In a recent ZDNET article, Jason Perlow described his hesitations for buying one of the new Amazon Kindle’s, which was due to its lack of EPUB support. Many responses to the article noted that the “average user” doesn’t care about the format of an eBook, only for the buying experience. I’m not going to argue on that point because in essence, they are right; the average user doesn’t care. Yet there are two real reasons why having one eBook standard is important, and these reasons will certainly impact the end user.
Publishing Infrastructure and Costs
Although most publishers will use a XML Master Format for storing the original book content, they still have to spend a lot of time, effort and costs in producing and maintaining all the different output formats they need to get their books in to the buyer’s hands. There are also no guarantees that all these different output formats will support the same kinds of features, which will mean even more resources (costs) will be needed to support these alternate formats.
Now, if the publishers only had work one eBook standard then they could spend more resources on improving their own tools to produce better output, which will ultimately give the user an even more enjoyable reading experience. Publisher will also have more resources available to give input back to the IDPF on improving the EPUB standard; bringing more and better features to the eBook world. Certainly a win-win situation for consumers and publishers. Without universal support for EPUB though, everyone will be forced to maintain multiple tool sets, which do nothing but increase costs.
I won’t bring DRM in to this conversation as it is actually independent to the eBook format itself and should not be used as an argument against embracing EPUB.
Independent Authors
One important issue Jason brought up in his ZDNet article was that of self publishing authors. By giving independent authors just one eBook format to think about they are able to spend less time producing eBooks files and more time writing content. They’ll have fewer headaches in getting their books out to the public because all vendors will accept EPUB. With just one eBook standard, more and more EPUB-ready word processors and tools will be developed. The more authors that get content on to Amazon’s self publishing system, the more money Amazon will make. Isn’t this what Amazon wants?
Until just a couple of years ago the publishing world was in turmoil with a multitude of eBook formats it had to support, yet the arrival of EPUB had a hugely positive impact which continues to be seen today.
Sure, EPUB itself is not perfect, but it is being continually improved and with the formation of the EPUB Working Group, there are huge improvements being made right now.
I still can’t make up my mind if Amazon will ever support EPUB but I do believe that it will be more and more difficult for them to refuse to do so. Let’s hope it’s sooner rather than later.
Stephen M.
You are right of course. The problem you describe is very real. That is why I avoid DRM in general and also have learned to rip DRM where I can not avoid it.
@Andreas “That is why I avoid DRM in general …”
Good point. And there are some book sites which do not sell *any* DRM-corrupted books. We vote against DRM when we buy from those sites
Here are two such sites:
http://www.smashwords.com/
http://www.bewrite.net/
I would never consider purchasing a Kindle since it does not support the EPUB format, which allows me to borrow books from my local library at no cost. The quality of the e-ink view screen between the Kindle and the Nook is so close as to be meaningless. An absolute toss-up.
The color screen on the Nook Color is spectacular and the backlit screen allows for comfortable reading in a darkened room.
Bill said:
“I would never consider purchasing a Kindle since it does not support the EPUB format, which allows me to borrow books from my local library at no cost. ”
I forgot to mention that.
That too is a very important reason to go for ereaders that support ePUB.
And if you want to read books in languages from the european continent it is wise to buy an ePUB supporting reader too.
And I have read somewhere that asian countries have been using epub more and more as the standard format too. Japanese publishers for example have officially agreed on ePUB as the format to go with. So I imagine the Japanese people have no use for Kindle either.
Because of this I expect Amazon to accommodate ePUB in the near future too. Otherwise they will lock themselves out of the market in almost every other part of the planet except the US.
Just a note regarding library usage, kindle will be getting library capabilities by the end of the year (strong hints from overdrive points to Sept) via partnership with overdrive. Books will be in kindle format (which will require no extra expenditure by libraries, all ebooks already owned will be available in kindle format) and the download will be wireless, no sideloading necessary. Plus, all notes highlights and bookmarks will be saved in case one wants to buy the book.
I realize that this blog post was made almost a year ago but it is still relevant today AND Amazon still does not support ePub.
