James Kendrick finds MobiPocket delightful

Bob Russell · 07-07-2007, 08:38 PM

Our friends at JkOnTheRun are fans of e-book reading, and it's always interesting to hear what a Tablet PC guru has to say about the topic. Today, James Kendrick shares that he is giving MobiPocket a try on his new Blackberry phone, and he finds it to be quite good.

MobiPocket becomes more and more interesting each day as we hear news of their expansion into the market. Everything from the iLiad to the anticipated Amazon Kindle, to the Blackberry and more. With the importance of cross platform compatibility and with MobiPocket format's expected staying power after the acquisition by Amazon, MobiPocket is likely to win more and more fans.

It's interesting that given its market position, there has been proportionally less discussion about MobiPocket in the forums. Possibly, that has to do with the concerns and mistrust of the proprietary nature of the format, as well as the perceived cost and complexity of the document generation tools. These were the reasons I did not pursue MobiPocket further when I first took a look at it many years ago (as well as having limited free memory on my PDA to use for eReader alternatives). But, I suspect that there will be a lot more of us following in James' footsteps in the future unless we see the Adobe Digital Editions and the related new IDPF format adopted widely and quickly.

Interestingly, despite not being able to use eReader on his Blackberry, James still says that he is cautiously considering the move away from eReader. As best I can figure, it's not only because he already has a lot of eReader e-books, but because he knows that he is likely to be using a totally new device in a matter of months! Surely those guys can consistently bring us great information about so many devices partly because they can't stick with any one device for long!

In fact, I think we need to propose a new measure of time for those of us that are always eager for upgrades to newer and better devices. In the animal world, we measure time in "dog years", which pass at 7 times the speed of regular years. I think that "JkOTR tech years" is appropriate for crazy tech adopters. It represents a ratio of about 10 tech years per regular person year, i.e. it reflects the acquisition of 10 different new devices in the time a "regular person" has contentedly kept a single device!

So the question of the day is where MobiPocket fits into the future. eReader was once strong, but seems like it is following in Palm's footsteps and is content to milk the revenue still coming in from past achievements. Will MobiPocket become a leader, or will they be another in the forest of players in the market? With Amazon's deep pockets behind them, it appears to be as simple as asking how determined they are to make MobiPocket dominate.

rjnagle · 07-08-2007, 03:35 AM

The most interesting thing about mobipocket is not the technology but the fact it has more online companies selling mobipocket books. Even individual authors and small publishers can list their ebooks for sale on mobipocket or (soon hopefully) amazon. Contrast that with sony connect which basically offers fewer alternatives for smaller publishers with selling their own ebooks. You have to go through Sony Connect to sell their DRM content.

mobipocket's content creation tools are more interesting although they still don't have support for jpg except for cover art.

JSWolf · 07-08-2007, 04:39 AM

The main advantage of MobiPocket is that because there are multiple devices supported such as the iLiad and the Cybook as well as palms, it makes it easier to keep content you have purchased without having to either try to find it in a new format and repurchase or just simply have to do without.

Steven Lyle Jordan · 07-08-2007, 08:56 AM

Naturally, we spend time talking about the new tech around here. But MobiPocket fills a niche: It's a good almost-universal e-book format for PDAs, smartphones, blackberries, PCs, laptops, tablets, and e-book readers. A format and reader that flexible should never, ever go away.

cherdman · 07-08-2007, 06:31 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Steve Jordan

Naturally, we spend time talking about the new tech around here. But MobiPocket fills a niche: It's a good almost-universal e-book format for PDAs, smartphones, blackberries, PCs, laptops, tablets, and e-book readers. A format and reader that flexible should never, ever go away.

I agree that it should (hopefully lol) never go away. This has become my format of choice. I see three other really big advantages of Mobipocket:

1) Reader and Creater are completely free for all devices.

2) Reader and Creater make it VERY easy to convert custom content from HTML, TXT, DOC, RTF, PDB, and even PDF (which the devs say is being improved).

3) The discussion forums at Mobipocket are quite active with developer response. If you want to change Mobipocket just ask! Try doing that with Microsoft Reader.

jkendrick · 07-09-2007, 03:37 PM

I resemble that remark ( jkOTR years).

Bob Russell · 07-09-2007, 04:11 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by jkendrick

I resemble that remark ( jkOTR years).

I'll never forget that great Garfield commercial! But did you know that it was first a catchphrase for Curly of the Three Stooges?!
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Three_Stooges

nekokami · 07-09-2007, 04:27 PM

For me, a standard I want to settle on will need to be one I'm fairly confident I can get the content out of again. There are some tools for converting from pdb to html, etc. Is this the Mobipocket format, sans DRM? I like HTML at this point, despite the lack of structural markup, because I know I can get a tool capable of reading it on pretty much any platform I like (heck, I could write one, if I wanted to). With Mobipocket, we're still limited to whatever formats they want their reader to run on, though the port to Java is somewhat promising in that regard.

