Thread: Nicolas Negroponte: The Physical Book is Dead in Five Years
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Old 08-11-2010, 03:27 PM   #96
Elfwreck
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Quote:
Originally Posted by queentess View Post
A file format is not the same as formatting. An ebook can be in a 'standard' filetype and still have differing fonts from book to book. I'm a little confused by your point here.
"Books" come in shelf-ready hardcover, paperback, folded-stapled magazine, tiny novelty-size editions, coffee-table hardcover, comb-bound workbooks, soft leather bindings; they are printed on cardstock, 20-lb white bond paper, slick paper that holds color, tissue-thin paper with gilt edges, grey-ish recycled paper, colored paper with embossed artwork; they range in size from inch-and-a-half square (almost cube; I've got an edition of Oscar Wilde's stories that I can wrap my fist around) to 12"x18" and everything in between.

There is no "standard format" for books. Different kinds of books are printed in different formats for different purposes. The majority of novels are printed in two, maybe three formats, which are very similar, and the majority of ebooks need that kind of standardization--but there'll always be space for different formats that just don't fit the standard format.

If ePub becomes the standard for novels (and I hope so, soon), PDFs will still be used for image/chart-heavy publications, and anything intended for print as well as screen-reading. CBZ/CBR will still be better for comics; while those can convert to ePub, nothing is gained by it except "you can put them on ePub readers" while losing the options that comic readers include as standard features. "Interactive" ebooks, with video bits & embedded sound, will need a different format. I have no idea what'll show up as the best format to replace workbooks that need to be written in, but PDF has some abilities in that area.

I'm all for mainstream novels & most nonfic settling on a single format (erm, single set of formats? ePub includes HTML, and RTF is still going to be useful for people who want to customize things). I just don't think that should override awareness that some types of ebooks are not going to be best in whatever the most popular format is.
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