New Kindle with WiFi announced - Page 31

jswinden · 07-31-2010, 01:21 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by rainsux

Amazon needs to write a check to Foxit or GoodReader and replace their PDF crippleware.

I won't dispute that Kindle support for PDF is poor. But have you viewed PDFs on other major brandname readers? They all have lackluster support. I just wish people would understand that PDFs were never designed for ebook readers. They really are not that good when viewed on a computer. They really suck when viewed in a web browser. And web browsers or basically the same as ebook readers in that both are designed to display reflowable text in a mark up language like HTML, ePub, MOBI, FB2, etc. PDF is a terrible format and no reader will implement it as well as any of us would like. PDFs were designed to allow the electronic transfer of documents which themselves were designed to be printed. It was and is much easier and faster to send a PDF of a contract to a customer than to print the contract out and snail mail it. PDF is not designed to reflow. It is therefore not a good publishing format. It is only good for displaying an image of a page. Though greatly improved over the past 15-20 years, the PDF format is still antiquated and it will never lend itself to readers that were designed to display reflowable text. If you use PDFs for books that are not available in electronic format, that is they have to be scanned, then fine. But if you create a new document and choose to format it in PDF rather than a reflowable format and expect it to look good on an ebook reader, then shame on you.

sachinwalia · 07-31-2010, 01:21 PM

I had a Sony reader which I sold in anticipation of iPad. I love my ipad but for whatever reason not able to read longer - maybe Internet distraction or a slight fatigue. I have pre ordered k3 wifi version. Converting from epub to mobi will take time. I've discovered one problem with my epub synced to iTunes that kindlegen and calibre hangs on converting it to mobi. I've read somewhere that during syncing with iBooks, iTunes modifies some internal structure of epub by adding additional metadata. I am not sure if that's the reason. Does anyone any other simpler batch mode program.

aagstn · 07-31-2010, 01:30 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by EowynCarter

Yeah, sure, try converting drm-ed ePub.

I can de-drm true. But why should I ? Plus, it's losing all the ePub fanciness when the publisher actually bothered with it. I'm not so happy with the result of converting my mobi. Nor was I with the one ePub i converted to mobi. Margins went way to large, and no easy possibility to edit to fix.

I'm also very happy with ePub. Apparently so is Sony, B&N, Apple and the majority of device makers since they support it. Amazon makes a great piece of hardware in the Kindle, but I also refuse to bend over backwards to get my books and my library books to work on it. I don't want to hassle with converting hundreds of books to an out of date mobi format.

We need to get to a point where we can choose any device on the market and know that our books will work with it. That means Amazon dropping Mobi and it also means B&N and Apple dropping their own drm on ePub and using a standard that works on every device. I feel bad for the average consumer who just wants to buy a book and doesn't want to reverse engineer everything they buy just so they can switch devices down the road. The thing holding back eBooks the most over the past decade has been all these formats and all the different forms of DRM.

vaughnmr · 07-31-2010, 01:34 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by rainsux

Any K3 owners willing to test one of my K2-formatted ebooks and report if the PDFviewer
in the K3 was lobotomized?

http://dranz.readyhosting.com/approach/ebooks/CT.pdf

Amazon needs to write a check to Foxit or GoodReader and replace their PDF crippleware.

In my pc web browser, that pdf was absolutely horrible.

vaughnmr · 07-31-2010, 01:37 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by aagstn

I'm also very happy with ePub. Apparently so is Sony, B&N, Apple and the majority of device makers since they support it. Amazon makes a great piece of hardware in the Kindle, but I also refuse to bend over backwards to get my books and my library books to work on it. I don't want to hassle with converting hundreds of books to an out of date mobi format.

I love ePub. Converts very nicely to my Kindle. Same problem with all other ereaders, though. DRM means it won't work with the majority of device makers.

rogue_librarian · 07-31-2010, 02:14 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by rainsux

Any K3 owners willing to test one of my K2-formatted ebooks and report if the PDFviewer in the K3 was lobotomized?

You do realize they won't ship for another month, right?

NormHart · 07-31-2010, 02:48 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by aagstn

I'm also very happy with ePub. Apparently so is Sony, B&N, Apple and the majority of device makers since they support it. Amazon makes a great piece of hardware in the Kindle, but I also refuse to bend over backwards to get my books and my library books to work on it. I don't want to hassle with converting hundreds of books to an out of date mobi format.

We need to get to a point where we can choose any device on the market and know that our books will work with it. That means Amazon dropping Mobi and it also means B&N and Apple dropping their own drm on ePub and using a standard that works on every device. I feel bad for the average consumer who just wants to buy a book and doesn't want to reverse engineer everything they buy just so they can switch devices down the road. The thing holding back eBooks the most over the past decade has been all these formats and all the different forms of DRM.

Competition is a good thing. Too early a standardization of ebook format could lead to major loss of possible functionallity.

I have no problems having my ebooks in multiple formats, I have over 600 ebooks from Baen and I have all of them in seven different formats, just in case. Hard drives and flash drives are cheap, the security of knowing that I can switch to another ebook reading device without loss of my library is priceless.

JSWolf · 07-31-2010, 04:46 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by sachinwalia

I had a Sony reader which I sold in anticipation of iPad. I love my ipad but for whatever reason not able to read longer - maybe Internet distraction or a slight fatigue. I have pre ordered k3 wifi version. Converting from epub to mobi will take time. I've discovered one problem with my epub synced to iTunes that kindlegen and calibre hangs on converting it to mobi. I've read somewhere that during syncing with iBooks, iTunes modifies some internal structure of epub by adding additional metadata. I am not sure if that's the reason. Does anyone any other simpler batch mode program.

