[ahi]

Originally Posted by dmaul1114

Yeah, I think a problem with this site (and any forum for any type of tech device) is that too many people don't think beyond what THEY personally need or want in a device.

That's often very different that what the mainstream users of such a device need/want/have the know how and interest to do. And the mainstream owners are what matter as that's where the money is.

The root cause though is significant. Personally, I assume it is due to the fact that the immaturity of the current technology and eBook offerings force people into extremely unnatural modes of behavior. Behaviors that they then assume will forever be necessary to truly be able to use eBook devices.

But progress will happen. Stupid, stupid mistakes that never should have happened (like no folders) will eventually be fixed. Unless ePub with its *literally unsurpassable* quality limitations unilaterally triumphs over PDF, eBook devices have a reasonably good chance of replacing most printed materials.

I believe my grand-children might well grow up in a world where physical books will increasingly be seen as an extravagant luxury.

But! The only way that can happen is if eBooks can match dead-tree books in quality 100%. Unlike us lot, the vast majority of humanity is not going to pay $300 to spend almost as much time format-shifting and eBook-fixing as they do reading... and they certainly won't give up cheap paperbacks/magazines for something that doesn't even look as good as said cheap paperbacks/magazines.

Originally Posted by All4Fun

As I've said in previous posts before, there is a place for both epub and pdf ebooks to take advantage of their inherent strengths. While epub is good enough for novels, it doesn't appear to have the sophistication to be as visually appealing as pdf where layout is important such as for magazines, etc.

In a sense, this sums up the reality of the situation--and this summation cannot change, no matter how good ePub gets. The same reason 10 years of massive progress could not make websites as high quality and sophisticated as printed documents, ePub will never be able to become as good at doing what PDF is supposed to do... and what PDF is supposed to do is what books are all about: provide a pleasant and enjoyable reading experience of a thoughtfully prepared book of a specific size and appearance--without the necessity or even the option of needlessly fidgeting with margins and HTML tags.

Originally Posted by dmaul1114

The bigger issue is that most people don't want to screw with having to edit things.

And, indeed, most people don't screw with having to edit things... any sort of things. If it doesn't work for them in a quality enough way that they feel they got their money's worth or more, they won't buy next time.

Originally Posted by JSWolf

With ePub, I can edit it to fit my needs, with PDF, if it doesn't fit my needs, then it's useless. How is useless better then something I can edit?

My needs may be something as simple as changing the margins because I prefer no margins. Or changing the base font because I prefer a different font. But PDF gives me none of these options. It is as it is and if it as it is, it is not suitable, then it is useless. That is one major reason why PDF will never work as an eBook format.

There is no reason for excessive margins on eBook devices. Their presence is an indication of laziness, ignorance, or incompetence on the part of eBook creators. With sensibly targeted and formatted eBooks, there ought exist no need to change the appearance. A want, perhaps--but not a need. If there is a need, the product is not serving you as the customer.

The same way DVD buyers shouldn't have to fit the cinematic widescreen video to the TV's 4:3 ratio if that is what they prefer, you shouldn't have to muck around with the eBook to fix it up either.

And why do you want a different font anyways, JSWolf? Do you have some remarkably high quality opentype fonts that you wish to use to enhance your reading experience? Of course I pose the question rhetorically, because while PDFs may well make use of such a fonts, the ePub cannot take meaningful advantage of them for reasons that have little to do with present-moment limitations.

Nitpicky control over trivialities seems like a bad reason to accept quality degradation--because, of course, your "How is useless better then something I can edit?" is a false dichotomy. Good enough is better than useless, as I have conceded time and again... but there is no reason to assume that eBook reader display sizes won't get standardized and publishers won't start taking eBooks seriously enough one of these days to start publishing professional quality eBooks for them, instead of throwing overpriced sloppy HTML dumps at their customers.

So, the real question, JSWolf, is:

Why is the ability to make nitpicky adjustment of the font or the margin better than having somebody that knows far more about bookmaking than you creating a finely crafted eBook targeted at your reader device?