Phooey! Ebooks are history. Have you heard of the latest rage? It's called a "BOOK" (just drop the "E" at the beginning and you've got the correct pronunciation). It has tons of advantages over the antiquated and failing "Ebook" format. Just read this news blurb:
B.O.O.K.
Introducing the new Bio-Optic Organized Knowledge device - trade named B.O.O.K.
B.O.O.K. is a revolutionary breakthrough in technology: no wires, no downloading required, no format converting required, no DRM, no electric circuits to go bad, no batteries to replace or to go bad, no charging involved, completely nonvolatile memory, and nothing to be connected or switched on.
It's so easy to use, even a child can operate it. Compact and portable, it can be used anywhere, even when sitting in an armchair by the fire - yet it is powerful enough to hold as much information as a CD-ROM disc.
It is composed of hundreds of incredibly thin and flexible opaque displays called "sheets", each capable of holding thousands of bits of information in sequential order, which are stacked and bound at one edge. A flick of the finger takes you to the next sheet. What's more there's no boot-up time to start reading! B.O.O.K. may be taken up at any time and used by merely opening it. B.O.O.K. never crashes or requires rebooting.
An optional "BOOKmark" accessory allows you to open B.O.O.K. to the exact place you left it in a previous session, with no boot-up time or screen clicking at all. Numerous B.O.O.K. markers can be used in a single B.O.O.K. if the user wants to store numerous views simultaneously for extremely easy data retrieval. The number of BOOKmarks is limited only by the number of pages in the B.O.O.K. You can also make personal notes next to B.O.O.K. text entries with an optional programming tool, the Portable Erasable Nib Cryptic Intercommunication Language Stylus (P.E.N.C.I.L.S.)
Portable, durable, affordable, and almost always usable as freeware (see below), B.O.O.K. is being hailed as the precursor of a new entertainment wave. Also, B.O.O.K.'s appeal seems so certain that thousands of content creators have committed to the platform. What's more: nearly all publishers worldwide have immediately committed to publishing more content to B.O.O.K. devices than to any other medium, and are already meeting that objective, overnight!
Lastly in a spirit of good will and openess most titles are free to borrow by going to a L.I.B.R.A.R.Y. (pronounced "lie-brairee") Nobody knows what this acronym stands for, but the fact that these wonderful and well stocked suppositories exist already in almost every town and city is almost mind boggling even to the greatest minds of the century. Many people believe this fact alone is reason enough to ditch all other reading devices altogether.
I love e-books but got tired of reading the free classics. The simple fact is that the majority of new books seem to cost more than if I were to purchase them in paperback. This makes no sense and tells me that the market is still a small, weak group. Until significant users exist, we'll not have the power to force change, much like the digital music world is still experiencing. And, yes, I still love the feel of a good book in my hands, the smell of the paper, the sound of the pages flipping, etc. But there are plenty of pros for having e-books and both can exist simultaneously.
As for DRM, why don't they just assign a "license" to the individual, much like a driver's license, library card, social security number, etc. Every time the user makes a purchase, he is required to enter his individual user numer and the number is imbedded in the file. He also loads the number into his music player, book reader, etc. When the file license matches the player license, it functions. Pretty simple, but that's why I'm not a software engineer...
... yes, I still love the feel of a good book in my hands, the smell of the paper, the sound of the pages flipping, etc...
Totally agree. Funny how one can get to enjoy the smell of a paperback.
Though I must admit, despit how wonderfull a "B.O.O.K." (see above) is, it is really cool to have dozens of books in a small PDA and read them at night with the light off without waking the wife.
As for DRM, why don't they just assign a "license" to the individual, much like a driver's license, library card, social security number, etc. Every time the user makes a purchase, he is required to enter his individual user numer and the number is imbedded in the file. He also loads the number into his music player, book reader, etc. When the file license matches the player license, it functions.
Unless I am mistaken, DRM is currently akin to Sony trying to do everything in a proprietary fashion (Betamax, minidisc, memory stick, etc.). I assume each different DRM implementation generates license fees for the owner of the DRM technology. An open standard means no, or greatly reduced, fees. DRM protects authors' and publishers' rights, but proprietary DRM only generates money for the license holder.
