[DMcCunney]

Originally Posted by BillSmithBooks

The big key as I see it is battery life. Has to improve before netbooks/IPhones/tables are the preferred option.

Battery life is impacted by functionality. For instance, the PDA I started reading books on ran a couple of weeks in a pair of AA batteries. I was actually displeased, when the newer more powerful model I got switched to a rechargeable LiON unit. I could carry replacement AA batteries with no problem. A charger was another matter, and what if I was someplace without a place to plug in?

But the original device had a low res 160x160 gray scale screen. When I upgraded to a new Palm OS 5 device, I got double the resolution and color, at a price of reduced battery life. My current device will have no problems being used to read ebooks during a day, but will probably need to recharge at night, and I keep screen brightness as low as I can while keeping it readable.

But the complexity problem bring us back to the "Tower of Babel" format issue in a huge way. People need devices that "just work"--that means simplified formats, commonly available readers that run on just about every OS and device.

As far as PCs, etc go, we really are already there: PDF and web browsers (for HTML). Just click on the file, open it and start reading.

If what you have is HTML or PDF. I want to download electronic content once, and read it on whjatever I happen to have. So by preeremnce I get HTML, which I can read "native" in a browser, or convert easily to a handheld format.

HTML is just fine for many books, especially fiction, and PDF is going to be needed for books that are truly layout sensitive. (Ahi is right on this issue when it comes to highly complex books).

Yes, he is. We knock PDF as an ebo0ok format because most PDFs aren't created with the tags that let them reflow to fit a smaller screen, but some of them would be disasters if they did try to reflow, as it would destroy layout that might be crucial.

I don't see much momentum within the PC industry to include Epub readers as standard software for new devices. THAT would go a long way towards making the format an industry standard.

Adobe is pushing it, and you can get Adobe Digital Editions free from Adobe;s web site and install it along with Adobe Reader. The bigger problem is what gets used to create ePub formatted books. Just about all publishers use Adobe InDesign for markup and typesetting, but InDesign currently produces poor ePub output. If Adobe improves that in CS5, it offers possibilities for the industry, because creating an ebook edition can become part of the publisher's standard workflow. Typeset, markup, layout, save as PDF for printer, save as ePub for ebook, done!

However, I believe that the fact that you can DRM-cripple an epub book (thanks, Adobe, nice going!) and sell them to people WITHOUT THEM KNOWING their ebooks are DRM-crippled means there's the risk of a huge backlash against that format. (It wouldn't even be epub's fault, which is the shame of it).

While Adobe is responsible for both, ePub format and DRM are separate offerings, and can be used independently. Adobe is pushing their DRM solution as "open" because they are a third party who will license to anyone, so you aren't necessarily screwed if your ebook vendor goes under. It's not their proprietary DRM solution that is gone because they are.

What would you have had Adobe do? They sell to corporate customers, many of whom still see DRM as a necessity. Providing what the customers want is how Adobe stays in business...

I hope the publishers realize this and change course for *their* sake.

You and me both, but I'm not holding my breath waiting for it to happen.

MP3 became the industry standard not because the publishers wanted it but because the consumers wanted it. They didn't care about lost fidelity. They just wanted something that sounded *good enough* and that they could back up, load onto their MP3 player (and well, yeah, maybe share with a few friends...but I think that was almost a secondary consideration).

People got really annoyed when they were told they couldn't load their music on a different device, so they started looking for ways to circumvent the publishers' DRM.

I honestly *hope* that music piracy would've been a lot less of an issue if the record companies had listened to consumers and enabled MP3s and eliminated DRM earlier.

But because they dug in their heels and nagged the customers about how what they were doing was illegal, the customers flat-out revolted. Piracy en masse was born.

The other challenge for the music industry was iTunes.

In some respects, iTunes returned the industry to a different age. Once upon a time for pop music, the 45rpm single was the thing. Albums were things you were given as gifts on your birthday or the like, and typically contained the hit singles plus filler tracks.

In the 60's, FM "underground" radio arose, and the album became the thing. Singles still existed, but the albums were the product the record companies sold, and the bands would tour to promote.

With iTunes, the listener can cherry pick. No need to buy the whole album - just grab the songs you like. And the business model is changing. Previously, the album was the product, and youring was something a band did to promote it when they released a new album. Now were are seeing more cases where the gig is the point, and the songs are promotion. I know one musician who leads a band. They've had a couple of major label releases, and a bunch of indie stuff. He's happy if people buy the band's CDs, but not bothered if the buyer rips them and shares them with friends. The more people who hear the music, the more will come and see them when they play.

I believe publishing can garner a lot more goodwill by recognizing that and adopting consumer friendly tactics before it is too late.

Publishing has the Horrible Example of what happened to teh music industry, and Good Example in outfits like Baen Books, who are demonstrating that you can sell ebooks and amke money without DRM.

Customers will pay for value. You have to provide value, price fairly, and make it as easy as possible for the customer to give you money. Make it simpler and more convenient for the customer to pay you than to rip you off, and guess what will happen?
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Dennis