eBooks: An immature technology

pdurrant · 09-03-2010, 07:33 AM

I've been trying to format some ebooks nicely. It's near impossible to do a good job. Different implementations of standards. Not enough support for special formatting needs. Insufficient documentation.

And yet people are already rushing to get interaction and video implemented in ebooks, when they don't even have plain text done right yet.

It would be nice even if a single format rendered consistently, but no. Even Amazon haven't done it with Kindle - the Kindle renders certain things differently to Kindle for PC/Windows, and possibly differently again on Kindle for iPod/Phone/Pad.

And ePub.... no-one follows the standard properly or completely.

It makes an eBook designer's life very difficult.

speakingtohe · 09-03-2010, 09:39 AM

Ahh. But if you manage to make yours perfect perhaps others will follow you

GeoffC · 09-03-2010, 09:43 AM

I can understand your frustration, all you can do is provide a "best-fit."

pdurrant · 09-03-2010, 09:50 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by GeoffC

I can understand your frustration, all you can do is provide a "best-fit."

Oh, yes. I'll get something done. It's just so frustrating to have to work around these bugs that shouldn't be there. Missing features I can bear, but inconsistent rendering drives me up the wall.

pdurrant · 09-03-2010, 09:52 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by speakingtohe

Ahh. But if you manage to make yours perfect perhaps others will follow you

I don't expect perfection. But it would be nice if text didn't change relative sizes depending on which device you read the book on! (Really — it's possible for text in a Kindle book to display smaller than the default size on a Kindle, but bigger than the default size on Kindle for PC or Kindle for Windows!)

And the work-arounds are so ugly. :-(

JayCeeEll · 09-03-2010, 10:02 AM

Just to give you nightmares have you considered the html/css standards and how consistent the rendering is by all the major name players.

Ravensknight · 09-03-2010, 10:04 AM

dang! and here I thought all the starving children had it hard...

pdurrant · 09-03-2010, 12:15 PM

Having calmed down a bit, I think I really should have posted this in the Vent and Rant thread. Next time...

GlenBarrington · 09-03-2010, 12:22 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by pdurrant

Having calmed down a bit, I think I really should have posted this in the Vent and Rant thread. Next time...

If you can't vent and rant where the venting and ranting is best, why bother! Vent away!

But the truth is the technology IS immature and being held back by the very people who should WANT ebook technology to be a success. Greed and strategic thinking don't always walk in lock step with each other.

kjk · 09-03-2010, 01:12 PM

Definitely. I think all the excitement and enthusiasm is great-but I still feel we are still in the dark ages when it comes to not just content formatting, but reading hardware as well.

queentess · 09-03-2010, 03:29 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by kjk

Definitely. I think all the excitement and enthusiasm is great-but I still feel we are still in the dark ages when it comes to not just content formatting, but reading hardware as well.

The simple fact that I cannot buy an ebook from Amazon and read it on a Nook, or buy a book from Sony and read it on a Kindle is very telling. Hopefully the industry will settle on a standard filetype sooner rather than later.

GeoffC · 09-04-2010, 02:20 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by queentess

The simple fact that I cannot buy an ebook from Amazon and read it on a Nook, or buy a book from Sony and read it on a Kindle is very telling. Hopefully the industry will settle on a standard filetype sooner rather than later.

You think !?

Freeshadow · 09-04-2010, 09:05 AM

the sad thing is how many possible i.e. (easily implementable) features are being ignored.

Worldwalker · 09-04-2010, 10:52 AM

The problem is that Amazon doesn't want you to be able to buy an ebook from Amazon and read it on a Nook; they want you to read it on an Amazon-controlled platform, even if they have to give it to you free. And really, they'd rather sell you a Kindle. Repeat for every other device vendor which owns a bookstore.

J. Strnad · 09-04-2010, 10:59 AM

I agree completely with the original poster. Can we please just get the books to format properly before worrying about a bunch of added features?

With Amazon and Smashwords both, you have to go through their conversion process and you can't tweak the final result. And how things appear on Kindle for PC is apparently not how they appear on the handheld device...which is also true of converting with Calibre for epub, checking its reader, and how the book displays on a Kobo.

