New Sony eBookstore to open 14 November 2008

[JSWolf]

Dear Fellow Reader,

We are excited to announce a new version of our store launching later this week.

Our enhancements will include larger cover images, more book information, expanded categories, and improved search to make your online shopping experience more enjoyable.

As a result, the eBook Store from Sony will be unavailable from 9:00pm PST on Thursday, November 13 through 9:00am PST on Friday, November 14 (12am-12pm EST). Please make sure to complete all pending purchases before 9:00pm PST on Nov. 13 (12am EST).

The new store will be opening 9:00am PST on Nov. 14 (12pm EST). We look forward to your feedback.

Thank you,

The eBook Store Team

[astra]

Got a similar email too.

[igorsk]

I hope they'll add EPUB and web download.

[JSWolf]

Can someone please put this on the front page?

[Lemurion]

ePub would be good- as would a larger selection (since eventually even I'll be getting a Sony).

[JSWolf]

ePub would be good as it would give a choice of formats and maybe increase the amount of books available.

[=X=]

I'm trying to get excited but I cannot see the advantage of buying ePUB/LRX DRM books over LIT/MOBI, not to forget ePUB/LRX also come with higher prices. Am I missing something?

=X=

[astra]

Originally Posted by =X=

I'm trying to get excited but I cannot see the advantage of buying ePUB/LRX DRM books over LIT/MOBI, not to forget ePUB/LRX also come with higher prices. Am I missing something?

=X=

I am with you on this one.

The only thing that you are missing is that it is always a good thing when any ebook shop expands and grows. It is good for general health of ebook industry.

[HarryT]

ePub is capable of more sophisticated formatting (eg pictures with text "flowing" around the picture), but this is beneficial in relatively few books, I agree.

[zelda_pinwheel]

harry, i think you know that epub has many more advantages than simply reflowing text around illustrations (which is nonetheless a very nice feature).

it is the new industry standard which means that it is our best hope for a single format that will be readable cross-platform, on any device (much like W3C standardised html) ; that means the end of ebabel.

it's an open format.

it's the only format which is specifically designed with ebooks in mind, taking into account their specific strengths and their specific necessities, and is incredibly powerful.

it supports CSS3 which allows for significantly better formatting on every level.

it supports true pagination and true footnotes, and a real TOC.

it supports complete meta data, which will facilitate research.

it is a container format, which will allow inclusion of ANY kind of media in the book ; this means vector graphics for instance, but it could also mean audio files or even video files. imagine reading a book about a composer or musician and having audio files embedded at appropriate points. or a book about may 68 and having actual newsreels of the events that you could watch.

these are only a few of the reasons that epub is *already* superior to every existing format, and can only improve. if you do a little bit of research you can find out lots more information (i am far from an expert). it is worth looking into, and definitely worth supporting.

[GntlmnBndt]

Originally Posted by zelda_pinwheel

it is the new industry standard which means that it is our best hope for a single format that will be readable cross-platform, on any device (much like W3C standardised html) ; that means the end of ebabel.

it's an open format.

The ePUB format does have lots of advantages, and it is my preferred format, but =X='s question was specifically about DRM-protected ePUB, which is a rather different beast.

As much as I like ePUB, it could be as open and standard as ASCII text (or HTML, per your comparison), but wrapping it in a proprietary DRM pretty well strips it of any advantage of an open format for the consumer. It is not an end to ebabel, but just another way to build the tower. Yes, Adobe intends to make DE available on several platforms, but according to them Acrobat is cross-platform, yet lots of people still cannot read protected acrobat files either (in fact, the ability to do so depends not just on having Acrobat, but having the right version). Applications like FBReader and Stanza, which have implemented ePUB support, will not be able to read these 'open' ePUB files.

We almost need a different name for protected ePUB files, because to consumers they really are a separate format. Even if we can get wide-spread implementation of ePUB support, can you imagine all the people buying 'ePUB' books for their ePUB-enabled reader (from whatever maker), only to find that they still cannot read the books? Reminds me of all the people that purchased the early eInk readers which supported PDF format, and wanted to know why all their PDFs were illegible.

The Bandit

[zelda_pinwheel]

Originally Posted by GntlmnBndt

The ePUB format does have lots of advantages, and it is my preferred format, but =X='s question was specifically about DRM-protected ePUB, which is a rather different beast.

As much as I like ePUB, it could be as open and standard as ASCII text (or HTML, per your comparison), but wrapping it in a proprietary DRM pretty well strips it of any advantage of an open format for the consumer. It is not an end to ebabel, but just another way to build the tower. Yes, Adobe intends to make DE available on several platforms, but according to them Acrobat is cross-platform, yet lots of people still cannot read protected acrobat files either (in fact, the ability to do so depends not just on having Acrobat, but having the right version). Applications like FBReader and Stanza, which have implemented ePUB support, will not be able to read these 'open' ePUB files.

We almost need a different name for protected ePUB files, because to consumers they really are a separate format. Even if we can get wide-spread implementation of ePUB support, can you imagine all the people buying 'ePUB' books for their ePUB-enabled reader (from whatever maker), only to find that they still cannot read the books? Reminds me of all the people that purchased the early eInk readers which supported PDF format, and wanted to know why all their PDFs were illegible.

The Bandit

sorry, you're right, the original question was more about drm than epub. i was more specifically reacting to harry's post in fact. as far as drm goes i must agree with you, but then i try to avoid buying *any* drm files when possible (nasty, horrid plague !).

hopefully, adobe's drm will be cracked sooner rather than later or (even better) publishers will finally see the light and abandon drm (where there's life, there's hope, right ?).

in the meantime, though, a few publishers *are* offering drm-free epub files. i'm hoping a lot more will catch on and do the same.

[Dr. Drib]

And perhaps the Grand Opening of the new ebookstore will have additional specials and freebies (beyond the 25% off coupon announced a few days ago.)

I'm thinking, hold the money, and give a new look-see on their new site.


Don

[=X=]

In an attempt to get excited I worked myself up to believe that the new SONY store will be nothing more than a re-direct to the Amazon website. Where we SONY users will be allowed to purchase Amazon books at Kindle prices

Originally Posted by zelda_pinwheel

sorry, you're right, the original question was more about drm than epub. i was more specifically reacting to harry's post in fact. as far as drm goes i must agree with you, but then i try to avoid buying *any* drm files when possible (nasty, horrid plague !).

hopefully, adobe's drm will be cracked sooner rather than later or (even better) publishers will finally see the light and abandon drm (where there's life, there's hope, right ?).

in the meantime, though, a few publishers *are* offering drm-free epub files. i'm hoping a lot more will catch on and do the same.

Yes my original post was about DRM, GntlmnBndt really captured my thoughts well.

But your post, response to Harry made me realize something. With all the goodness supported by the ePUB stantard. ePUB is only as good as the ePUB viewers implementation. Right now SONY's is just okay. In my opinion its the worst of the three mojor formats LRF, PDF. ePUB supported by SONY. It's slow and page numbers don't work correctly to name a few.

When it comes to downloading books from FeedBooks I still pick PDF over ePUB because it works better and the format look better on my 505. I don't think I'm the only one here who feels that way, there are a few other here who also have mentioned he prefer FeedBooks PDF over ePUB.

I guess that is also part of the reason why I am not excited about ePUB.

=X=

[vivaldirules]

I, too, am trying to be optimistic. I'm planning on waking up Friday and seeing that only half of the twelve and three-quarters books that Sony currently sells will be available at their newly improved ebookstore. :superfrownyface: