Comments on: It’s Time to End the Format Wars in the Ebook Industry

By: Smashwords Founder Says E-books Are on the Rise « FiledBy Blog

Smashwords Founder Says E-books Are on the Rise « FiledBy Blog — Tue, 13 Jan 2009 14:05:02 +0000

[...] is a way of preventing piracy, but it worked against the e-book industry. As a woman named Katie commented on the Dear Author blog last February, “My deepest desire is not to make my e-book available [...]

By: Hendrik

Hendrik — Tue, 26 Aug 2008 14:10:41 +0000

I would like to make a neat remark. I remember there was also a format battle between DVD plus (+) and DVD minus (-) standard:

DVD plus (+):
Philips, Sony, Mitsubishi Chemical, Hewlett-Packard, Ricoh, Thomson, Yamaha

DVD minus (-):
Pioneer, Sharp, JVC, Hitachi, Mitsubishi, Kenwood, LG Electronics

But in the end Sony developed a DVD burner which mastered both formats and this battle was decided. The past has shown, that only if this terrible format wars come to an end, consumers will buy technology in numbers. Before this we all are Early Adopters and act as guinea pigs.

By: Saira

Saira — Fri, 25 Jul 2008 16:53:57 +0000

I’m late to this discussion too, but I wanted to chime in with my two cents. I agree that it’s time for an industry standard… publishers need to realize that DRM controls are frustrating to the consumer and deter some people from purchasing eBooks. Now, I honestly don’t find DRM so difficult to work with that it actually prevents me from purchasing eBooks (because I definitely do find eBooks more convenient to use than paper books, and, especially for books I will only read once, they have a MUCH smaller environmental impact, which is important to me). However, because DRM acts as a barrier for so many people, the selection, pricing, etc of eBooks suffers – which is bad for me (and everyone who reads eBooks).

I also wanted to correct one point – you stated that “Bookeen’s Cybook reads only proprietary Mobipocket format.” I use a Cybook, and have used it with multiple non-DRM formats (including PDF, HTML, TXT, and non-DRM as well as DRM MobiPocket). Also, even DRM MobiPocket is not as proprietary as, say, the Kindle, because you can purchase MobiPocket eBooks from multiple online retailers.

If you haven’t used a Cybook, I definitely recommend it (BooksOnBoard is giving one away for FREE right now! More info here). I still agree with you that DRM needs to be abolished… I hope publishers realize this soon.

By: Michael "PDF boy" Jahn

Michael "PDF boy" Jahn — Wed, 02 Apr 2008 16:20:10 +0000

I am sorry I am late to this thread. Lets all assume that there may be good reason to have searchable books, if only to find content the user is interested in buying and reading. If we look at Apple iTunes, there is a single format available for a digital song and a digital movie. While I agree that the industry needs one for digital books, I think a debate on the issue of ‘what is an eBook” is far less important as ‘what is the distribution model – one only needs to look at what the Apple iTunes store has done to realize that worrying about file formats is a waste of time. The biggest guy will win, and that 300 pound Gorilla sitting on the elephant in the room is Amazon. Check out this debate !

http://www.paidcontent.org/entry/419-amazon-does-damage-control-on-its-print-on-demand-demands/

By: The Daily Square - Shave Your Beard Edition | Booksquare

The Daily Square - Shave Your Beard Edition | Booksquare — Tue, 26 Feb 2008 03:43:15 +0000

[...] It?s Time to End the Format Wars in the Ebook IndustryJane at Dear Author builds upon our frequent commentary about the stupidity of forcing format wars on consumers. [...]

By: bowerbird

bowerbird — Mon, 25 Feb 2008 22:09:07 +0000

> any one of the hundreds of
> PDF readers out there

hundreds? no.

maybe a dozen.

likely half that…

> it really is not the format
> it’s the DRM that is bad.
> Formats can be converted easily.

easily? no, not really.

not all of ‘em, anyway.

and especially not .pdf,
which is the one that
people want to convert
most often, i’ve found…

if you’re a windows user,
abbyy’s pdf-transformer
– an $80 program –
can do a fairly good job.
and there’s other options.

otherwise, you’ll need the
_pro_ version of acrobat,
which means that adobe
extracted cash from you.
feels like extortion to me.

-bowerbird

By: Teddypig

Teddypig — Mon, 25 Feb 2008 21:21:01 +0000

I keep saying it really is not the format it’s the DRM that is bad.

Formats can be converted easily.

By: Teddypig

Teddypig — Mon, 25 Feb 2008 21:19:45 +0000

I won’t have Adobe reader on any of our office computers or any of my personal computers. I hate that bloated memory hog.

As long as the PDF is not DRM’d by the Publisher you can use any one of the hundreds of PDF readers out there that meet your needs.

As usual only the DRM creates the Adobe monopoly.

By: DS

DS — Mon, 25 Feb 2008 20:33:40 +0000

I won’t have Adobe reader on any of our office computers or any of my personal computers. I hate that bloated memory hog.

By: Christine

Christine — Mon, 25 Feb 2008 15:57:58 +0000

Personally I have a fondness for Mobi. I think it’s the easiest to read onscreen. And all Kindle format is is dressed up Mobi – you can read unsecured Mobi format on a Kindle. AND you can convert .pdf to Mobi for free.

I’m waiting for the 2.0 version of Kindle. I figure they’ll probably win – they’ve got the biggest, most visible marketing, since every time someone clicks on Amazon, there it is. And Whoopi Goldberg was showing hers off on The View a week or so ago. Once it comes down in price, I think it’ll be the way to go, especially with the wireless connection, instant subscriptions that show up daily, like newspapers, and instant Wikipedia access. It’s a nice machine.