|
Ever since the Iliad arrived I have been seeing a lot of people complain about how different file formats are not handled "correctly" on the device, such as no page splitting in HTML or lack of text reflowing in PDF. I personally do not see this as a problem with the device firmware but as limitations in the file formats themselves. HTML was never designed to be viewed on such a device, and if the firmware tries to force this behaviour other problems will quickly emerge such as "Why are my pictures cut in half" or "The Iliad is a bad device because pages start mid paragraph" If I was an ebook device manufacturer, then this would be a can of worms that I would not like to open. Just do a print preview in you web browser and you will see the problem first hand.
Likewise the PDF format was intended to give an exact representation of what the author created, so if I send a document, for example a brochure, that i have created to a printing house i can be sure that what they print is exactly the same as what I created. PDF is perfect for this, and so it should be as this is what the format was designed for. Again if a device tries to break these rules, new unwanted problems will occur, and it will weaken the format.
One could possibly blame the the device makers of using currently popular formats, that never were intended to be viewed on the device, to sell units to the public, but if you were offered a device that only supported proprietary formats or perhaps XML with XSL-FO support then i am sure that you would give it a miss and choose one that offered PDF support, as these formats are relatively unknown.
What is needed is a new format that can give the visual experience of a PDF and the reflowing possibilities of HTML, instead of forcing the device manufaturers to force square pegs into round holes. (Please do not see this remark as an invitation to start one of those long winded idealogical discussions about commercial vs. open source ebook formats, DRM and the evil face of capitalism, because i don't care who ends up making the format or how much money they make from it, I just want a good reading experience, and do not mind paying for it.)
But hey this post ended up a bit longer that originally expected, suppose that I have being supressing these views for too long. Must visit my shrink tomorrow. :-)
|