Quote:
Originally Posted by JSWolf
If there are no styles supported, then it's not really an ebook. It's just another text file type format. Won't do at all.
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Why not? ePub is essentially an HTML file with instructions on how to display it. Many of the e-books take original HTML, or convert proprietary text to HTML formats, then re-compile it for the specific reader... including LIT. ePub is simply providing the tools with which any reader can potentially do the compiling on its own, without your help.
My only point was, even if you can't read the styles, you can still access the file and manually convert it to your reader of choice.
Quote:
Originally Posted by JSWolf
Now, here's the kicker, what OPEN ebook format is there that will be sold by the major ebook publishers/shops (other then Baen) that is not full of DRM? Where could I purchase these open ePub books that I can then read or unzip and do with as I please? I don't see this happening anytime soon. The closest I have is LIT and the ability to strip the DRM and/or convert to HTML. So COMMERCIALLY, there won't be any open ebook formats for a LONG time.
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Well, when you put it that way: No, I don't expect to see major publishers with proprietray content and a serious distrust of a group that openly and publicly hacks, transcribes, and shares their books, to be willingly offering non-DRM, hackable e-book formats anytime soon. But independents are already offering no-DRM e-book formats (myself included). And a format's open-ness is essentially limited to whether or not it's been hacked open, like LIT.
But given time, a common format will prevail, and the public will find the set of tools that work for their needs... at which point, "open" will be replaced with "convenient" (like MP3s are not strictly "open" formats, but they are common, and convenient, so it's cool).