Amazon is coming out with a replacement format for Mobi 7 …
http://www.amazon.com/gp/feature.html?docId=1000729511
Thanks for the info Ned – I know that some people object to Amazon in the ways that
others object to Apple and Microsoft. Even if The Kindle supported epub faults would be found in something else. Personally I think all 3 of these companies know what they are doing.
Why do so many people miss the point?
It doesn’t matter if the Kindle displays EPUB or not, because Amazon will sell you any book under the sun in their own funky format. It’ll work. You can read it.
The issue is whether Amazon will ever SELL BOOKS in EPUB format to customers that DO NOT HAVE A KINDLE, but one of the numerous other e-reader devices. It’s frustrating that the biggest bookstore in the world refuses to sell me books in a format I can read.
Ken – just to be sure – are you saying that what you want is Amazon to sell DRM protected books in epub format ?
@Ken
“It doesn’t matter if the Kindle displays EPUB or not, because Amazon will sell you any book under the sun in their own funky format.”
No they do not. Non-english publications do not have the support english language books do. Not by a long shot. And many, if not most, if not all non-english publishers have chosen the international ePUB format. In Europe for example German and Dutch (languages I read in) publishers almost exclusively publish in ePUB.
Owning a Kindle would always force you to convert your books, and as we all know, conversion very often f*cks books up. But even if it did not it is still an unnecessary hassle.
Amazon should come to terms with the fact that they are not the only book and e-reader seller out there and that people (like me) do not like to be held hostage by Amazon.
Because this ‘hostage’ problem is what you will encounter once you have bought into the Amazon way of doing things and you decide to change to a non-amazon reader.
I for example buy many, many books each year in english, german and dutch. If I would own a Kindle and therefore buy them via Amazon in DRM protected Mobi format my book collection would become unusable if I decided to buy a different brand of E-reading device.
I do not accept MY books being held hostage that way, not by Amazon, not by any organization.
@Andreas: I’m sure amazon has come to terms with the fact that they aren’t the only book and ereader seller out there. They also know that for people like you who want ePub books will buy the ereader that best suits their needs. Those who don’t care about ePub and prefer amazon’s book store can get a kindle. It’s really that simple.
@ Nicole,
Yes it is indeed that simple in its end effect.
But the principles behind it are what cause the complications. The simplicity of the solution is not what is at stake here. I consider it a fundamental wrong if an organization like Amazon gets away with holding ebooks hostage. Books/information on principle should never be allowed to be held hostage by any company. The owner of a book should never be forced to buy a device from a particular organization to read his own books.
Compared to that, the fact that I can not read ePUB on a Kindle is just a very minor problem, with a very simple solution indeed. I have no principle objection against Amazon not supporting the internationally accepted ebook format ePUB. I just think it is a very stupid move from a business point of view. But Amazon is free to be stupid.
The only thing I might regret in that case is that the otherwise excellent Kindle device is of no use for me personally. But I am very happy with my versatile Sony Reader PRS-950 and I plan to buy a reader in the near future that is able to read MOBI as well as ePUB.
I only hope that people do not fall into the Amazon trap unknowingly. I have met a few now who discovered to late they could not use their own ebooks on other devices after switching to a different brand. I know they should have informed themselves better, but Amazon is not clear about this at all.
As a librarian and educator myself I advise and warn people against buying the Kindle.
The only way the hostage argument would fly with me would be if kindle/kindle books were the only option in the world, if amazon was the on,y company with the information found in these books. But that’s not the case. People have choices– they can choose not to do business with amazon and buy their kindle books if they feel the way that you do, no one is being forced to do anything. That people don’t know what they get themselves into until it’s “too late” is their own fault for not researching their purchases doing their due diligence. Amazon (and other ebook sellers) always list compatible formats–it is up to the buyer to seek out this readily available information for themselves.
@John Blackmore: “…are you saying that what you want is Amazon to sell DRM protected books in epub format?”
I’m totally opposed to are DRM. However, I bow to pragmatism and buy books corrupted with Adobe DRM, if there is no non-DRM substitute. So, yes. If some authors and publishers can’t be dissuaded from their totalitarian ways and I really want the book bad enough, I would like to buy it from Amazon in a compatibly corrupted (DRM) format.
