MobileRead Forums - View Single Post - Future-proofing my ebook collection given the churn in ebook formats

maximus83 · 10-31-2015, 03:56 PM

I am trying to future-proof my ebook library as best as I can, given the churn and uncertainty about future directions of ebook formats. Realizing full well that today's options could all be bypassed and we could end up with some book format like HTML5 + CSS3 + some extensions. In any case, I would like to hear the thoughts and advice of others on this, I'm sure many here have thought about this more than I have and figured out all the landmines to avoid.

Here's my thought for how to future-proof my ebook collection. Interested to hear discussion, alternatives.

What I do today:

Buy mostly Amazon Kindle ebooks due to selection and price. Download and liberate files with open source tools.
Convert and manage the files in Calibre.
Store the converted files in a cloud drive.
Access them with android devices using 3rd party ereader apps.

What I see that concerns me today:

Amazon is moving more to a closed ecosystem. Case in point, their new KFX format. They are not embracing the Epub spec nor the spirit of "open" formats.
This means in the future you will be increasingly hard pressed to convert the formats, and to read on apps and devices that they have not developed for.
This is already causing some issues with conversion in tools like Calibre, as new books in KFX format have to be first retrieved in AZW3 format. I suspect given Amazon's direction, eventually only closed formats will be available.
I am philosophically against one e-tailer monopoly controlling the whole market in book publishing and proprietary ebook formats and devices. This does not seem like the path to good interoperability in formats between libraries and different hardware and software platforms. I'm under no illusion that epub is a "standard", it's just a published spec that everybody implements differently, and nobody is bound to follow. But at least with an open spec, as with HTML5, everybody is aiming at the same thing with a shared goal of keeping it "open" and consistent. And this is a good thing as over time, the implementations should converge, and a de facto 'best standard' approach should emerge that every tool and platform can render with relative consistency.

So with the above concerns, I am leaning toward just acquiring epub books from now on, rather than Amazon formats. And then otherwise, following my current approach listed above. The idea is that by getting and storing only epubs, it won't be perfect nor will all the epub files be "standard", but at least I'm keeping my books in an open specified format that tools (like Calibre) in the future will have a chance at interpreting and being able to convert to other future formats if needed. With Amazon, the concern is they will increasingly retreat into "closed" and "proprietary", making it ever harder to read and access your purchased books if you are outside their system, their devices, and their software.

10-31-2015, 03:56 PM	#1
maximus83 Nameless Being	Future-proofing my ebook collection given the churn in ebook formats I am trying to future-proof my ebook library as best as I can, given the churn and uncertainty about future directions of ebook formats. Realizing full well that today's options could all be bypassed and we could end up with some book format like HTML5 + CSS3 + some extensions. In any case, I would like to hear the thoughts and advice of others on this, I'm sure many here have thought about this more than I have and figured out all the landmines to avoid. Here's my thought for how to future-proof my ebook collection. Interested to hear discussion, alternatives. What I do today: Buy mostly Amazon Kindle ebooks due to selection and price. Download and liberate files with open source tools. Convert and manage the files in Calibre. Store the converted files in a cloud drive. Access them with android devices using 3rd party ereader apps. What I see that concerns me today: Amazon is moving more to a closed ecosystem. Case in point, their new KFX format. They are not embracing the Epub spec nor the spirit of "open" formats. This means in the future you will be increasingly hard pressed to convert the formats, and to read on apps and devices that they have not developed for. This is already causing some issues with conversion in tools like Calibre, as new books in KFX format have to be first retrieved in AZW3 format. I suspect given Amazon's direction, eventually only closed formats will be available. I am philosophically against one e-tailer monopoly controlling the whole market in book publishing and proprietary ebook formats and devices. This does not seem like the path to good interoperability in formats between libraries and different hardware and software platforms. I'm under no illusion that epub is a "standard", it's just a published spec that everybody implements differently, and nobody is bound to follow. But at least with an open spec, as with HTML5, everybody is aiming at the same thing with a shared goal of keeping it "open" and consistent. And this is a good thing as over time, the implementations should converge, and a de facto 'best standard' approach should emerge that every tool and platform can render with relative consistency. So with the above concerns, I am leaning toward just acquiring epub books from now on, rather than Amazon formats. And then otherwise, following my current approach listed above. The idea is that by getting and storing only epubs, it won't be perfect nor will all the epub files be "standard", but at least I'm keeping my books in an open specified format that tools (like Calibre) in the future will have a chance at interpreting and being able to convert to other future formats if needed. With Amazon, the concern is they will increasingly retreat into "closed" and "proprietary", making it ever harder to read and access your purchased books if you are outside their system, their devices, and their software.