Quote:
Originally Posted by HansTWN
Exactly. And why is an Adobe lock-in better than an Amazon lock-in?
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The common argument seems to be that Amazon's proprietary format is itself a second hardware lock-in whether it is free to use or not.
One counterargument might be that Amazon wanted to develop a format that would stand apart from the various flavors of epub offered by companies like Kobo because the latter tend to deviate from agreed-upon standards, which can create problematic variables.
Another counterargument might be that a proprietary format is free to evolve in tandem with a company's specific hardware to achieve a more perfect synergy -- a result which Amazon is clearly after. This seems to be the same argument that Apple has made for their proprietary OS, connectors, formats, media and I/O.
Google is having it both ways at the moment, but the Nexus line seems an indication of where they're headed if things go really well.
Most people on MR would argue that a mere format conversion is as easy as downloading Calibre and therefore doesn't factor in.
But what if the conversion process suddenly became far more difficult (like that of converting an imaged pdf to epub) -- would Amazon's proprietary formats seem to comprise a second level of lock-in then?