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Originally Posted by nekokami
Some kind of markup language, whether it's HTML, TeX, or something else, would be a better format to distribute than PDF. Formatting for the device should be something that happens automatically when you load the source file on the device. There's no reason a reader couldn't hyphenate (and handle ligatures, if you want them) on an HTML file. HTML software just doesn't usually bother.
There are very few situations in which the kind of tight control over formatting provided by PDF is valuable, and I think most could be handled using other means. For example, music transcription isn't currently handled well outside of strict page control software, but that's just because a good generic markup system hasn't been popularized yet.
The other thing people bring up is page numbering, which can be important, for example, in scholarly references. I think a new way to accomplish this, e.g. using word or character count, will become accepted within the next 5-10 years.
Maybe re-flowable PDF could eventually replace the current PDF, but my money is on something smaller and more open, with less emphasis on output format, which will become more display-dependent.
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I agree on some of these points. Hyphenation should be software based (but it's not that easy, you need to support a whole lot of languages for example and know which language each text is) or done when transferring to the system. I don't believe we'll see a universal markup language used by everyone anytime soon for these devices, handling the way it looks right when you transfer the file should do the trick in the meantime.
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Originally Posted by rlauzon
That's a big "If".
So, let's say I am an author. I want to make my Great American Novel availble as an eBook. What size should I make it?
Well, obviously, I should make an 8.5x11" size for those who want to print it off to read.
Then there's the iLiad, which is 6x5" (I think).
Then there's the Sony, which is 4x5" (I think).
Then there's the Palm, which is 2x3" - oooohhh that's only the TX/T5. So I also have to make a 2x2" version for the "smart"phones and lower res Palms.
And that's just the devices I know of.
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As for rlauzon, I guess you didn't understood a single word I said: the right choice is to make no file at all. Make the right file for the right user in an automatic way.
The best choice would be a good reflowable format with advanced formatting support, but there's no such thing: RTF is way too old and limited with very few features, HTML will never look as good as something formatted with LaTeX etc... The best choice would be XML based, yet support advance formatting features.