Steve Jordan posted an interesting piece on Teleread, asking if open source has helped or hindered the ebook industry:
http://www.teleread.org/2009/12/13/h...book-industry/
His primary argument is that the large number of open-source formats and reading and conversion software built around them left early-adopters of ebooks confused and led them to eventually abandon ebooks:
Quote:
|
In the e-book industry, lack of commitment by the major players, i.e. the publishing industry, has resulted in open source believers attempting to take the reins in their own hands. This has similarly resulted in more e-book formats, e-book reading software and DRM-type security systems than can be reliably counted, and as those programmers have changed their focuses and moved on to new projects over the years, many of these formats have gone orphaned, leaving many customers with unsupported e-books and e-book reading applications.
|
It would be interesting to hear everyone's opinion, which is why I'm posting it here. I know Steve has been part of the ebook industry even before there was one, but as a software developer, I don't think I agree with him on this one. I think Steve's point about the proliferation of formats and convertors causing confusion is valid, but blaming open-source for hindering the progress of ebooks is like blaming open-source for hindering the progress of operating systems because of the large number of Linux distributions, not all of which work well with each other.
I would argue that open source has helped the ebook industry far more than it has hindered it (if at all). The Kindle, the Nook, the Iliad and most other eInk readers run on open source software. Most of us have used Calibre, and ebook websites that have played a big role in ebook adoption (ManyBooks, FeedBooks and even MobileRead) are all fueled by free and open-source software. Further, it's not just open-source programmers who have created ebook formats - there are a lot of dead proprietary ebook formats too (BBeB/LRF is a recent example) and enterprising open-source hackers have only made it possible to convert between these formats so readers can fully enjoy the ebooks they rightfully own. I think the ebook industry is where it is today only because there was little demand for reading on LCD screens - the Kindle spurred demand, and we are at the natural point in the adoption curve today. Even if there had been fewer formats five years ago, not much would have changed without open-source based innovation (and Amazon's marketing blitz around the Kindle).