New Sony eBookstore to open 14 November 2008

[zelda_pinwheel]

in fact, i just noticed this link on the idpf site :
EPUB Support from list of Publishers : An Open Letter from AAP to IDPF, dated May 12, 2008.

an excerpt :

To our colleagues at the IDPF:
The EPUB subcommittee of AAP’s Digital Issues Working Group1 has been working to provide support to the publishing community on the EPUB initiative. We are therefore writing to express our support for the use of EPUB as an e-book file type for reflowable texts from which any e-book delivery format can be rendered. Many publishers already want to begin a transition process toward this use of the EPUB file format and hope that such a transition can be completed by October 2008.

a note at the bottom states :
"AAP’s EPUB subcommittee of the Digital Issues Working Group is comprised of members from the following publishing companies: Penguin Group USA, HarperCollins Publishers, Cambridge University Press, Pelican Publishing Company, Inc., John Wiley & Sons Inc., National Science Teachers Association, Hachette Book Group USA, Oxford University Press, Random House, Seattle Book Company/Rosetta Solutions, Simon & Schuster, Macmillan, Harlequin Enterprises Ltd., Workman Publishing, CQ Press, and Cengage Learning."

as you can see, epub is off to a very good start.

[HarryT]

That's very good news. Note, though, that it's describing ePub as a working format " from which any e-book delivery format can be rendered". That's what makes me rather doubt that any quick end to "eBabel" is in sight - there are still going to be a variety of "terminal formats" created by publishers and some devices will support one, others another.

This usage is similar to the way that the older OEB (Open EBook) standard was used, to create terminal formats such as LIT and Mobi.

If more publishers do start using ePub as a working format from which to create their various reading formats, however, the end result must inevitably be an improvement in the quality and consistency of those reading formats, so everybody will benefit from that. That's why I'm pleased to read this announcement.

[Steven Lyle Jordan]

Originally Posted by HarryT

It is a useful archival format, I agree, since it's essentially just zipped-up HTML. I just have my doubts about how important it's going to become as a reading format. Only time will answer that question.

I'd actually be okay with ePub if it was primarily used as an archival and transport format... that is, you buy an ePub file, and use software to convert it for your device of choice. (And if you get a new device down the line, you can convert it again, and again).

(BTW: Not that I count as a commercial publisher, but my ePub files are DRM-free.)

[zelda_pinwheel]

Originally Posted by HarryT

That's very good news. Note, though, that it's describing ePub as a working format " from which any e-book delivery format can be rendered". That's what makes me rather doubt that any quick end to "eBabel" is in sight - there are still going to be a variety of "terminal formats" created by publishers and some devices will support one, others another.

This usage is similar to the way that the older OEB (Open EBook) standard was used, to create terminal formats such as LIT and Mobi.

yes, that is a good point ; but i have to wonder whether they weren't just saying that to cover all their bases, so to speak ; after all, to my knowledge, the OEB standard (although similar to epub in structure) could *only* be used as a working format (i could be wrong, but i don't know of any device / application which can "read" OEB directly). but so far, the publishers who are visibly using epub seem *not* to be converting it ; more and more publishers are now offering epub files directly to the end user, and more and more devices are supporting it natively. this would seem to confirm the trend towards standardisation on epub as a terminal format, not just a working format. and obviously the more enthusiasm there is for it, the faster that will happen.

If more publishers do start using ePub as a working format from which to create their various reading formats, however, the end result must inevitably be an improvement in the quality and consistency of those reading formats, so everybody will benefit from that. That's why I'm pleased to read this announcement.

that is another advantage, you're right. but as i say, i get the impression that epub is destined primarily as a format in and of itself. but it certainly doesn't hurt that it can also be converted into any other format.

[HarryT]

Originally Posted by zelda_pinwheel

yes, that is a good point ; but i have to wonder whether they weren't just saying that to cover all their bases, so to speak ; after all, to my knowledge, the OEB standard (although similar to epub in structure) could *only* be used as a working format (i could be wrong, but i don't know of any device / application which can "read" OEB directly).

No, I don't know of any device which could directly read OEB files either. It's a very "impractical" format for reading, however, since an OEB book is a whole folder-full of files, not just one single file! I believe you're right in saying that it was only ever intended as a working format from which to create reading formats.

OEB format is MobiPocket Creator's "native" format - the "GUI" aspect of the tool is basically an editor for the ".opf" file which stores all the metadata required to build a MobiPocket book from OEB.

[zelda_pinwheel]

Originally Posted by HarryT

No, I don't know of any device which could directly read OEB files either. It's a very "impractical" format for reading, however, since an OEB book is a whole folder-full of files, not just one single file! I believe you're right in saying that it was only ever intended as a working format from which to create reading formats.

OEB format is MobiPocket Creator's "native" format - the "GUI" aspect of the tool is basically an editor for the ".opf" file which stores all the metadata required to build a MobiPocket book from OEB.

yes ; the .imp format is also based on OEB format. ETI is also very active in the elaboration of epub. this is why epub is different though ; despite being constructed of several files in a "container" like OEB, it *can* be read directly with no conversion needed. being a container format is in fact one of its strengths, since it means you can put a lot more than just text into epub (and even more than just text + illustrations).

[MickeyC]

The Store is now open. Actually was able to bring in up at 11:57. Now to look it over

[JSWolf]

The new store is a lot snappier then the previous store.

[NatCh]

Originally Posted by cassidym

The Store is now open. Actually was able to bring in up at 11:57. Now to look it over

I got it open about 10:30 CST, dunno how long it had been open at that point.

[Hadrien]

OEB lacked a container format and couldn't be used as a terminal format for this single reason. LIT is pretty much OEB wrapped up in a proprietary container. Mobipocket used to be this way too, but they extended things so much that it is now some sort of ugly mutant offspring of OEB wrapped in a proprietary container.

In EPUB there's a standard container format called OCF (Open Container Format).

The way Adobe implemented their DRM is actually compliant with the standard: they encrypt individual files inside the standard container, which is allowed in the specs. I wouldn't call it a different terminal format for this reason.

[astrodad]

Haven't been to the store in a while, but just checked it out. What's different?

[mtravellerh]

Originally Posted by HarryT

No, I don't know of any device which could directly read OEB files either. It's a very "impractical" format for reading, however, since an OEB book is a whole folder-full of files, not just one single file! I believe you're right in saying that it was only ever intended as a working format from which to create reading formats.

OEB format is MobiPocket Creator's "native" format - the "GUI" aspect of the tool is basically an editor for the ".opf" file which stores all the metadata required to build a MobiPocket book from OEB.

Just FYI: FBReader does read oeb files directly, well quasi directly: You just zip the folder up. rename zip to oebzip and away you go. Works nicely, too.(I know, no device, only software)