Quote:
Originally Posted by NatCh
I'd say that a good case can be made that mobi is the closest e-book equivalent to what MP3 is for music, but I'm sure that a case could be made in the other direction too.
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Perhaps the real problem is that there *isn't* an ebook equivalent of MP3. So far, PDF, TXT, and mobi have been proposed, but none of those are nearly as universal as MP3, and they each have their own problems. PDF preserves all formatting, but can't reflow for different devices. TXT is the opposite - it is flexible and can be displayed on anything, but loses almost all formatting information. (Not to mention images). Mobi is proprietary and closed. (Which, to be fair, MP3 is to a degree).
I think the MP3 of ebooks will arise the same place the MP3 format did - on the back alleys of the Internet, where the most convenient ebook format will be converted and shared, driving people to purchase a reader that supports it.