Thread: Ebook reader survey on preferred format(s)
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Old 05-22-2009, 12:49 PM   #129
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Quote:
Originally Posted by ahi View Post
Yes, ePub will no doubt be able to turn any handheld device into a fine HTML viewer. But it will never be able to turn them into a device that displays professionally made books, textbooks, and magazines as they were intended to be viewed.

Do you accept, by the way, that people whose living depends on making good looking and readable books are going to be better at that tasks than random eBook device enthusiasts or software automation? Or does our disagreement start on this very fundamental point?
I agree with you here and you are quite right. There is no way automation/technology or even a laymen with the right tools exceed the work of a master of craft. Your PDF books are a good example. However that level of quality requires much customization, you do have 6+ versions of your PDF book correct (add one more for my personal copy ).

However there is good enough. For instance we no longer go to tailors or cobblers be go to the local mall, store, department store, etc... to buy our clothing and shows. We are all quite content doing so, for the convenience it offers. However when you want to look good we go to tailors. We are willing to pay the higher price and wait for the clothing to get fully fitted.

For most books ePUB/LIT/MOBI is good enough. Add the convenience/flexibility to be able to modify fonts/margins on any device an now you have a format people are going to prefer over well tailored PDF.

The reason PDF reined on the PC world is that it the final target was always optimized for A4/Letter.
This is not so for the eReading world. It is no longer the best choice of format. There are all sorts of different screen sizes and resolutions. It is not feasible for publishers to generate optimized format for each reader screen. You can go Feedbooks route that personalize the format/fonts but then why ePUB/MOBI do that just fine and offer more flexibility.


But yet even then there is one element you are not seeing in your argument that is an extremely important point. The reading software. The software produced by MobiPocket and eReader are far superior to any PDF reading software made today.

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