I'd like my book to display perfectly on all devices, too, with a clickable table of contents, but it doesn't happen going through the meatgrinder.

09-03-2010, 07:33 AM	#1
pdurrant The Grand Mouse 高貴的老鼠 Posts: 73,653 Karma: 315126578 Join Date: Jul 2007 Location: Norfolk, England Device: Kindle Oasis	eBooks: An immature technology I've been trying to format some ebooks nicely. It's near impossible to do a good job. Different implementations of standards. Not enough support for special formatting needs. Insufficient documentation. And yet people are already rushing to get interaction and video implemented in ebooks, when they don't even have plain text done right yet. It would be nice even if a single format rendered consistently, but no. Even Amazon haven't done it with Kindle - the Kindle renders certain things differently to Kindle for PC/Windows, and possibly differently again on Kindle for iPod/Phone/Pad. And ePub.... no-one follows the standard properly or completely. It makes an eBook designer's life very difficult. Last edited by pdurrant; 09-03-2010 at 07:38 AM.

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09-03-2010, 09:39 AM	#2
speakingtohe Wizard Posts: 4,812 Karma: 26912940 Join Date: Apr 2010 Device: sony PRS-T1 and T3, Kobo Mini and Aura HD, Tablet	Ahh. But if you manage to make yours perfect perhaps others will follow you

09-03-2010, 09:43 AM	#3
GeoffC Chocolate Grasshopper ... Posts: 27,599 Karma: 20821184 Join Date: Mar 2008 Location: Scotland Device: Muse HD , Cybook Gen3 , Pocketbook 302 (Black) , Nexus 10: wife has PW	I can understand your frustration, all you can do is provide a "best-fit."

09-03-2010, 10:02 AM	#6
JayCeeEll Connoisseur Posts: 87 Karma: 204 Join Date: Dec 2007 Location: Exeter, Devon, UK Device: PRS-300	Just to give you nightmares have you considered the html/css standards and how consistent the rendering is by all the major name players.

09-03-2010, 10:04 AM	#7
Ravensknight Serpent Rider Posts: 1,123 Karma: 10219804 Join Date: Jun 2009 Device: Sony 350; Nook STR; Oasis	dang! and here I thought all the starving children had it hard...

09-03-2010, 12:15 PM	#8
pdurrant The Grand Mouse 高貴的老鼠 Posts: 73,653 Karma: 315126578 Join Date: Jul 2007 Location: Norfolk, England Device: Kindle Oasis	Having calmed down a bit, I think I really should have posted this in the Vent and Rant thread. Next time...

09-03-2010, 01:12 PM	#10
kjk . Posts: 3,408 Karma: 5647231 Join Date: Oct 2008 Device: never enough	Definitely. I think all the excitement and enthusiasm is great-but I still feel we are still in the dark ages when it comes to not just content formatting, but reading hardware as well.

09-04-2010, 09:05 AM	#13
Freeshadow temp. out of service Posts: 2,815 Karma: 24285242 Join Date: May 2010 Location: Duisburg (DE) Device: PB 623	the sad thing is how many possible i.e. (easily implementable) features are being ignored.

09-04-2010, 10:52 AM	#14
Worldwalker Curmudgeon Posts: 3,085 Karma: 722357 Join Date: Feb 2010 Device: PRS-505	The problem is that Amazon doesn't want you to be able to buy an ebook from Amazon and read it on a Nook; they want you to read it on an Amazon-controlled platform, even if they have to give it to you free. And really, they'd rather sell you a Kindle. Repeat for every other device vendor which owns a bookstore.

09-04-2010, 10:59 AM	#15
J. Strnad Guru Posts: 915 Karma: 3537194 Join Date: Feb 2009 Device: Kobo, Kindle 3, Paperwhite	I agree completely with the original poster. Can we please just get the books to format properly before worrying about a bunch of added features? With Amazon and Smashwords both, you have to go through their conversion process and you can't tweak the final result. And how things appear on Kindle for PC is apparently not how they appear on the handheld device...which is also true of converting with Calibre for epub, checking its reader, and how the book displays on a Kobo. I'd like my book to display perfectly on all devices, too, with a clickable table of contents, but it doesn't happen going through the meatgrinder.