Quote:
Originally Posted by Andrew H.
Don't you see a little bit of conflation in this statement, though:
"Epub is the standard because it is the standard of the IDPF."
On the narrow question of technical standards, I don't disagree that epub is one. But IMO, that's not what most people are talking about when they assert that epub is "the standard."
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"Conflation"? Hmm, not really. I'm using a single definition. I said "conflate" because the two uses of "standard" in your post clearly implied two different definitions -- the first, Microsoft-style standards, the second ISO-style -- and then tried to equate them.
Since epub and mobi are
technical specifications, it would seem reasonable to apply the technical definition of "standard"; and, yes, it would seem (IMO, of course) to be what most folk who assert epub is a standard mean. Certainly, it's what
I meant.
Now, on the question of whether .azw is a Microsoft-style standard, I think the jury is still out. There are just far to many variables to be able to declare Amazon the winner.
If we're talking "most books downloaded" Amazon may have the lead, but it doesn't come close to the sort of market domination Microsoft enjoys, nor is it likely to. By most credible estimates (i.e., not Amazon press releases), at the top of its game Amazon held perhaps 60% of the ebook market. And that was before B&N and Apple entered the fray. But, like Amazon, B&N reported selling "millions" of ebooks, and that it's now selling more e- than pbooks online. And, according to
this estimate Apple went from zero to 10% of the ebook market in just two months. And neither B&N nor Apple sells azw. I'll be the first to credit Amazon for dragging ereading into the mainstream. However, I think the tide is rising faster than Amazon can control, and I just don't see Amazon's market share going anywhere but down, even while ebook sales skyrocket.
Even in the US market, I just don't see azw as a clear winner. And of course if you want to step outside US borders, .azw can't be had for love or money. Here in China there are four standard e-formats which, near as I can tell, every ereader supports: TXT, PDF, HTML and EPUB. Even Kindles here in Shanghai do epub, but not azw (though, admittedly, they're gray market).
So, even
if I were to grant that azw is the "standard" for now, I don't see it remaining so.
--Nathanael