Breaking: eReader.com changes hands again, acquired by Fictionwise

[Alexander Turcic]

Hmm, eReader for Sony Reader. That would be something. Drool.

[TallMomof2]

I really hope that they open the eReader format to Linux. I have a lot of "orphaned" books that I can only read on my Palm when I'd rather use my Kindle or Iliad.

[nekokami]

Alex, I think the only way Sony would allow eReader to be developed for the Sony platform is if they were considering getting out of the ebook selling business.

[NatCh]

Sony's folks have said several times that they're interested in supporting more formats on the PRS line.

Mobipocket carries the obvious "Amazon doesn't want to play with others" fetter, but why wouldn't eReader/Fictionwise want to do so? Especially considering this new transfer of ownership. They're in the business of selling books, not hardware, and customers won't buy those books if they can't read them on their devices.

Besides, making eReader run on the PRS would likely get them a version that would be very close to running on the iLiad, Cybook, etc., and vice versa.

[DMcCunney]

Originally Posted by Bob Russell

This is great news! I have bought eReader books in the past, and have continued to buy them occasionally, but it seemed like it was a dying format. This gives me more hope for the future. We'll see what Fictionwise can do, but of course making existing purchases available in new formats probably requires approval by the publisher... good luck.

One big question now because what happens to the eReader software... will it continue to be updated? Maybe get "real" development work now? Maybe get ignored? The new free version - will it stay free? So many things that will be interesting to find out!

eReader had lagged badly in updating the reader. After Palm sold the then Palm Digital Media division to Motricity who renamed it eReader, they released an updated version of the old PalmReader application that was essentially cosmetic: a prettier interface but no real change in underlying functionality. The enhanced "Pro" version added support for dictionaries and fonts, but the guts of the reader stayed the same, and the freeware and shareware versions were the same program. Paying a registration fee got an unlock code that would permanently enable the Pro features. The earlier PalmReader product provided as freeware with may Palm OS devices still reads current ereader content.

And the GUI content creator was a shareware product. Freeware versions existed, but were tools requiring more expertise to use and unsupported.

Mobi after Amazon bought them made the reader and the creator freeware to encourage people to create and read Mobi content.

This was part of eReader's problem as an ebook publisher. Mobi runs on a lot more more devices, and if you want to offer electronic content, you want the broadest possible market. Why submit titles to eReader when Mobi is out there? People weren't, and eReader's catalog was lagging badly.

I suspect Fictionwise bought eReader to get the catalog, and I'd be surprised if they weren't busy talking to publishers about converting eReader content to the other formats they support. That should be a no-brainer "Yes" decision for publishers, who want to sell ebooks to the largest possible market. We'll see.
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Dennis

[DMcCunney]

Originally Posted by TallMomof2

I really hope that they open the eReader format to Linux. I have a lot of "orphaned" books that I can only read on my Palm when I'd rather use my Kindle or Iliad.

eReader uses a format based on Palm Markup Language. That's documented, and it ought to be possible to create a viewer and a creator for Linux. For that matter, it ought to be possible to enhance FBReader to handle it. Know any Linux hackers that might take on the job?
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Dennis

[DMcCunney]

Originally Posted by bookwormfjl

I believe that the ereader format is one of the formats Fictionwise supports.
I have found some books on ereader.com that weren't on Fictionwise so this should really expand Fictionwise's selection.

Now if they can only convince Sony.............

They don't need to convince Sony. They need to convince publishers of books in eReader format to let them convert to something the Sony Reader can read. They already offer "Multi-format" titles in Sony LRF.
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Dennis

[DaleDe]

Originally Posted by DMcCunney

eReader uses a format based on Palm Markup Language. That's documented, and it ought to be possible to create a viewer and a creator for Linux. For that matter, it ought to be possible to enhance FBReader to handle it. Know any Linux hackers that might take on the job?
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Dennis

eReader already runs on a mac by the way.

Dale

[NatCh]

Originally Posted by DMcCunney

They don't need to convince Sony. They need to convince publishers of books in eReader format to let them convert to something the Sony Reader can read.

I think bookwormfjl meant convince Sony to let an eReader app run on its PRS line.

[DMcCunney]

Originally Posted by NatCh

I think bookwormfjl meant convince Sony to let an eReader app run on its PRS line.

I know. But if eReader content can be converted to other formats, that's not necessary.

The question is which is easier: convincing Sony to allow it and doing a port of eReader, or convincing eReader content providers to permit format conversion.

We'll see.
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Dennis

[Brad]

I would settle for eReader on Cybook and iLiad and other Linux platforms and if Sony wants to be odd man out so be it. It would be real nice to have a another source for DRM ebooks in case Amazon decides to pull the plug on Mobipocket.

[RWood]

I'm not saying that my phone is old, it still has PalmReader installed. I did add Mobipocket a while back. It is hard to find good apps that will run on PalmOS 4.5 these days.

[DMcCunney]

Originally Posted by RWood

I'm not saying that my phone is old, it still has PalmReader installed. I did add Mobipocket a while back. It is hard to find good apps that will run on PalmOS 4.5 these days.

Anything in particular you are looking for? I can probably make recommendations.
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Dennis

[HarryT]

Originally Posted by NatCh

I think bookwormfjl meant convince Sony to let an eReader app run on its PRS line.

No eBook reader that I'm aware of support more than one type of DRM. It's very likely down to "exclusivity" deals between the DRM supplier and the hardware manufacturer.

Of course, in Sony's case they are both the hardware and the DRM supplier, so they could add eReader support if they wanted, but why would they want to? It would probably hurt Connect Store sales, don't you think?

[NatCh]

It might, but it would help Reader sales.