I'm still concerned about the longetivity of my ebooks. I have my father's collection of science fiction paperbacks from the 50's, 60's and 70's. Even though some of the older books now have brittle pages, I can still read all of them and will be able to do so thirty years from now. I doubt I'll be able to read any of my ebooks then, unless we have a common standard.
I failed to address the primary point of this thread, which is standardization. I currently carry MobiReader, iSilo, eReader, and MS Reader. I primarilly keep MS Reader because of the free dictionaries, to include English -> German and German -> English. I love being able to select a word and then automatically look it up in the dictionary! I like how Mobi can download newsfeeds. I like how I can turn documents, HTML, and other formats into an e-book to read anywhere at any time.
I see it like the telephone system. Any phone will make a call because the foundational technology is standard. If I want a basic phone, no problem. If I want one with Caller ID, an answering machine, and volume control, I can get that as well. E-books should be able to follow the same process. Standardize the text and let the software developers determine how I can use that text.
Can someone explain in laymen's terms why books can't be stored as raw data? If publishers put out raw data, developers could build converters to force it to work with their particular program and with their particular features. This way we all have a common starting point. I was under the impression something similar existed with the old hyper-text of the early '90s. Is this really too hard?
While I love e-books and all that they bring to the table, the greatest weakness is that the format is not standardized and across-the-board compatible. Having to utilize multiple converters and readers just to build a library is often frustrating and enough to make me give up and buy the paper version.
By the by, I'm noticing that more and more libraries are now allowing people to "check out" e-books on-line. They come with a license that automatically expires in about 21 days. I've read a few books this way and it's pretty handy. Beats driving 30 minutes each way to the library or paying $15 - $20 for an electronic book! Anyone else tried this yet?
If you are willing to read new authors and are looking for a GREAT way to read a lot of books whenever and wherever you want ereader is a huge advantage over paperbacks and hardcovers.
I wish more people were interested in reading new authors...
I agree with all of the above sentiments, with one caveat: The e-books I get from Amazon are (from what I've experienced) in one format only, MS Reader. Don't know why, but I have problems with MS Reader turning off my PPC after about 10 minutes of reading... very annoying... so I appreciate the availability of formats that can be read on other readers, you pick the one you want.
I hope that with a universal format, there will be plenty of compatible readers to choose from, so you can choose which one performs best for you.
Can someone explain in laymen's terms why books can't be stored as raw data? If publishers put out raw data, developers could build converters to force it to work with their particular program and with their particular features. This way we all have a common starting point. I was under the impression something similar existed with the old hyper-text of the early '90s. Is this really too hard?
No, it's not. There's no reason publishers and readers couldn't use ASCII (for absolutely raw) or HTML text (for formatting) as e-book formats, and I understand the Sony reader can read HTML and PDF. They chose not to, in their attempt to create their own (hopefully) dominant format and TRY TO TAKE OVER THE WORLD! (Did that white mouse say something?) Same reason no one's standardized DRM.
It's amazing how progress is consistently held back by pride or blatant greed. They could easily create a product that satisfies the customer and still make a big profit, but they want to hold out for the biggest profit possible at the expense of consumer happiness.
Can someone explain in laymen's terms why books can't be stored as raw data? If publishers put out raw data, developers could build converters to force it to work with their particular program and with their particular features. This way we all have a common starting point. I was under the impression something similar existed with the old hyper-text of the early '90s. Is this really too hard?
No, it's not. There's no reason publishers and readers couldn't use ASCII (for absolutely raw) or HTML text (for formatting) as e-book formats, and I understand the Sony reader can read HTML and PDF. They chose not to, in their attempt to create their own (hopefully) dominant format and TRY TO TAKE OVER THE WORLD! (Did that white mouse say something?) Same reason no one's standardized DRM.
Yeah, DRM is mostly it. Raw makes bigger files too, at least it should (DRM probably interferes with the compression that could otherwise be available). Somewhere around 90% of most dialog comes from a small vocabulary of around 50 words on average, meaning that without DRM ebooks should be extremely compressible - but I believe that compressibility is sacrificed at the expense of integrated DRM (somebody correct me if I'm wrong here).
hmmm
Linear Mode
