Slashdot Mirror
Universal Ebook Format Debated
Amy Hsieh writes "A well-known ebook industry expert, Jon Noring, recently wrote an interesting article for eBookWeb, formally calling upon the ebook industry to adopt a single universal ebook distribution format. Right now there's a plethora of essentially incompatible ebook formats, and this format 'babel' is hampering the growth of the ebook industry. In the article, Mr. Noring proposes a promising open-standards candidate which appears to meet a list of basic requirements: The Open eBook Forum's OEBPS Specification. Andy Oram, a Linux programming editor for O'Reilly, wrote an interesting reply to the article that should also be read." On the other hand, Noring's proposal has also met with some skepticism elsewhere.
.. because the publishing industry wants to sell me a non transferable license, not a book that can be lent, sold on etc.
You want to lend it out, sell it on e-bay? No prob. Buy the paper version, cuz paperbacks ain't going away anytime soon. You want to be tres cool and read a novel on your PDA/digital camera/linux console/Dick Tracy watch, well sure thing, Sex God, but you'll pay for the privelege. Kind of how people pay 4x the cost for a hardcover version of a book to read it "first." Or you can go support your local used bookseller and buy paperbacks for a fraction of their cover price. You want consumer choices? You got plenty.
And don't get all "public good" and "social revolution" with me here, Bunky. You want to read the latest best-seller for free? Go to your local Public Library. Uncle Sam and the publishing industry worked out this whole "public good" thing way before either one of us were born.