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fjtorres · 10-23-2011, 08:19 AM

To those interested in testing epub3 backwards compatibility, check here:
http://www.the-digital-reader.com/20...ur-epub3-here/

You can try the Moby Dick sample on your reader or app of choice; some will open it and see it behave as an epub2, some will open but not get past the title page, some will hang or crash.

There is no reason to worry because, first: epub3 will not be significant for a couple years, and second, since most Adept-based readers are fed via PC it will be trivial for Adobe to add an epub3 to epub2 converter function to ADE. Also, narrative text ebooks don't actually *need* the epub3 enhancements so there will likely be loads of epub3 files that are just epub2 in drag.

So existing epub readers will not be obsoleted any time soon and the sky won't fall.
There *will* be a period of angst and turmoil as the real-world implementations of the spec are hashed out and early adopters get caught in the middle but in the end, say 3-5 years, things will settle down and epub3 (and kf8, by whatever name it is marketted) should drive ebook tech into markets other than narrative text, like education and academics. A good thing.

Oh, it should also drive a stake through the heart of pdf and djvu as ebook pretenders, as well as cut the head and stuff the mouth with garlic.
That alone should justify the coming disruption.

10-23-2011, 08:19 AM	#29
fjtorres Grand Sorcerer Posts: 11,732 Karma: 128354696 Join Date: May 2009 Location: 26 kly from Sgr A* Device: T100TA,PW2,PRS-T1,KT,FireHD 8.9,K2, PB360,BeBook One,Axim51v,TC1000	To those interested in testing epub3 backwards compatibility, check here: http://www.the-digital-reader.com/20...ur-epub3-here/ You can try the Moby Dick sample on your reader or app of choice; some will open it and see it behave as an epub2, some will open but not get past the title page, some will hang or crash. There is no reason to worry because, first: epub3 will not be significant for a couple years, and second, since most Adept-based readers are fed via PC it will be trivial for Adobe to add an epub3 to epub2 converter function to ADE. Also, narrative text ebooks don't actually need the epub3 enhancements so there will likely be loads of epub3 files that are just epub2 in drag. So existing epub readers will not be obsoleted any time soon and the sky won't fall. There will be a period of angst and turmoil as the real-world implementations of the spec are hashed out and early adopters get caught in the middle but in the end, say 3-5 years, things will settle down and epub3 (and kf8, by whatever name it is marketted) should drive ebook tech into markets other than narrative text, like education and academics. A good thing. Oh, it should also drive a stake through the heart of pdf and djvu as ebook pretenders, as well as cut the head and stuff the mouth with garlic. That alone should justify the coming disruption.