NYT: Electronic Device Stirs Unease at Book Fair

[TadW]

The Economist has an interesting writeup on this and concludes:

Publishing has only two indispensable participants: authors and readers. As with music, any technology that brings these two groups closer makes the whole industry more efficient—but hurts those who benefit from the distance between them.

Economist

[HarryT]

Originally Posted by JSWolf

I think that if Adobe does it right, ePub could become the #1 eBook format. And what will be good is that hopefully ePub will be able to be viewed on a number of different devices. If that happens, I see publishers maybe willing to take the risk and release ePub format eBooks.

We already have a de facto "universal" format - MobiPocket. Mobi format books can be read on a vast range of different hardware platforms and devices. ePub may be "technically" superior to Mobi in some ways, but why re-invent the wheel?

[Liviu_5]

Originally Posted by HarryT

We already have a de facto "universal" format - MobiPocket. Mobi format books can be read on a vast range of different hardware platforms and devices. ePub may be "technically" superior to Mobi in some ways, but why re-invent the wheel?

Mobipocket ain't approved by the keepers of the standards Let us have Adobe dictate - I would be against Epub just on general principles only for that since for me Adobe is considerably lower than Microsoft not to speak of Amazon on the trust scale - leaving aside that it seems to be as end-user friendly as opf

Though I do not worry overmuch about Epub - it will at best remain a pre-package format like opf, not an end user one like mobi, and it may not get there since as long as mobi uses opf, lit uses opf...

[Steven Lyle Jordan]

Adobe didn't invent or develop ePub... the IDPF did. Adobe was just one of the first on the bandwagon to use it. To me, that counts in their favor.

[tirsales]

Originally Posted by Steve Jordan

Adobe didn't invent or develop ePub... the IDPF did. Adobe was just one of the first on the bandwagon to use it. To me, that counts in their favor.

I agree. It's not good to have a format tied towards a single company.

[Walk Broad]

Originally Posted by HarryT

We already have a de facto "universal" format - MobiPocket. Mobi format books can be read on a vast range of different hardware platforms and devices. ePub may be "technically" superior to Mobi in some ways, but why re-invent the wheel?

Who died and left Mobipocket in charge?

Sounds to me like you are presenting a personal preference and making it seem "universal" when in fact, it is not.

I don't even like the Mobipocket software/reader and haven't purchased a single book from them in over three years.

The are not my "de facto," "got to" source for anything.

If we are going to pick "standards" then I'd opt for eReader a lot sooner than Mobipocket.

But I wouldn't suggest eReader be shoved down people's throats either. Obviously people will prefer one over the other - or some new thing not yet created.

People should be free to use whatever solution works for them.

[tompe]

MobiPocket is also a closed format and cannot be read on all platforms.

[beschuit]

Originally Posted by BooksForABuck

Actually, I believe Amazon pays most publishers 50% of the list price for Kindle books. [...'] I believe that Amazon is losing money on many of these eBook sales--and sensibly so.

Question: If Amazon gets to keep 50% of the list price, where are they losing money?
Edit: OK, I see, the list price is not the price you pay for the eBook...

[Steven Lyle Jordan]

Originally Posted by Walk Broad

If we are going to pick "standards" then I'd opt for eReader a lot sooner than Mobipocket.

But I wouldn't suggest eReader be shoved down people's throats either. Obviously people will prefer one over the other - or some new thing not yet created.

People should be free to use whatever solution works for them.

That's why I'd like to see every e-book reading device/format develop a conversion from ePub to their native format... so everyone has that choice.

[WillAdams]

Apparently _The Economist_ has never heard of editors or peer review?

I've seen raw author manuscripts, and believe me, usually they're not something one would want to read by choice --- professional editors, book designers, typesetters, graphic designers and indexers help to make books far better than any but the most talented author alone can.

William

[rhadin]

Originally Posted by WillAdams

I've seen raw author manuscripts, and believe me, usually they're not something one would want to read by choice --- professional editors, book designers, typesetters, graphic designers and indexers help to make books far better than any but the most talented author alone can.

Hear! Hear!

[nekokami]

Agreed about the value of editors, etc.

But back to the evils of Amazon... We've seen (in the Astak thread) that Amazon is prepared to try to protect their monopoly by refusing to authorize Mobipocket support to be offered on any device which offers any other DRM format. That's a problem. Publishers just getting into the ebook market may be pressured to go exclusively with Mobi/Kindle format, just because it's potentially the biggest market out there. We need to hope that Fictionwise continues to offer books in multiple formats, but they're so small next to Amazon that I fear they'll just get lost in the noise. I don't think there is another book retailer who could take on Amazon in the ebook area at this point. Borders is limping already. Barnes & Noble? They depend on their paper business. Apple could try it (and the new, less expensive iPhone announced today might make a decent platform for those who can tolerate LCD), but I doubt the results would be any more open, given Apple's history. A big publisher could tackle Amazon directly, but I don't think any of them have the imagination for it.

Best hope at this point is that Astak gets their units into consumer electronics and big-box stores, where they'll get some attention. And even they are just looking at eReader and Mobi as the only two "commercial" formats they'd support.

The sad thing is that while we can all decry what Amazon is doing, nobody in the marketplace is willing to really step up to the challenge of eBooks other than Amazon. Sony acts like they're trying to keep the Reader a secret or something. None of the other hardware vendors have any advertising budget to speak of, apparently.

Who's left, Google? On Android, maybe? If they could settle the bad feelings with publishers, they've actually got content....

[tirsales]

Considering the history of Google - I wouldnt give a damn wether it is Amazon or Google ..

[Steven Lyle Jordan]

Originally Posted by nekokami

But back to the evils of Amazon...

The sad thing is that while we can all decry what Amazon is doing, nobody in the marketplace is willing to really step up to the challenge of eBooks other than Amazon.

My feeling is, maybe that's not so sad after all. The e-book market has suffered for over a decade, creeping along, and primarily because of the splintering of the market. Amazon comes along, and may be able to import the first real order to the market that it's ever had. At the very least, that should weed out many of the underperformers, and leave us with fewer formats to fight over.

I'm not wishing bad on any specific format, but in this case, I think the e-book market would actually be better off with fewer choices. Fewer choices means more effort on the ones that are left, and a better likelihood of consolidation and order down the road.

So Amazon may be doing us all a big favor.

Of course, ePub converters would accomplish the same thing, allowing you to have a format for every single device there is, as long as there's a converter app for it. So it's not like Amazon is the only way out.

[HarryT]

Originally Posted by Walk Broad

Who died and left Mobipocket in charge?

Sorry, I don't understand you. What does "dying" have to do with anything?

Sounds to me like you are presenting a personal preference and making it seem "universal" when in fact, it is not.

Not at all. Just stating the simple fact that MobiPocket files can be read on a far wider range of hardware and software platforms than any other commercial eBook format - especially mobile devices. It is very much of a de facto standard.