Quote:
Originally Posted by trekchick
I feel like I'm being nit-picky, but I can't seem to stop myself: There are relatively few ePub dictionaries available for sale, but some are being published. They must be manually searched, almost like a printed dictionary. This is less than ideal since e-book users want their add-on dictionaries to perform like the built-in dictionary. As I've previously stated, this is a benefit that Kindle has over its three closest competitors.
In an attempt to circle back to and expand upon the original point (I might need Tom Tom to help me find it): ePub's lack of specification for dictionary lookup isn't necessarily a barrier to Amazon adopting the format (but not ADEPT - that's just crazy). Using Sony as an example, we see that robust and elegant dictionary lookups are possible. ePub's benefits probably outweigh the difficulty of integrating Kindle dictionaries with ePub. After all, Kindle 3's dictionary supports lookups in PDFs as well as mobi-variants, so part of the work is already done.
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There is no reason Amazon could not create an ePub parser that would be able to handle the same dictionaries that AZW handles. That would solve the problem of not having dictionaries available for sale. It just depends if Amazon wants to do it. I do feel that Amazon has to go ePub or eventually, they will lose out.
When you are reading a Kindle book and you know the limitations of Mobipocket and you see them on screen, it can take you out of the story. Poorly formatted eBooks are a sure way to be taken out of the story. And in this case it doesn't have to be poorly formatted, it can be limitations based on the format that just stare you in the face.