Quote:
Originally Posted by Tex2002ans
Thanks, can't say I ever ran across one in the wild (and didn't recall that topic when it was posted).
Just tested your example in ADE 4.5. The internal PDF doesn't even scale to screen size. Yuck, talk about atrocious usability.
Readium 2.30.0, after clicking on the link, just got stuck in an infinite loop. Couldn't even make the pages go back/forward. Had to use the TOC to jump back to the initial page.
 |
I can
absolutely, positively state that nothing we have EVER tried, to embed Excel, Word, etc., (other than PDFs for iBooks, ONLY) has
ever worked, period. Not on Nooks, Kobos, iBooks (other than pdf), etc. And certainly NOT in a MOBI.
Not to mention...I mean, if you think about it, as silly as it sounds, the computing power required to run an Excel sheet, with all the various options, is FAR greater than that which is required to run an eReader. That's just the reality. If you've ever power-used Excel, it can do some pretty remarkable things. (After all...spreadsheets are pretty much responsible for the explosion in home computing, as we called it then, in the early 80's, so it's not surprising...)
So, as Tex suggested...embed links,
BUT...you should put in a comment or advisory that they'll need to open the file on a desktop reader, because otherwise,
you'll end up with someone with a downloaded file on a device that can't run it, or worse, you'll have Jane Doe with her no-browser eReader hopelessly clicking a link that cannot go anyplace, because--no browser. I realize that nobody ever thinks about this (it's a conversation I have daily), but half of all devices out there still don't have built-in browsers, so what good will a simple link do? You need to tell them--"here's a link, open the file on your desktop or a device that has a browser so that you can download it easily."
Given how many times each day I have to have this discussion, I'm painfully aware that the word "links" just pops out of everyone's mind and mouth--
but the reality is, not everyone reads on a device that can make use of them. I once read a friend's book on my K2 Kindle...and quickly realized that his myriad "how to" documents parked at links were inaccessible to me. Worse, they were
all embedded links, so I couldn't even replicate them at a browser. I had to load the thing to a desktop reader and start clicking. The lesson stuck with me, and I remind clients of it daily.
TL/DR: make your links visible, preferably shortlinks, so that people can easily type them into a browser window, thereby obtaining your Excel files on a device where they can actually be used.
Hitch