I suspect Amazon could reverse engineer the software on enough competing e-readers so that they could come up with their own DRM infrastructure that would compete with Adobe and thus avoid paying their license fees. Most of the DRM infrastructure is on the server side. Amazon could write it all from scratch and use the existing piece on competing e-readers.
Andreas, you make an excellent argument for NOT buying a Kindle. As convenient as a Kindle would be, I also refuse to be held hostage, so I refuse to buy a Kindle. I appreciate your advice.
Nicole, it’s true that I am not forced to buy from Amazon. And indeed, I don’t buy ebooks from them. But I want to. Their site is one of the very best on the entire world wide web. The Amazon price is often the lowest. When I give a link to a book, I give it to the Amazon page. When I want to read about a book, I first go to Amazon. I sometimes even review and comment on books which I bought elsewhere. It’s just frustrating that I can’t buy books there.
“It’s just frustrating that I can’t buy books there” I feel a touch of existentialism coming on. “Can’t buy” ? surely you mean you choose not to buy. At the end of the day we are talking about e-readers here and not the fate of the world. Now that the price of the latest kindle is so much lower why not just buy one ? Go on- You know you want to really. o:>
Sorry – been listening to too much Harry Potter on my i-pod ( another part of the evil empire) and can’t seem to get Voldemort out of my head. Perhaps I’d better download some other DRM protected audio book from Audible ? god – I really do hate being held hostage.
John, what would be the point of buying an ebook that I CAN’T read on my e-reader? Amazon does NOT provide any mechanism for uncorrupting their DRM on my Sony Reader. I’m not sure it would even be physically possible to buy them for my Reader.
“…and not the fate of the world.” The point of this page is the state of e-readers, Amazon, and ebooks, and opinions about the same. So if you want us all to just say, whatever will be will be, and go merrily on our way, why are YOU posting on this blog? Hopefully we are all kind of enjoying either finding like minds or venting.
@ John Blackmore
Nobody is talking about ‘the fate of the world’ or ‘evil empires. At least I am not. I am very pragmatic about it. But nevertheless I think it is very weird that my own books would be tied to Amazon and it’s devices for the rest of my life.
I have always been collecting books. Even more so now there are no physical boundaries anymore as far as shelf space is concerned and I feel very strongly about books and about reading. All book lovers do, I think. And to me personally at least it feels very wrong to buy books that become unreadable if I stop being an Amazon customer and for whatever reason want to switch to another brand of e-reader. The books should be accessible independent of the brand of reader at all times.
You of course do not have to agree. And perhaps you are fine with being forced to buy Amazon devices for the rest of your life, but for me that is unacceptable on principle. It wouldn’t matter if I only owned a small collection of a few unimportant, cheap one dollar books, but I buy many books, my collection is large and I am attached to my books. Books are very personal to me. And I want my freedom in my use of them. To me that matters. But perhaps I am of a different generation
@ Nicole
Yes people can choose. But to make that choice they must be aware of what it means to buy the Amazon Kindle and Amazon ebooks, hence my efforts here and elsewhere. Most people do not realize that buying Amazon ebooks will tie their collection for the rest of their life to an Amazon product. And if they do not care, it is fine with me. But many people do care.
It is the principle of the matter and the idea of being forced to buy Amazon readers for the rest of your life if you do not want to lose your book collection.
If it does not matter to you, that is fine, but for me that is unthinkable. It is a very important reason not to buy into the Amazon scheme.
I am just giving my reasons so others can judge for themselves what is important to them. And it is my personal experience that, where I live, most people reject the Amazon scheme once it is explained to them what it entails. And it is not just the hostage situation as I explained, but also the fact that non-english languages are most of the time published in the international standard which happens to be ePUB. And these books are very often not obtainable via Amazon. That might improve however, but in the current situation readers of non-english foreign languages, like me, are far better of with an ePUB supporting device.
@ Ken “would be the point of buying an ebook that I CAN’T read on my e-reader? ”
I wasn’t suggesting that you buy just an ebook but rather that you buy a kindle as well as your Sony. They really are not all that expensive now.
“why are YOU posting on this blog” same reason as you and Andreas – to try and explain a point of view – in my case I would like to see more people buy Kindles and do not like to see people being put off.