I dunno, it's hard for me to feel all that interested in switching to Mobipocket.

paulkbiba · 07-10-2007, 01:37 PM

When I switched phones from Palm to Nokia (E61i) there was already a Mobipocket version available for Symbian, in all its various incarnations. eReader has a version for some obsolete Symbian versions and I wrote them to ask if they were going to support the latest Symbian OS. They replied that they had no plans to do any further Symbian development. Shows the difference between the two companies.

morituri · 07-15-2007, 03:28 AM

Mobipocket has been my ebook reader of choice for a couple of years now. They made a great move in making the Pro version of their reader free. The Windows desktop version is great for quick conversions -- so far it has handled HTML, RTF, and Word files quite well for me.

JSWolf · 07-23-2007, 06:26 PM

But if you use Book Designer, you can also convert for other formats such as LRF. So if you format any public domain books, you can post them on MobileRead.

Ravenflight · 08-05-2007, 11:31 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Bob Russell

MobiPocket becomes more and more interesting each day as we hear news of their expansion into the market. Everything from the iLiad to the anticipated Amazon Kindle, to the Blackberry and more. With the importance of cross platform compatibility and with MobiPocket format's expected staying power after the acquisition by Amazon, MobiPocket is likely to win more and more fans.

Well Mobipocket might win a fan with me if it truly was cross platform compatible. However as far as desktops, MobiPocket is only cross platform if you happen to be running Windows- a buggy, virus infested, insecure OS that I do not happen to subscribe to. Despite the fact that MobiPocket has a Java based reader that can be run on any OS that has Java, MobiPocket refuses to release it to Mac or Linux users. How is this a cross platform solution? I would love to be able to run MobiPocket on my Mac- I'd even be willing to pay for a Mac version of this application- but so far they seem to be more interested in developing readers for cell phones than creating a true cross platform e-reader solution.

Whatever else might be said about Adobe Digital Editions at least I can download and run it on my Mac at home and my Windows PC at work. That's my definition of "cross-platform".

HarryT · 08-09-2007, 12:06 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Ravenflight

Whatever else might be said about Adobe Digital Editions at least I can download and run it on my Mac at home and my Windows PC at work. That's my definition of "cross-platform".

OK, so you define "cross-platform" as "crashes frequently on lots of different operating systems", do you?

Ravenflight · 08-09-2007, 06:11 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by HarryT

OK, so you define "cross-platform" as "crashes frequently on lots of different operating systems", do you?

It hasn't crashed yet on my mac. I don't know how I'd be able to tell on the pc, since everything crashes on windows xp.

I just wish one of these readers would release a cross platform desktop component. I'm torn between buying the Sony (even though i can't even buy their books on the mac) on the promise of adobe support, or waiting for the Cybook, with its also mac incompatible Mobipocket support. With mobi I can at least purchase their titles on the mac- just can't read them. With Sony, it's unclear if they'll add adobe support to existing or only future readers. Sony also doesn't have a great history of supporting formats that they didn't invent.

HarryT · 08-10-2007, 03:04 AM

I'm a professional programmer, Ravenflight, and use both Macs and PCs. I'm a great believer in using the right tool for the right job, and when it comes to buying commercial eBooks, a PC is very definitely the right tool for the job. Why not just get a cheap 2nd hand XP machine and use that for buying Sony/MobiPocket eBooks? Like it or not, there's so much stuff out there that's PC-only I consider it essential to have one.

07-07-2007, 08:38 PM	#1
Bob Russell Recovering Gadget Addict Posts: 5,381 Karma: 676161 Join Date: May 2004 Location: Pittsburgh, PA Device: iPad	James Kendrick finds MobiPocket delightful Our friends at JkOnTheRun are fans of e-book reading, and it's always interesting to hear what a Tablet PC guru has to say about the topic. Today, James Kendrick shares that he is giving MobiPocket a try on his new Blackberry phone, and he finds it to be quite good. MobiPocket becomes more and more interesting each day as we hear news of their expansion into the market. Everything from the iLiad to the anticipated Amazon Kindle, to the Blackberry and more. With the importance of cross platform compatibility and with MobiPocket format's expected staying power after the acquisition by Amazon, MobiPocket is likely to win more and more fans. It's interesting that given its market position, there has been proportionally less discussion about MobiPocket in the forums. Possibly, that has to do with the concerns and mistrust of the proprietary nature of the format, as well as the perceived cost and complexity of the document generation tools. These were the reasons I did not pursue MobiPocket further when I first took a look at it many years ago (as well as having limited free memory on my PDA to use for eReader alternatives). But, I suspect that there will be a lot more of us following in James' footsteps in the future unless we see the Adobe Digital Editions and the related new IDPF format adopted widely and quickly. Interestingly, despite not being able to use eReader on his Blackberry, James still says that he is cautiously considering the move away from eReader. As best I can figure, it's not only because he already has a lot of eReader e-books, but because he knows that he is likely to be using a totally new device in a matter of months! Surely those guys can consistently bring us great information about so many devices partly because they can't stick with any one device for long! In fact, I think we need to propose a new measure of time for those of us that are always eager for upgrades to newer and better devices. In the animal world, we measure time in "dog years", which pass at 7 times the speed of regular years. I think that "JkOTR tech years" is appropriate for crazy tech adopters. It represents a ratio of about 10 tech years per regular person year, i.e. it reflects the acquisition of 10 different new devices in the time a "regular person" has contentedly kept a single device! So the question of the day is where MobiPocket fits into the future. eReader was once strong, but seems like it is following in Palm's footsteps and is content to milk the revenue still coming in from past achievements. Will MobiPocket become a leader, or will they be another in the forest of players in the market? With Amazon's deep pockets behind them, it appears to be as simple as asking how determined they are to make MobiPocket dominate.

