Quote:
Originally Posted by Elfwreck
Macs don't come with Notepad or Internet Explorer. Neither do Linux boxes.
All ebook formats need "special software" to read them; a few types are readable by software that comes with most operating systems, but that doesn't mean it's not separate from the OS itself. EPub is no less accessible than mobi or PDF or RTF. (More accessible than mobi; there's no mobi plugin for Firefox.)
Epub, being HTML in a wrapper, is set to become the worldwide dominant ebook format because the nonDRM'd form is easy to edit with software that almost everyone has, and it's (relatively) easy to create new software to read or edit it.
PDF could be a strong contender--but only if ebook publishers start formatting PDFs for different sized screens and make sure to advertise them that way. As long as they're insisting on the PDF looking like the print version, it'll only view properly on large screens (with a lot of extra wasted space), and most people won't be able make the jump to treating it like a real book: something that lets a reader enjoy absorbing the content and ignoring the container.
TXT is a lousy ebook format; it doesn't have enough formatting options to allow that to happen. HTML has the formatting options, but without a wrapper like epub, can't contain pictures or custom fonts or some aspects of CSS unless a whole set of files are transferred at once. Raw, single-file HTML suffers from lack of control: you can't know what the reader's default settings are so you can't format the book to look right on their screen. (Full-width text on a full-size monitor is hard to read. A narrower reading area is good for full screen; problem for smaller readers. EPub reading programs get around that problem in ways that standard HTML readers just don't.) Word-processing files, whether DOC or RTF or WPD, need special software to open, and while there's plenty of free, open-source software, it's all *editing* as well as viewing software; the cat walks on your keyboard and half your book vanishes.
EPub looks like its winning the format wars; the DRM wars are likely to smash around for a while until customers get annoyed enough for mass bootlegging, like they did with music DRM, and publishers have to remove it. (I expect this to take longer than it did with music; people don't read as much as they listen to music. And book publishers, unlike music publishers, have never thought of two weeks as long enough to overturn a top title's popularity; they're used to having more time to think about market trends.)
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I largely agree with much of what you wrote above, but just wanted to clarify an early point:
EVERY currently shipping OS (Mac, Linux or Win) comes with a web browser, whether it's IE, Firefox, Chrome, Opera, or Safari. They can read HTML ebooks as a single file right out of the box.
MOST OSes ship with a Zip utility built in, so most can read multiple-file ebooks or ones with embedded images right out of the box.
How many PCs (Win, Linux or Mac) will ship with a dedicated ebook reader program? A handful.
How many PCs ship with dedicated ebook reading software that can handle DRMd Epub? ZERO.
Every PC shipped with an OS in the past 15 years has shipped with a browser pre-installed and most have come with zip pre-installed.
Most DRM'd ebook readers can't run on anything older than an XP machine, but there are still millions of them in use. But all of these older PCs--which are more likely to be owned by people of limited income or which are probably backup machines for kids, etc.--CAN read HTML ebooks...as can previously mentioned XBoxes, Wiis, Playstation 3, Win CE devices, the ITablet/IPhone/IPodTouch and the Kindle (which both have built in web browsers), as can smart phones, Blackberries and...well, it'd be quicker to list the devices that can't read HTML.
I am a Linux user. To the best of my knowledge (which is admitted limited
) there is no software that allows me to read DRMd ebooks without WINE. Granted, I know that Linux is a tiny percentage of the market and publishers need not accommodate everyone, but I think it backs up my point, especially as Linux derivates will become more and more common (which it will as cheap netbooks and smartbooks proliferate).
We are a couple of years away from $100 netbooks (actually, they're already here, but a year, maybe two from mainstream $100 netbooks). At most 3-4 years from $50 netbooks you buy at RiteAid right next to the cheap digital cameras. Almost all of them will run Chrome, Android, Linux or some other Linux variant...none of which are supported by a DRMd ebook reader and so none of which will be accessible to the B&N, Amazon or SONY stores.
I know I'm beating a dead horse, but I believe this is a very significant issue affecting accessibility for these ebooks and their widespread acceptance...and issues that will play a huge issue in the future of ebook publishing.