Quote:
Originally Posted by DuckieTigger
And where is that any different than Sony and their LRF format?
|
While it is not any different, saying that Amazon can abandon a format because Sony did it too, is not a good argument. Or, are you one of the people who says "But they were doing it too!" when you are caught at breaking the speed limit?
Quote:
Where do you get the idea that they are not the standard? Based on number of ebooks sold? Certainly not. Based on number of dedicated ereader/epaper devices that support mobi vs. epub? NO. Ok argueably, there is more different devices out there from different companies, but they don't make up in number what the Kindles out there have. Based on total number of devices that can read mobi vs. epub? NO. With Kindle for: android, PC, Mac, iPad there is not a whole lot non-dedicated reading devices out there that support epub and not mobi.
Or even that they are alone? NO
|
All of that, in my honest opinion, does not make any difference. Yes, Amazon is as big as all of the others, they sell more, and there is more stuff available for the Kindle, in AZW / Mobi format than any other platform. That is quite true. But even that does not make them the standard, because everybody else is using something different, and all those other "everybodies" are compatible. (After stripping the DRM out of the files.) The Kindle interoperates with no one, if you don't convert the files first.
Amazon's AZW / Mobi format is a standard *beside* EPUB, because Amazon is big enough to maintain it, but as more and more ereader manufacturers, publishers and stores are coming into the market, I think that the epub standard will get bigger and bigger, with more and more devices, stores and publishers to choose from. Amazon probably will not be able to grow as fast as all the others combined.
Therefore, the Kindle is not the default standard at this moment, in my honest opinion. They would be, if they own more than 90% of the market, as Microsoft does with Windows. Then they'd be the default by sheer force and domination, but even Amazon is not that big (yet). Presently, they are "only" big enough to provide a counterweight against EPUB; I think that, someday in the future, the scale *will* tip toward EPUB (or one of it's successors), making it the only relevant standard.