Quote:
Originally Posted by Elfwreck
... Books come in a set range of sizes because of publication limitations; when you're printing several hundred thousand copies, they need to be the same, and it's easier to arrange layouts of lots of books on a standard template. There's no need to extend this to ebooks....
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Yes, there is, in some instances. Often people buy a hardcover, because it looks nicer - the publisher has spent more resources to ensure good design and layout. Some people value this.
As to screen-size standardization, it is effectively here, since there are a limited number of manufacturers. But think of it as printing paper size-standardization - it's dictated by the hardware (your home/office printer) and paper manufacturers produce certain precise sizes.
Similarly, magazine sizes are more or less standard, because of shelf requirements, as well as postage regulations.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Elfwreck
... Design is of great importance for magazines because page real estate was valuable--because printing costs money. When page counts are irrelevant, there's no need to put text in columns with pictures to one side or the other--pictures can be inline with the text, or a chart can have its own page. ....
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You're kidding here, right?
Or just don't know, and don't care, about how things look. But many do, and they pay good money for it: think Barcelona chair vs. Laz-y-Boy
For plain text, the publisher may be happy to give the reader control over fonts, sizes, reflow, etc.. But in many instances, where presentation is important, it would not be a good idea.
Again, my point is: Why two or more standards, which will only confuse the consumer, and fragment the market?
Does the new Adobe PDF do everything EPUB does, including reflow?
If it does, then what exactly is the issue?
So, PDF can do simple, it can reflow, but it can also do complex design, and can do desktop and web.
On the other hand, EPUB cannot do complex pages, like the one attached above.
My question is, what purpose does it serve, to have EPUB for simple text pages, but PDF for complex ones, when PDF can do both?