MobileRead Forums - View Single Post - Ebook reader survey on preferred format(s)

ahi · 05-22-2009, 10:15 AM

It is *literally* impossible for reflowable formats to maintain the standard of quality non-reflowable formats can offer. Period.

Proper typesetting--for the thousandths time--requires human attention and human intervention. Automated software reflow hands the wheel over to non-human processes that will necessarily and (for anything worth typesetting) always be substandard.

HTML + CSS will never be able to reach the degree of typographic sophistication and quality a well prepared PDF can offer for this and many other reasons already discussed to death in this very thread.

- Ahi

Ps.: And the mantra of "good enough" must be repeated with the tacit understanding that "good enough" in reflow formats is necessarily worse than the $5 - $50 paper books that don't require fragile $300+ computers to read.

05-22-2009, 10:15 AM	#110
ahi Wizard Posts: 1,790 Karma: 507333 Join Date: May 2009 Device: none	It is literally impossible for reflowable formats to maintain the standard of quality non-reflowable formats can offer. Period. Proper typesetting--for the thousandths time--requires human attention and human intervention. Automated software reflow hands the wheel over to non-human processes that will necessarily and (for anything worth typesetting) always be substandard. HTML + CSS will never be able to reach the degree of typographic sophistication and quality a well prepared PDF can offer for this and many other reasons already discussed to death in this very thread. - Ahi Ps.: And the mantra of "good enough" must be repeated with the tacit understanding that "good enough" in reflow formats is necessarily worse than the $5 - $50 paper books that don't require fragile $300+ computers to read. Last edited by ahi; 05-22-2009 at 10:18 AM. Reason: added postscript