Quote:
Originally Posted by formerroadie
Can someone tell me what "EPub" is in terms of format and what it does on these devices. Also, how does PDF behave?
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relatively short answer :
epub is the new industry standard ebook format. it's based on xhtml and css and is an open format (drm aside). it's an open format, being defined by a workgroup called the
idpf (international digital publishing forum).
since it is not a proprietary format, it is compatible with many different brands of devices, including sony, the new bookeen opus, the hanlin readers (eco reader, bebook, etc.) and more to come.
in europe, almost all publishers are standardising on this format, which means you can buy whatever device you like, and then shop at whatever bookstore you like, without having to convert the format. more and more american publishers are also moving to epub, although amazon still uses their own proprietary format which is not compatible (but you can't buy their books without a kindle or iphone app). many libraries also offer epub with adobe drm, those books can be read on any device with adobe drm support.
you can also create an epub book yourself, from any text ; take a look at sigil, the epub editor created by mr member valloric (it has its own forum here). calibre can also convert most other (drm-free) formats to epub. you can learn more about the format in our epub forum. and take a look in our epub ebooks upload forum to see some truly stunning epub books, notably the ones made by jellby, which are a real pleasure to read.
edit : or, as crowl posted, take a look in the wiki.