@ Andreas – “But perhaps I am of a different generation” Perhaps or perhaps not. ?I’ve long since retired and ran out of shelf space for physical books years ago.
As to being a hostage – well I can read my books on my kindle, my ipod touch, pc, ipad, android phone……
@ John Blackmore
I was very surprised to read that you would like to see people buy Kindles.
Why would you? Why is it personal? Do you have shares? :)
I would have asked the same if you had stated that you would like people to buy Sony readers (I own one) or any other brand. To me personally me it does not matter at all what brand e-reader they purchase. I could not care less about the sales figures of any of them. If you, for example, are happy with the Amazon arrangement, then that is fine by me. The Kindle is a fine device in its own right and I would have loved to own one if it wasn’t for the problems I mentioned. In fact when I decided to buy an e-reader my first choice was a Kindle. But it would not have been a good choice for me considering the arguments I already gave.
You stated:
“As to being a hostage – well I can read my books on my kindle, my ipod touch, pc, ipad, android phone……”
Yes but not on any other specialized and dedicated ebook reading device. My collection can be copied to any e-reader of any brand I would like to buy in the future. My options are wide open. Except for Amazon’s Kindle my books will always be accessible on any e-reading device I, for whatever reason, would like to buy. They all support and very likely will keep supporting the internationally adopted ePUB format. And as I mentioned before for non-english readers ePUB support is important in itself.
You obviously do not care about these things and that is fine with me really, but saying that you can read your books on an android phone with an Amazon app does not invalidate anything I said about this. To me and obviously others this matters a lot.
Just like ken I would love to be an Amazon customer. I have nothing against Amazon or the Kindle in general. I just feel it is not at all in my long term interest to commit to the Amazon scheme. And I feel it is principally wrong to ‘annexate’ ebooks the way Amazon does.
That is my take on it. I don’t feel the need to promote any specific e-reader brand. I could not care less. I am not attached to any brand. I will switch in the blink of an eye to another device with my entire collection. The point is… I can! And I can, because I do not have a Kindle.
I think there are two important issues here. one is the impact on the eBook publisher and the other is the impact on the eBook reader. I have a friend that works for a publisher and his job is to create eBooks and he says it is a real pain in the butt to have to create the Kindle version in addition to the ePub versions. He wishes Amazon had waited and used the new ePub 3 format instead of creating their own.
The second issue is the impact on the reader. For example, if I go to google.books.com I see the following message:
New! Shop at the Google eBookstore
Go to the Google eBookstore for over 3 million eBooks to read on the Web, Android, iPhone, iPad, Sony and Nook.
Note that it doesn’t say you can read the eBook on your Kindle. I can filter by price and find millions of free eBooks and many can be downloaded in ePub format and read on my Android, iPhone, iPad, Sony or Nook device. So the Kindle owner is unable to use this eBook resource that Google provides (without using a third party converter program).
In my opinion, Amazon is doing a diservice to their Kindle customers by not supporting ePub. When my friends and family who are in the market for an eReader, ask me what I recommend I always make sure they understand that the Kindle does not support the ePub format. They are usually grateful for that information and although some don’t care, at least they can make an informed decision.
” I have a friend that works for a publisher and his job is to create eBooks and he says it is a real pain in the butt to have to create the Kindle version in addition to the ePub versions. He wishes Amazon had waited and used the new ePub 3 format instead of creating their own.”
Amazon made an announcement months ago saying that publishers no longer had to sub,it their books in kindle format, but could use ePub. Amazon would then do the conversion themselves.
As for Google books, most of those free books, iirc, are in the public domain. Many are free from. Amazon or easily downloaded directly to the kindle (via the kindle browser) from places like project Gutenberg. Additionally, one could actually read google books in the kindle’s browser if they chose to do so. In any case, if these books were unique to google or something then I’d see a bigger issue with the lack of ePub. If they were cheaper I’d see an issue, but with the introduction of the agency model, books pubbed by the big 6 are priced the same across ebook sellers. When it comes to non agency books, amazon more often than not has the better price (and if they don’t, they often price match).
