How can we convince Amazon to sell ePub format?

[rcuadro]

Originally Posted by tubemonkey

Library books.

My library has ebooks in mobi as well as epub...

[rcuadro]

Originally Posted by Steven Lake

Kindle owners tend to be like Apple fanboys. They're only pleased with their devices because they don't realize that there's something better out there, don't wish to know, and Amazon is making sure they never do. IE, blissful ignorance.

"Better" is always a matter of opinion. I have tried just about every reader out there and the Kindle work best... for me

Amazon makes it really easy to get books by not needing to connect to a computer and that is something that most of my family can do on their own or at worse case I have send the books to them.

Get locked into Amzon's mobi or Adobe's ADAPTEC... makes no difference to me. At the current time Amazon has the book selection that I want so be it.

[Ozric]

Originally Posted by Kitabi

What is not to like? Why should a customer stray?

Maybe a customer would like to use a device with a different feature set than what Amazon provides. For myself, I don't care for all the hardware buttons on the Kindle. After using the touch interfaces on my Sony PRS-350 and Nook Color, I don't think I could ever go back to hardware interfaces.

I own an iPod Touch. I can buy music from any source that sells digital music (assuming that DRM for music is a thing of the past) and play it on my iPod Touch. As it happens, I almost always buy my music from Amazon. If I buy another music player from a different manufacturer, I can transfer all the music I've collected over the years and enjoy it with no problem.

I want my eReading experience to be the same. Maybe the book publishers will never allow that to happen, but .epub, or some other format that might arise as a new standard, is more likely to get us there than Amazon's propriety format. While some could argue that the world should adopt Amazon's format, my understanding is that it isn't very flexible, having its origins in a time when eReading was done on PDAs with tiny screens. While it probably doesn't matter much for novels, it does matter for other books.

It seems like some people think that Amazon simply doesn't need the business of people such as myself, who only buy .epubs. And if Amazon isn't interested in taking my money, that's certainly their prerogative.

But here's a question. If Amazon were to adopt .epub, perhaps even phasing out their current format, how would that adversely impact their current customers? Kindle hardware would probably support both formats for a couple generations. Kindle users would still be able to download the books they've collected over the years, only they would be .epub instead of the current format.

[ProfCrash]

It seems like some people think that Amazon simply doesn't need the business of people such as myself, who only buy .epubs. And if Amazon isn't interested in taking my money, that's certainly their prerogative.

Amazon is doing pretty well without EPub. I have to wonder why publishers wouldn't choose to publish so that it can be read on a Kindle? They are losing out on a large customer base.

Amazon is able to sell to folks who don't own Kindle through the apps. They can sell to people with EPub readers because the interested folks will convert the books. Just like Kindle users convert Epub books.

I only want Amazon to add EPub so I can stop hearing people complain about the lack of EPub. Mainly I want to know what is next on the list of things to complain about.

I am happy with my Kindle and book options. E-Pub users should be happy with your e-reader and book choices. All the complaining makes me wonder how happy folks really are? why does it matter what Amazon does? If you can find your books easily enough and you can use the library and you are happy with your Nook, Sony, Opus, Kobo, Pocketbook, whatever other reader then it shouldn't matter that Amazon doesn't use EPub.

If Amazon changes formats or something happens then you can tell all of the Kindle folks how you warned us and told us and laugh as we bitch up a storm in topics. Until then it would be nice to go a day or two without reading about how deprived we all are.

[Kitabi]

Originally Posted by Ozric

Maybe a customer would like to use a device with a different feature set than what Amazon provides. For myself, I don't care for all the hardware buttons on the Kindle. After using the touch interfaces on my Sony PRS-350 and Nook Color, I don't think I could ever go back to hardware interfaces.

I own an iPod Touch. I can buy music from any source that sells digital music (assuming that DRM for music is a thing of the past) and play it on my iPod Touch. As it happens, I almost always buy my music from Amazon. If I buy another music player from a different manufacturer, I can transfer all the music I've collected over the years and enjoy it with no problem.

I want my eReading experience to be the same. Maybe the book publishers will never allow that to happen, but .epub, or some other format that might arise as a new standard, is more likely to get us there than Amazon's propriety format. While some could argue that the world should adopt Amazon's format, my understanding is that it isn't very flexible, having its origins in a time when eReading was done on PDAs with tiny screens. While it probably doesn't matter much for novels, it does matter for other books.

It seems like some people think that Amazon simply doesn't need the business of people such as myself, who only buy .epubs. And if Amazon isn't interested in taking my money, that's certainly their prerogative.

But here's a question. If Amazon were to adopt .epub, perhaps even phasing out their current format, how would that adversely impact their current customers? Kindle hardware would probably support both formats for a couple generations. Kindle users would still be able to download the books they've collected over the years, only they would be .epub instead of the current format.

And you are free to not buy the Kindle. Buy the Sony or the Nook by all means. You are free to use the Kindle app on iPod touch, iPhone or iPad if that is your thing. Or you can send feedback to Amazon on what you would like in the next Kindle and see if they respond with a redesigned product.

The thing is if you buy the Kindle and keep it, you are satisfied enough to continue using it.

You may also want to refer to one of my earlier posts (#54).

[Ankh]

Originally Posted by rcuadro

My library has ebooks in mobi as well as epub...

