Quote:
Originally Posted by bowerbird
oh, you better believe that .epub is "good news for publishers"...
...there's this big myth that has been perpetrated that the main reason why
publishing companies haven't jumped on e-books yet is because of the
absence of a dominant file-format. and that's just silly. it's the fear of
piracy that's frozen the content cartel in regard to digitization of all types...
...and make no mistake -- .epub is playing the game their way.
-bowerbird
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Yes, piracy was always an issue (because the pubs couldn't take the time to figure out a workable sales model, and they were scared wussies). But multiple formats has meant a fractured market, limiting sales potential, and it IS a factor. Witness the emergence of two major partnerships once ePub was created and endorsed.
And I don't think ePub serves to "raise the bar" on the small publishers, because it's a format that anyone can create, without fancy software or hacks, and any reader can be trained to use (because it's XHTML). It's not designed to shut out big OR little guys... it's an equalizer.