Quote:
Originally Posted by catsittingstill
Graphic designer in control instead of the reader, check.
Whatever justification and hyphenation decisions the designer made, no matter how much less legible to the reader, check.
Fonts whatever the designer chose no matter what the reader would prefer, check.
Page size chosen by the designer, no matter what would be convenient for the reader, check.
Font size chosen by the designer, no matter what the reader's needs might be, check.
Like I said, all the limitations of print. In exchange for what? The more elegant layout of print--when print's layout is more elegant.
To each their own, I guess.
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Look, there are some who don't buy fashion or design magazines, don't shop at designer stores, don't eat at restaurants with fancy presentation, don't take a shower except on major holidays, and just don't get this "design" thing.... But many others do. In the PC world, Apple has made a nice living from this.
As I mentioned before, the web has come a long way from the time of barely formatted text. Back then, a 9" screen was considered standard. Slow connections imposed content restrictions.
Today, we have larger monitors, and much content which is designed to look a set way, and often is not viewable on a 2" screen. And some of it will get even more "designed," as capabilities improve.
It seems like some think ebooks will forever be stuck in 6" gray and black screens. Or that the only purpose for ereaders is to read Word-looking text files, or text-books.
But the fact is, if ereaders are to be successful, they have to be able to show pages which are designed, and meant to be viewed a certain way. I gave the example of Nylon Magazine above, because it is a publication which has been pushing electronic delivery. But this is where this whole industry will end up, fancy ads and all.
PDF, with the new mobile SDK, provides the capability for reflowing simple text, thus addressing what seems to be the main concern for many here. But, PDF also has the capability to present publications like Nylon, the way they were intended to be viewed.
By sticking to a single standard which addresses both requirements, publishers can simplify the currently over-fragmented, confusing to consumers market, and ensure some future compatibility.
EPUB just muddies the waters, IMO.
In a couple of years or so, when larger screens are cheap, and there is color, PDF will still be a valid format. You'll have continuity, with
the same file format for both your color, designed pages, and for your all-text, reflowable pages. What is the problem with that?