There are a few things I really dislike about Amazon's setup.
I dislike that Amazon has decided to stick with an obsolete format and that the format they are creating is yet another format we don't need that will only work on some Amazon devices. It keeps the format splintering going. Mobipocket (AZW) is obsolete and Amazon doesn't care. I finished The Struggle Within today and it was nicely formatted with the different fonts. It looked quite nice. But you won't get that sort of look on a Kindle.
Another big issue is Amazon's exclusivity. That means that Amazon has eBooks that they've locked away behind their walled garden. This is not good for eBooks. eBooks should be available to everyone and their are not when Amazon gets people to agree to be locked up.
http://www.amazon.com/gp/feature.html?docId=1000729511
Seems to me Amazon does care, or they wouldn't be phasing out the 'obsolete' format you're talking about.
Older devices won't support KF8. Sony was able to put a version of ADE on a PRS-500 which is older/slower hardware then the K1. It's two-fold. It's to get people to upgrade their old Kindle and it's to have control of yet another format that we don't actually need. It's to keep the format splintering going strong. To be honest, what would be best for eBooks would be for Amazon to go ePub. But they won't do that because then they don't have 100% control and their walled garden would come crashing down. This is not a good thing. Amazon does not care. Every bad thing that's happened to eBooks since readers where available have had Amazon smack bang in the middle of it all.
Aren't the new ePubs run off HTML5 just like KF8?
Aren't they just two sides of the same coin?
Aren't they just two sides of the same coin?
Similar, but not the same. A reader with ADE cannot handle KF8 while a Kindle cannot handle ePub. KF8 still keeping Amazon's wall up.
Thanks for your help, everyone.
In general, I'd prefer to buy a Nook because I'd prefer to support a brick-and-morter bookstore business over Amazon -- so for me, it comes down to: If I buy a Nook, and Barnes & Noble goes under, what happens to my eReader? Will I still be able to purchase new titles, or will it be rendered useless?
In general, I'd prefer to buy a Nook because I'd prefer to support a brick-and-morter bookstore business over Amazon -- so for me, it comes down to: If I buy a Nook, and Barnes & Noble goes under, what happens to my eReader? Will I still be able to purchase new titles, or will it be rendered useless?
As JWolf said, you can continue to purchase titles from pretty much any vendor except Amazon. For example, Kobo or Books-a-million or the Book Depository. You'll have to copy books to your Nook via USB cable, instead of wirelessly downloading them, but it's quite viable.
(The reverse isn't true; if Amazon goes under, nobody will be able to sell Kindle books from publishers who require DRM, because Amazon owns the software to create the DRM lock stock and barrel.)
Well, they've abandoned ebooks once before. No reason to believe they wouldn't do it again.
Well, they've abandoned ebooks once before. No reason to believe they wouldn't do it again.
I have a great idea...
We'll get someone to write ADE for all the Kindles (such that it cannot be removed). Then we'll get a hacker to hack Amazon and put up this new firmware. Then after all the Kindles are running ADE that cannot be changed, Amazon will have to go ePub.
I will say, I like the eInk screens much better for long-term reading, though you do need to have an external light source (lamp, sun, candle, etc). I don't get the same amount of eye strain that I get from reading on a PC or other back-lit screen. And I used to read a lot of eBooks on my Palm Pilot (that's how I started reading the CoE).
Maybe that's just an issue for eyes over 30. I dunno.
Karen
Maybe that's just an issue for eyes over 30. I dunno.
Karen
i love my kindle. I was won over by how i can control the text style and size. Great thing for me. because alot of times, i dont like the font and text size used for a book. Its also nice for the big books i read, like the stand from stephen king. I dont have to hold this big book to read.
Any Kindle will be stuck with the fonts available on the device/in the app that Amazon supplies you.
For Nook (and other epub readers that support it), in addition to the built-in fonts the publishers can supply their own font in the epub file as well.
Here's a good article by scifi author Charles Stross on Amazon's strategy in the ebook market and its pitfalls for both customers and authors: http://www.antipope.org/charlie/blog-static/2012/04/understanding-amazons-strategy.html
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