Quote:
Originally Posted by Justin Nemo
I think we all agree that epub is the better format, but Kindle sales are rocking the market, so maybe something that encompasses both camps would be preferable for them. I think however, their focus is on readers and not writers.
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Kindle sales are great because Amazon's marketing system is great--the format itself isn't winning any converts.
A format that's readable as .mobi would be useful (I can't believe I'm saying this... just what we need, more different filetypes with the same extension), but has the problem of not being readable on nooks, sony readers, or a few other types. Ideal, of course, would be a filetype that was recognized as .mobi by kindles and as .epub by other readers... but I think that's beyond Adobe to create, because they can't control what the other companies' software will recognize, other than by file extension.
Amazon has resisted all attempts to get Kindles to read epub; they won't be altering their firmware to adapt to a new format. (At least, not unless Adobe brings something heavy to the table, which I don't see happening.)
While there's plenty of market for new *software* to deal with ebooks, especially for better firmware for ereaders, a new *format* is fighting an uphill battle, starting with "what does it do that epub doesn't?"
Options include:
- Headers & footers (I think epub can support this but most software doesn't display them)
- Page numbers (needs to vary by device)
- Indexed locations, so an index for nonfic could be easily built
- Dictionary support/connection (although most devices seem to have figured out methods for this outside the ebook format)
- Better image options: zoom, indexing, res/size display, etc.
- More?