EPUB 2: Endangered Format?

[SmokeAndMirrors]

Originally Posted by Andrew H.

I assume this would work this way, but do you have a cite?

Primarily, this version of EPUB was formed from the working groups of the IDPF with the cooperation of over twenty companies who have come on board to implement it to their devices, and iBooks already support a subset of EPUB 3 right out of the gate while Adobe Digital Editions has forward plans. Additionally, one of the requirements from the IDPF was that EPUB 2 files still work on any device that uses EPUB 3, voiding any fears of obsoleteness and erasing participants’ concerns about needing to reformt EPUB 2 files to the new version.

http://goodereader.com/blog/e-reader...ign-of-epub-3/

Epub2 devices will likely get a software update for Epub3 that will fix any issues that can/do occur. It doesn't necessitate a new reader.

No. Kindle was very clear about this:

That's about publishing, not about reading on devices. It says it will convert work you are publishing through Amazon. If you look through the rest of the FAQ, you will see that they repeatedly say the new format will work on "latest generation" readers.

Q: Will KF8 capabilities be available on all Kindle devices?
A: Kindle Fire is the first Kindle device to support KF8 - in the coming months we will roll out KF8 to our latest generation Kindle e-ink devices as well as our free Kindle reading apps.

This is the basis for his rant, though, even if it is more properly a complaint about epub drm as opposed to epub-the-format.

Kindle does that too with PDF. This is not unique to Epub.

[Jane12]

Originally Posted by HarryT

... Buy an ePub book from iBooks and a Nook won't read it; buy one from B&N and a Kobo won't read it. There are at present three different, mutually-incompatible ePub DRM mechanisms in use.

They're not entirely mutually-incompatible. B&N's Nook will read both Adobe DRM as well as their own B&N DRM (which is actually a version of Adobe DRM). So you can buy books from Kobo, Sony, etc. and read them on the Nook, but not vice versa.

Basically, this is my understanding:

Adobe DRM: Offered by basically every ePub seller *except* B&N and Apple, and which can be read by most ePub readers, including Kobo, Sony, B&N Nook. (Actually, I can't think of a single ePub reader that won't read Adobe DRM, unless you count apps like iBooks or Stanza.)

B&N-flavored Adobe DRM: Offered only by B&N, and which can be read on Nook and a handful of other readers that take full advantage of the latest Adobe software

Apple DRM: Offered only by Apple and readable only on iBooks

[ATimson]

Originally Posted by Jane12

Basically, this is my understanding:

You appear to understand correctly.

[pssquirrel]

Thanks everyone! Glad to hear the arrival of ePub3 won't create problems for those of us with ePub2s.

As for DRM creating problems ... well, we all know the answer to that

[Quexos]

What the heck is epub 2 ? All books I've ever found or seen are .epub
Never seen a .epub2 book Where do you guys see epub2 files ? Is my PRS-650 epub2 compatible ?
And what ? epub3 ??? Ok u lost me there.

[astra]

Originally Posted by Quexos

What the heck is epub 2 ? All books I've ever found or seen are .epub
Never seen a .epub2 book Where do you guys see epub2 files ? Is my PRS-650 epub2 compatible ?
And what ? epub3 ??? Ok u lost me there.

I think (I don't know) that epub 2 and epub 3 are sets of rules of how epub behaves. Like HTML4 and HTML5.

[JSWolf]

Originally Posted by HarryT

This is not so. Buy an ePub book from iBooks and a Nook won't read it; buy one from B&N and a Kobo won't read it. There are at present three different, mutually-incompatible ePub DRM mechanisms in use.

iBooks doesn't count. It's not true ePub under the hood. It's quite non-standard at times. So really, count it's books out of the picture.

So this actually makes just two ePub DRM formats.

[EowynCarter]

Originally Posted by JSWolf

iBooks doesn't count. It's not true ePub under the hood. It's quite non-standard at times. So really, count it's books out of the picture.

So this actually makes just two ePub DRM formats.

Yeah, i saw a "fix for iBooks" comment in a books's css. Quite similar to "fix for IE" comments.

I think (I don't know) that epub 2 and epub 3 are sets of rules of how epub behaves. Like HTML4 and HTML5.

Yes. Ecctually ePub3 seams to be mostly tanslating css2 and html4 to css3 and html5

[pssquirrel]

Originally Posted by Quexos

What the heck is epub 2 ? All books I've ever found or seen are .epub
Never seen a .epub2 book Where do you guys see epub2 files ? Is my PRS-650 epub2 compatible ?
And what ? epub3 ??? Ok u lost me there.

Most epubs out there (with the file extension .epub) are epub2. Your PRS-650 is totally epub2-compatible.

I don't know if epub3 will use the same extension or something else to distinguish itself. Anyone know?

[DiapDealer]

I imagine they'll stick with the same file extension. The version is specified internally in the OPF file.

[CommonReader]

Originally Posted by HarryT

This is not so. Buy an ePub book from iBooks and a Nook won't read it; buy one from B&N and a Kobo won't read it. There are at present three different, mutually-incompatible ePub DRM mechanisms in use.

For most of the world this isn't an issue. There is simply epub and then there is Apple's sideshow, which is negligible as regards Ebooks. No reasonable person will expect something that's been designed by Apple to be compatible with anything else anyway.

[Daveoc64]

Originally Posted by CommonReader

For most of the world this isn't an issue. There is simply epub and then there is Apple's sideshow, which is negligible as regards Ebooks. No reasonable person will expect something that's been designed by Apple to be compatible with anything else anyway.

While that might be true, and I consider iBooks to be nothing more than a joke, Apple is in a LOT more markets than Barnes and Noble is.

[fjtorres]

Apple iBooks are available in 30-some countries.
And the odds are Apple will ship, and hype, epub3 format content at least 3 months ahead of any Adobe client. (They already support some of the features of epub3 and offer a few proto-epub3's.)
Their results may be a joke but their efforts aren't.
And, like Amazon, their market presence and impact won't be dispelled with hand-waving or magic wands. Take them lightly at your peril.

[fjtorres]

To those interested in testing epub3 backwards compatibility, check here:
http://www.the-digital-reader.com/20...ur-epub3-here/

You can try the Moby Dick sample on your reader or app of choice; some will open it and see it behave as an epub2, some will open but not get past the title page, some will hang or crash.

There is no reason to worry because, first: epub3 will not be significant for a couple years, and second, since most Adept-based readers are fed via PC it will be trivial for Adobe to add an epub3 to epub2 converter function to ADE. Also, narrative text ebooks don't actually *need* the epub3 enhancements so there will likely be loads of epub3 files that are just epub2 in drag.

So existing epub readers will not be obsoleted any time soon and the sky won't fall.
There *will* be a period of angst and turmoil as the real-world implementations of the spec are hashed out and early adopters get caught in the middle but in the end, say 3-5 years, things will settle down and epub3 (and kf8, by whatever name it is marketted) should drive ebook tech into markets other than narrative text, like education and academics. A good thing.

Oh, it should also drive a stake through the heart of pdf and djvu as ebook pretenders, as well as cut the head and stuff the mouth with garlic.
That alone should justify the coming disruption.

[kennyc]

Amazon is definitely playing hardball. I had hoped epub would be the default standard but recent moves by Amazon ... this, plus library lending are definitely fighthing against any common standard.