Quote:
Originally Posted by Hajo
I can imagine a reader software that displays ePub documents and looks up selected words in a mobi dictionary - or in a database or in a ridiculously large txt file. No solution needs any changes to the current ePub format.
I really don't get, why an ePub reader needs a dictionary in an ePub format. As if the hyphenation information for MS Word has to be in DOC-Format, or the spell checker of an email client actually gets its word list out of an email. I assume that CorelDraw has spell checking. Where is this information stored? In a vector image?
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as others have already pointed out a mobi dictionary is not possible due to legal restrictions. A "ridiculously large txt file" ist not viable because it would be - well - ridiculously large. Performance would be a no-go for the road...
A database would certainly be possible but it would be pretty hard to implement DRM into a database and as Harry already pointed out no publisher would sell a dictionary without DRM. As much as I hope that DRM will die as fast as possible dictionaries will be certainly the last ebooks to be sold without copyright protection because there is a lot of work behind it and prices are high enough to make illegal copying appear interesting to many (I just assume that judging from what I see with music downloads: most people are willing to pay for music if they get it for a moderate price rather than search for pirated copies. But if they price is beyond a certain threshhold that willingness takes a drastic plunge).
So, although there are other possibilities, an epub dictionary would be the easiest to implement because the "infrastructure" is already there and it would be hard to convince the publishers to go for an all-new solution.