grand Sorcerer
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01-24-2014, 04:21 PM | #94 |
Eudaimonia
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01-24-2014, 09:00 PM | #95 | |
Almost legible
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Quote:
If only Dngrswife would win the lottery... |
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01-24-2014, 10:02 PM | #96 |
monkey on the fringe
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With the exception of a few large coffee table books, my collection is digital.
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01-25-2014, 11:11 AM | #97 | |
Fanatic
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Quote:
I find it is just as easy to scan through an ebook searching for a quote as it is a paperbook. Probably easier as I can usually remember a snippit of text to search on. |
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01-25-2014, 11:16 AM | #98 | |
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The advantage... I can back it up several places on usb drives and another comupter... to reduce the chance of loosing it. |
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01-25-2014, 11:27 AM | #99 | |
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The reason I like books based on html (and an epub can be opened up to see all the files inside are just html) is because in a worst case scenario I can always go back to the text. Html has changed quite a bit since it's inception. A minor example, you now have to open a paragraph and close it. The irritants to most html generated by programs such as word processors or pdf unpackers is that the html is "bad". Not following rules of opening paragraphs, closing them. things like <i>thi</i><i>s is an ex</i><i>ple sentence</i> making me crazy lol. |
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01-25-2014, 02:26 PM | #100 |
Almost legible
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I don't like that some devices don't handle italics well...
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01-28-2014, 02:49 PM | #101 |
Eudaimonia
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I agree with you in principle, however, the library i usually go to, is starting to have more computers and internet access points than bookshelves. And of those bookshelves, many are filled with DVD's and CD's. So at this moment, my neighborhood bookstore has more bookshelves and more interesting books than the public library (at least on display)... so curiosly, it is the bookstore in my case that replicates more faithfully that ideal i have of a perfect place
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02-03-2014, 10:41 AM | #102 |
Junior Member
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I often dream about the potential of ebooks/ereaders, but then I'm yanked back to this crummy reality where everything is merely usable. There's so many things that need to be sorted (standards, drm, price, etc), and ereaders need to come a long way (ppi, contrast, performance, etc) before they can compete with paper books...
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02-03-2014, 01:18 PM | #103 | |
eReader
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Quote:
They compete already. They don't surpass paper books in every way, and may never do so, but they have clear advantages, and which a person prefers depends on how they weight the advantages of each. |
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02-03-2014, 03:28 PM | #104 |
Wizard
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My pbooks and ebooks co-exist quite happily in my home Several years ago (and before I got an ereader) I did a massive cull on the pbooks which were absolutely everywhere and kept about 800 or thereabouts, everything else got sold/given away. I then allocated them a "limited" and defined space - so floor to ceiling bookcases in my corridor and that's it (there's room for about 1400 pbooks). I still buy some, mostly when what I want isn't available in ebook format, and I always get given pbooks for Xmas and birthday.
Like others though, if I ever come into large amounts of money, I'll get a bigger place just so that I can have a "proper" library Last edited by Yolina; 02-04-2014 at 09:14 AM. |
02-04-2014, 08:45 AM | #105 |
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Actually, I can remember the frustration of many paperbacks that had missing pages, duplicate pages, pages out of order lol.
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