Thread: PDF is not an eBook format
View Single Post
Old 08-28-2009, 04:19 PM   #251
frabjous
Wizard
frabjous can solve quadratic equations while standing on his or her head reciting poetry in iambic pentameterfrabjous can solve quadratic equations while standing on his or her head reciting poetry in iambic pentameterfrabjous can solve quadratic equations while standing on his or her head reciting poetry in iambic pentameterfrabjous can solve quadratic equations while standing on his or her head reciting poetry in iambic pentameterfrabjous can solve quadratic equations while standing on his or her head reciting poetry in iambic pentameterfrabjous can solve quadratic equations while standing on his or her head reciting poetry in iambic pentameterfrabjous can solve quadratic equations while standing on his or her head reciting poetry in iambic pentameterfrabjous can solve quadratic equations while standing on his or her head reciting poetry in iambic pentameterfrabjous can solve quadratic equations while standing on his or her head reciting poetry in iambic pentameterfrabjous can solve quadratic equations while standing on his or her head reciting poetry in iambic pentameterfrabjous can solve quadratic equations while standing on his or her head reciting poetry in iambic pentameter
 
frabjous's Avatar
 
Posts: 1,213
Karma: 12890
Join Date: Feb 2009
Location: Amherst, Massachusetts, USA
Device: Sony PRS-505
Quote:
Originally Posted by Elfwreck View Post
Can. Don't.

They don't currently consistently put the right metadata in their documents, and you think they're likely to make multiple page sizes? (And how would that work with DRM--you buy *one* page size, and are stuck with it? Would publishers even pay to apply DRM to multiple page sizes?)

Publishers don't provide the source document to convert from, in order to make a PDF ebook readable on a 3" screen.
That would be the advantage of selling the .tex source and having the reader process it; Of course, the DRM issue still stands, and the very idea of a DRMed .tex document makes my skin crawl... but still...

Quote:
"The public" doesn't know that filetypes exist. The vast majority of them think that all ebooks are interchangeable, and that somewhere out there in webland is a program that converts files to "ebook format."
Stop. You are depressing me. You're probably right, but at least now while the technology is new, a disproportionate number of technophiles are using ebooks; all the more reasons we put the pressure on now.

Quote:
(You can blame Microsoft for most of this; they're the ones who turned off file extensions in the default view of Windows Explorer.)
Of course, it wouldn't be so bad if they just set the default view to "Detail view" so that something relevant shows under "File type", but noo....

Quote:
The public will demand NOTHING; they expect books to appear in a fixed format. Those who find ebook PDFs unreadable will decide "eh, I guess I'm not into ebooks; I like paper," not "I'd read more of these if they were arranged better on the screen I use."
You're depressing me again... But I don't think it's quite that bad. I imagine most people who have a reader will know about the zoom function; and if ebook sellers sold different sizes, they'd have to have them clearly marked.

Quote:
Thanks; will look into it. I'm nervous about learning another markup language, but it does seem useful.
Depends on your needs I guess. It's very handy for my work, but I wouldn't use it to write a letter to Grandma.
frabjous is offline   Reply With Quote