Slightly off topic - Ebooks

[Mark J Dulcey]

On 2/5/2010 10:34 PM, Chris O'Connell wrote:
> Hi everyone,
>
> I like the idea of getting an ebook reader, but am concerned about the
> proprietary format these new devices seem to use.  My concern stems mainly
> from the idea that if I buy an ebook on, say the iPad, I would not be able
> to move the book to my Linux computer, a Kindle or any other type of device.
>
> I've done some googling on this topic, but there does not seem to be tons of
> information about this formatting question.
>
> Does anyone have thoughts on this?

The Kindle format (the one that ebooks purchased from Amazon come in) is 
proprietary to Amazon; so far as I know there is no reader software for 
it other than the software they provide (besides the Kindle itself, 
there is also a Windows application), and all Kindle ebooks contain DRM. 
It is currently unclear what format iTunes books will use, but there are 
some indications that it will be EPUB.

The Nook, the current versions of the Sony Reader, and some other ebook 
devices use EPUB which is an free and open standard; both free and 
non-free software to read it is available. But the EPUB standard 
includes support for DRM (which is optional; not all EPUB books contain 
DRM) and protected books won't be readable on other devices unless the 
publisher or distributor gives permission.

Many ebook readers (a notable exception is the original Kindle) also 
support PDF and can display books in that format. There was an extension 
to PDF that added DRM support that was used for a while (I think it has 
been superseded by EPUB) but ebook readers won't let you read those 
protected books.

There are also older ebook formats that were mostly used by book reader 
software on PDAs. Fictionwise still offers protected books in two of 
them, Mobipocket and eReader, and unprotected books are available from 
them (and others) in a variety of formats. Ebook readers mostly don't 
support those, but unprotected books can be converted to formats that 
can be read.

I'm personally avoiding buying into any ebook formats that use any form 
of DRM; if I buy a book, physical or electronic, I want to be able to 
read it forever and any format with DRM can't give me that assurance. I 
have bought ebooks from Fictionwise and other sources in open formats 
including text, HTML, PDF, and unprotected EPUB; all those formats can 
be read by available free and open source software.