Quote:
Originally Posted by darryl
I think you are missing the point here. I am not claiming that Amazon could not have added these features to kf8. What I am saying is that Amazon chose not to do this. The advantage of the compiled format is that it performs better and uses less resources on the Kindles, which have quite limited resources. This can be very important as new features/complexities are added. You could be correct that Amazon chose this format purely for lock-in, but at best I think this waa only one factor. Personally I don't think so. I think the advantages of a compiled format combined with Amazon's future plans may well have been the overriding factor in the decision. I think you vastly overestimate Amazon's desire for 100% lock-in, a goal which is essentially not achievable. I think there are so few people who care about drm or lock-in that they are not of great concern to Amazon.
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I don't think adding enhanced features to the KF8 renderer would have slowed it down such that people would complain. I think they would welcome having most eBooks from Amazon support the enhanced typesetting.
The issue here is that Amazon could have given some or all of the new features to more Kindles. It seems that KFX takes more out of a Kindle given that some Kindles support KF8 and not KFX. So I do think it would have been better for more people to have the KF8 renderer do the work.
I just realized something I left out. Not only is KFX a lock-in, it's also to try to get more to buy a new Kindle just to get the new typesetting. Amazon is not doing what's best for customers but is instead doing what Amazon feels is best for Amazon customers be dammed.