07-08-2007, 03:35 AM	#2
rjnagle Zealot Posts: 126 Karma: 2167 Join Date: Oct 2005 Location: Houston, Texas Device: ipad 1, Nook Simple Touch, Kindle 3, ebookwise 1150	mobipocket vs. sony The most interesting thing about mobipocket is not the technology but the fact it has more online companies selling mobipocket books. Even individual authors and small publishers can list their ebooks for sale on mobipocket or (soon hopefully) amazon. Contrast that with sony connect which basically offers fewer alternatives for smaller publishers with selling their own ebooks. You have to go through Sony Connect to sell their DRM content. mobipocket's content creation tools are more interesting although they still don't have support for jpg except for cover art.

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07-08-2007, 04:39 AM	#3
JSWolf Resident Curmudgeon Posts: 79,745 Karma: 145864619 Join Date: Nov 2006 Location: Roslindale, Massachusetts Device: Kobo Libra 2, Kobo Aura H2O, PRS-650, PRS-T1, nook STR, PW3	The main advantage of MobiPocket is that because there are multiple devices supported such as the iLiad and the Cybook as well as palms, it makes it easier to keep content you have purchased without having to either try to find it in a new format and repurchase or just simply have to do without.

07-08-2007, 08:56 AM	#4
Steven Lyle Jordan Grand Sorcerer Posts: 8,478 Karma: 5171130 Join Date: Jan 2006 Device: none	Naturally, we spend time talking about the new tech around here. But MobiPocket fills a niche: It's a good almost-universal e-book format for PDAs, smartphones, blackberries, PCs, laptops, tablets, and e-book readers. A format and reader that flexible should never, ever go away.

07-09-2007, 03:37 PM	#6
jkendrick Member Posts: 14 Karma: 55 Join Date: Aug 2004 Device: Sony U-70 /Toshiba e805	I resemble that remark ( jkOTR years).

07-09-2007, 04:27 PM	#8
nekokami fruminous edugeek Posts: 6,745 Karma: 551260 Join Date: Oct 2006 Location: Northeast US Device: iPad, eBw 1150	For me, a standard I want to settle on will need to be one I'm fairly confident I can get the content out of again. There are some tools for converting from pdb to html, etc. Is this the Mobipocket format, sans DRM? I like HTML at this point, despite the lack of structural markup, because I know I can get a tool capable of reading it on pretty much any platform I like (heck, I could write one, if I wanted to). With Mobipocket, we're still limited to whatever formats they want their reader to run on, though the port to Java is somewhat promising in that regard. I dunno, it's hard for me to feel all that interested in switching to Mobipocket.

07-10-2007, 01:37 PM	#9
paulkbiba Connoisseur Posts: 84 Karma: 45 Join Date: Aug 2005 Location: United States Device: Nokia e61i, iPhone	When I switched phones from Palm to Nokia (E61i) there was already a Mobipocket version available for Symbian, in all its various incarnations. eReader has a version for some obsolete Symbian versions and I wrote them to ask if they were going to support the latest Symbian OS. They replied that they had no plans to do any further Symbian development. Shows the difference between the two companies.

07-15-2007, 03:28 AM	#10
morituri Enthusiast Posts: 41 Karma: 500048 Join Date: Oct 2005 Location: Doha, Qatar Device: iPhone 6, iPad Air, Kindle PW2, Kindle HD	Mobipocket has been my ebook reader of choice for a couple of years now. They made a great move in making the Pro version of their reader free. The Windows desktop version is great for quick conversions -- so far it has handled HTML, RTF, and Word files quite well for me.

07-23-2007, 06:26 PM	#11
JSWolf Resident Curmudgeon Posts: 79,745 Karma: 145864619 Join Date: Nov 2006 Location: Roslindale, Massachusetts Device: Kobo Libra 2, Kobo Aura H2O, PRS-650, PRS-T1, nook STR, PW3	But if you use Book Designer, you can also convert for other formats such as LRF. So if you format any public domain books, you can post them on MobileRead.

08-10-2007, 03:04 AM	#15
HarryT eBook Enthusiast Posts: 85,544 Karma: 93383099 Join Date: Nov 2006 Location: UK Device: Kindle Oasis 2, iPad Pro 10.5", iPhone 6	I'm a professional programmer, Ravenflight, and use both Macs and PCs. I'm a great believer in using the right tool for the right job, and when it comes to buying commercial eBooks, a PC is very definitely the right tool for the job. Why not just get a cheap 2nd hand XP machine and use that for buying Sony/MobiPocket eBooks? Like it or not, there's so much stuff out there that's PC-only I consider it essential to have one.