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Old 08-29-2011, 10:13 PM   #25
DaleDe
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Posts: 11,470
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Join Date: Aug 2007
Location: Grass Valley, CA
Device: EB 1150, EZ Reader, Literati, iPad 2 & Air 2, iPhone 7
Quote:
Originally Posted by DiapDealer View Post
It's a given that calibre does a much better job of converting the ePub's CSS into coherent (and visually similar) mobi's. That's not really even a question.

The problem is that since MOBI is still ultimately a proprietary format, many want to ensure complete compatibility with Kindle devices/apps by using the approved tools. Especially if it's a commercial project. I may be being a bit alarmist just to make a point, but what if there's a tiny detail that's been overlooked in calibre's (or anybody's) assumptions about the MOBI format? Would it not then be possible that a future Kindle firmware/software update could render previous calibre converted MOBI's defective in some way?

Basically I'm saying that just because calibre conversions may be easier and even often look better... that ain't the whole picture.
It has been fairly well reverse engineered and this is documented in our wiki under MOBI however, Amazon can and does mess with the format but surprisingly it is only a short period of time before the Calibre folks have reverse engineered the changes. Amazon can't drastically change anything since there are thousands of books out there in this format and they can't break them so the format changes can only be additions and compatible new features. So you worries are not too realistic. The format in some form has been around for a decade.

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