The problem is that iTunes adds some file to the ePub. That's why if I transfer any ePub to the iPad, I make a copy and transfer that copy so I do not end up with an iTunes infected ePub. Use a program like WinRAR to look at your ePub and then just delete the offending file.

vaughnmr · 07-31-2010, 04:58 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by JSWolf

The problem is that iTunes adds some file to the ePub. That's why if I transfer any ePub to the iPad, I make a copy and transfer that copy so I do not end up with an iTunes infected ePub. Use a program like WinRAR to look at your ePub and then just delete the offending file.

So what you are telling me is that the "ePub standard" isn't really a standard at all. Did I understand this wrong? Or maybe individuals companies can make their own "epub standard". I'm starting to get confused, please enlighten me.

vaughnmr · 07-31-2010, 05:06 PM

I guess my next questions is where I can find a summary of all the ePub "standards" that a common ebook buyer can buy. If I buy an ePub from someone other than Amazon (obviously), is it the same file and drm (or no drm) as anyone else? Is it one standard, or a lot of flavors, with different drm schemes, depending on who you get it from, and are these cross platform compatible? Please enlighten me.

kjk · 07-31-2010, 05:07 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by vaughnmr

So what you are telling me is that the "ePub standard" isn't really a standard at all. Did I understand this wrong? Or maybe individuals companies can make their own "epub standard". I'm starting to get confused, please enlighten me.

There are published standards for ePub.
Companies claim they "support the ePub standard".
Their support isn't always 100%.
The ePub standard is evolving right now.
The ePub standard allows for companies to use their own DRM.
There is a great group right here on Mobileread that focuses on ePub: https://www.mobileread.com/forums/forumdisplay.php?f=179

vaughnmr · 07-31-2010, 05:11 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by kjk

There are published standards for ePub.
Companies claim they "support the ePub standard".
Their support isn't always 100%.
The ePub standard is evolving right now.
The ePub standard allows for companies to use their own DRM.
There is a great group right here on Mobileread that focuses on ePub: https://www.mobileread.com/forums/forumdisplay.php?f=179

I bet Amazon is just jumping at the chance to get involved in this!. Sounds like a big mess to me.

Papi · 07-31-2010, 05:13 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by rogue_librarian

I think the reason might be that there is no customs duty (on top of the 19.6% which you need to pay in any case) for shipments below 150€ in value (it's an EU thing). If you exceed that value, though, additional dues may apply.

Try to make it two separate orders (even if that would mean paying S&H two times) just to see if I'm right.

I tried to order the cover alone, the import fees deposit is...87 $ (for a 60$ product) ! I definately don't know what is included here, but i since it's available on amazon.co.uk, i'll order it from there (only 5£ shipping, and no import fees deposit !). Too bad they sell the K3 3G only to UK there.

kjk · 07-31-2010, 05:20 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by vaughnmr

I bet Amazon is just jumping at the chance to get involved in this!. Sounds like a big mess to me.

lol. I'm not sure what would be in it for Amazon either.

vaughnmr · 07-31-2010, 05:21 PM

Thanks for the link. Never bothered to look, since I was using Kindle. Looks like a lot of people involved, but it almost seems like the "Wild, Wild West" from what I saw (think usa in the late 1800's).

I assumed from what everyone was saying in the forums it was a standard, but what I see is that it is not really that, it's something a company can "extend" to do whatever they want (i.e. Apple, B&N, etc.).

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07-31-2010, 01:21 PM	#452
sachinwalia Connoisseur Posts: 74 Karma: 26 Join Date: Aug 2008 Location: SF Bay Area, CA Device: iPhone 4, iPad, Kindle Fire, Kindle SO	I had a Sony reader which I sold in anticipation of iPad. I love my ipad but for whatever reason not able to read longer - maybe Internet distraction or a slight fatigue. I have pre ordered k3 wifi version. Converting from epub to mobi will take time. I've discovered one problem with my epub synced to iTunes that kindlegen and calibre hangs on converting it to mobi. I've read somewhere that during syncing with iBooks, iTunes modifies some internal structure of epub by adding additional metadata. I am not sure if that's the reason. Does anyone any other simpler batch mode program.

07-31-2010, 05:06 PM	#460
vaughnmr Ebook Reader Posts: 605 Karma: 3205128 Join Date: Nov 2009 Location: Texas Device: Kindle 3, HTC Evo, HTC View	I guess my next questions is where I can find a summary of all the ePub "standards" that a common ebook buyer can buy. If I buy an ePub from someone other than Amazon (obviously), is it the same file and drm (or no drm) as anyone else? Is it one standard, or a lot of flavors, with different drm schemes, depending on who you get it from, and are these cross platform compatible? Please enlighten me.

07-31-2010, 05:21 PM	#465
vaughnmr Ebook Reader Posts: 605 Karma: 3205128 Join Date: Nov 2009 Location: Texas Device: Kindle 3, HTC Evo, HTC View	Thanks for the link. Never bothered to look, since I was using Kindle. Looks like a lot of people involved, but it almost seems like the "Wild, Wild West" from what I saw (think usa in the late 1800's). I assumed from what everyone was saying in the forums it was a standard, but what I see is that it is not really that, it's something a company can "extend" to do whatever they want (i.e. Apple, B&N, etc.).