

Giz Explains: How You're Gonna Get Screwed By Ebook Formats - bensummers
http://gizmodo.com/5478842/giz-explains-how-youre-gonna-get-screwed-by-ebook-formats

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ZeroGravitas
Title should be: _"How you're going to get screwed by eBook DRM"_

But then you wouldn't need to bother clicking through because it's all right
there in the title.

I wouldn't trust much of the rest of the article, there's some real nonsense
in there e.g. he's got the worst explanation of EPUB I've ever read:

 _" It's based on XML—extensible markup language—which you see all over the
place, from RSS to Microsoft Office, 'cause it lays out rules for storing
information. And it's actually made up of a three open components: Open
Publication Structure basically is about the formatting, how it looks; Open
Packaging Format is how it's tied together using navigation and metadata; and
Open Container Format is a zip-based container format for the file, where you
get the .epub file extension. When you toss those three components together,
you have the EPUB ebook format."_

I think that's just the overdetailed Wikipedia blurb transcribed into lazy-
tech-journalist-ese. In reality EPUB is just XHTML bundled in a zip file. And
nonsense like:

 _"we've only see EPUB on black-and-white e-ink-based readers so far"_

So I must be imagining the EPUB books I read with Stanza on my iPhone? Or the
web-based EPUB readers?

He also tries to explain the issue of DRM on the standard EPUB by analogy to
Audible Books from iTunes. Maybe buying songs from iTunes (or Amazon etc) with
and without DRM would be a more recognisable comparison?

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soyelmango
From a strictly technical point of view, the title of this article will hold
true - many people will lose out and there'll be data that becomes
inaccessible on other devices, especially as manufacturers come and go.

However, consumers often bring about unexpected outcomes that have little to
do with what's best judged by specification, or which platform follows
principles of openess best.

There's much that I don't like about the iPhone, especially Apple's veto on
data transfer - "What?! I can't bluetooth data to my phone?! I can't even
transfer my own ringtone, I have to buy it?!" - but this hasn't sufficiently
bothered millions of consumers.

Instead, I bought a Windows Mobile phone - I can transfer all the data and
ringtones I like via USB or bluetooth, I can get all sorts of free/paid
software for it too. It's got a high res screen, and a zippy processor.
Technically, it's a winner, but the experience downright stinks, needing a
reboot every other day.

And of course, there's the old Betamax/VHS, MiniDisc/CD, HD-DVD/Bluray
comparisons - usability and marketing prowess often trump rationality.

By the way... which ebook would you buy?

~~~
ableal
> By the way... which ebook would you buy?

If you mean reader hardware, for fiction a device with an e-ink screen of 5 or
6 inches is good (currently, both sizes have the same 800x600 pixels). Light,
fairly sturdy, charge-once-a-week battery life, does not tire your eyes.

I have one of the Hanlin (branded BeBook) 6" devices, which I've been using on
and off for almost a year. Fairly decent software (folders, formats, memorizes
last-page-read, rare and harmless hangs/crashes).

<http://feedbooks.com> and similar sites have plenty of reading if you don't
feel like paying hardcover prices for DRMed files. Head on over to
<http://mobileread.com> for more opinions, facts and books than you can shake
a stick at.

~~~
soyelmango
Thanks for the link... I'll take a closer look when I'm in the market for an
ebook reader.