From what I know about the Kindle, it can read DRM free mobi ebooks, but not DRM infected mobi ebooks.

[EowynCarter]

Lucky you. The numbrer of library in France is close to zero.

"Better" is always a matter of opinion. I have tried just about every reader out there and the Kindle work best... for me

Yup

[JSWolf]

The best way to get Amazon to sell ePub is to not use any of the Kindle apps or buy any Kindle hardware. Every time you buy an ePub eBook, email Amazon and tell them. If enough people do this and Amazon sales of Kindle hardware and eBooks tank, then Amazon may take notice why.

[Andrew H.]

Originally Posted by Avarwen

Give it a few years as soon as ebooks become the main way to read books Amazon will more than likely be forced to use epub. As more ereaders are released and are successful (most using ebup or Adobe DRM ) Amazon will feel the pinch and be forced to give in.

Yeah, but this is not what's happening. What's happening is that Amazon is crushing the epub competition. That's one of the main reasons that Amazon won't be switching...because their current model is wildly successful.

I don't see many people rebuying books for the Kindel then if they choose to switch over to the Nook buying the books again. For now it's not a major problem but later as ebooks become the norm it may well be a big pain in the butt that will help people chose what ereader to buy.

This is another reason that Amazon won't switch to epub. Fear of being locked into a dying format is probably why Kindle will win out, and why DRM epub may already be dead.

Once VHS pulled ahead of Betamax, it was over for betamax because people were afraid of being stuck with an incompatible format so everyone bought VHS. SD cards have largely driven out competing cards (SmartMedia, xD, CF, Memory Stick, etc.) for the camera market. Blu-Ray drove out HD-DVD. Etc.
No one wants to be trapped in a dying format, or buy into a dying format, if it means that nothing will be able to read their media in the future, or if it means that their media won't be available in the future.

[JSWolf]

Originally Posted by desertgrandma

Kindle owners tend to be like Apple fanboys. They're only pleased with their devices because they don't realize that there's something better out there, don't wish to know, and Amazon is making sure they never do. IE, blissful ignorance.

You underestimate Kindle owners.

And I make it my business to make sure everyone I speak to about Kindles DO know all the things it can do.

Kindle owners love the customer service, the no hassle warranty, the selection of books at the best prices, and the ability to download library books with just a few 'tweaks'......no rocket science required.

The smart ones don't worry about 'exclusivity', or Amazon seeing everything you do.

They love, and read, books.

At least the smart ones do.

As for library books, sure, you can tweak Mobipocket eBooks. But you cannot tweak ePub eBooks. And most libraries I know of are no longer buying Mobipocket if they ever did. So really, if you want to use Library eBooks without tweaking or striping/converting, then the Kindle is not the right choice. But if you don't care about library eBooks, then the Kindle might or might not be a good choice. But if you do go for a Kindle and later decide you want library eBooks, you will be sorry. The use of library eBooks rose quite a bit thanks to the Agency 5 and their extortionate pricing scheme.

I'm not saying what reader is good for what person. A Kindle may be a perfect match for some and that's fine. But, as long as people know the limitations of the devices they are getting before they spend the money, then whatever they get and are happy with is a good thing.

[JSWolf]

Originally Posted by BenBanned

Swindle'd

With the bugs that can corrupt some eBooks. There's better software to do the job.

[JSWolf]

Originally Posted by rcuadro

My library has ebooks in mobi as well as epub...

Does your library buy new eBooks in Mobipocket? Nope, they don't. They buy in ePub mostly.

[Dark123]

Originally Posted by Steven Lake

Kindle owners tend to be like Apple fanboys. They're only pleased with their devices because they don't realize that there's something better out there, don't wish to know, and Amazon is making sure they never do. IE, blissful ignorance.

I am a Kindle user, and before the Kindle I used another eReader.
Now tell me what other eReader is better for me?
I don't want an LCD screen. I don't want touchscreen. I do not want to pay £200+ for an eReader.
All I am left mainly is the Kindle. Which while doesn't support ePub is an annoyance but I can convert everything using Calibre which does a pretty good job and I mass converted them.
The Kindle gives me a 3GB of space. A book is usually no more than 1MB. So I can store just over 3000 books with it. I am fine with this.
I do not want the WiFi so it's always off.
The refresh rate is very fast.
I can edit the screen margins, the font type etc, so I get maximum words per screen.
Their customer service is great (previous one was really bad)
Now tell me what part do I not " realize that there's something better out there, don't wish to know,"?

[EowynCarter]

This is another reason that Amazon won't switch to epub. Fear of being locked into a dying format is probably why Kindle will win out, and why DRM epub may already be dead.

mobi is the one format dying. You find less and less mobi. azw will stay, but mobi is dying.
In the end i'll think we'll get the same as music. DRM gone, amazon using azw, everyone else using ePub.

And amazon is far from crushing the concurrence where i live.

[Steven Lake]

I agree EowynCarter. Mobi will eventually die out, and Amazon will be the lone island in a sea of Epubs. There's another reason I think you'll see Epubs win. For one, the more content a user can get, the more likely you are to be able to sell your ereader. No needing four different ereaders for four different services. Plus as technology improves, backwards compatibility will make your older ebooks still work on your newer devices. People love that kind of stuff.