Unlike some, I researched my ereader before buying a kindle. I knew about the lack of ePub and didn’t care. (were I located overseas and/or preferred to read books in other languages, then it would have been a major factor). I preferred amazon’s book selection and superior customer service (with no other ebook seller is it policy to allow 7 days for returning ebooks for no reason at all). I don’t feel like amazon is doing a disservice to me at all.
” I don’t feel like amazon is doing a disservice to me at all.”
In your case I completely agree. But there are many of us, like me, who would like to enjoy Amazon’s good service and superior book selection, and who would like to buy the excellent Kindle device, but are practically forced to look elsewhere because of Amazon’s weird attitude towards the internationally accepted ePUB format and because of the questionable DRM hostage situation.
The point is not that there are obviously customers, like you or John Blackmore for example, who do not encounter or mind the problems Amazon’s schemes create, but the point is that there are many who do encounter them or who do mind. And most of these people, like me, would love to use the excellent services of Amazon if only…..
Andreas – do you have any views as to why Amazon have not allowed ePUB ? I assume that they could technically ? with DRM ? My understanding is that the kindle per se is not all that important to them, that they possibly make a small loss on the hardware ? they are really more interested in selling the ebook license ?
@John: yes, amazon makes the big money from selling ebooks, not the devices. It’s all about the content.
Why Amazon doesn’t need to support the ePub eBook format:
New Kindles, which boast wireless internet access, are capable, by means of a rudimentary web browser, of navigating to http://bookworm.oreilly.com/ – this allows easy access to as many ePubs as one may have uploaded to bookworm. So a new Kindle can, in fact, read ePubs. This works only if there is a wireless connection available, of course, but it circumvents the need to create either a Kindle or Mobi format copy of a book, and, best of all, saves valuable space on one’s Kindle.
Indeed, it wasn’t until I discovered that I can, in fact, read my ePubs on my Kindle that I took the plunge and bought one, a couple of weeks ago
hth
@Mark: “Why Amazon doesn’t need to support the ePub eBook format:”
That’s an interesting website, but it doesn’t do anything to solve Amazon’s lack of support for EPUB. We can’t use it to buy a book at Amazon and read it on our Sony Readers or other non-Kindle devices.
BTW, another solution for reading EPUBs on your computer is to install the Firefox web browser (if you haven’t already!) and then install the EPUBReader add-on. This allows you to read the book stored on your own computer.
Ugh! This site’s software deleted the links. Bad. I’ll try to disguise them:
Firefox: mozilla.org/firefox/
EPUBReader addon: epubread.com
Ken wrote: “That’s an interesting website, but it doesn’t do anything to solve Amazon’s lack of support for EPUB.”
Mark writes: Wrong. I can now read my ePubs on my Kindle. So that’s definitely /doing something/ to solve Amazon’s lack of support for ePub.
Ken wrote: “We can’t use it to buy a book at Amazon and read it on our Sony Readers or other non-Kindle devices.”
Mark writes: No, indeed, but whoever suggested as much? It does mean that we can buy ePubs elsewhere and read them on Kindle. Which is what I have done, and do. That is, apparently, what most people who have expressed an opinion on this topic want to be able to do.. Note that: for most people, it appears, /being able to read ePubs on a Kindle/ is the issue. Now we can. Plus we can read them on non-Kindle devices. Which I do and which, incidentally, is completely off-topic for this thread.
Ken wrote: “BTW, another solution for reading EPUBs on your computer is to install the Firefox web browser (if you haven’t already!) and then install the EPUBReader add-on. This allows you to read the book stored on your own computer.”
Mark writes: Er, yes, I did that quite some time ago, but again that’s completely off-topic for this thread. The topic is: reading ePubs on Kindle.
Which we can now do.
Which I said in my original post.
“So a new Kindle can, in fact, read ePubs.”
No it can not. It is as simple as that.
It does not have true native support and you are dependent upon an online connection en third party online services. I do not care for that at all. I want a clean, direct approach to ePUB reading. And I shudder at the thought of having to rely on a wireless connection for something as simple as reading my own ePUB books.
For a start I do not have a wireless connection at home. I also do not have a wireless connection at work were I often read during lunch break. And when I travel there is also very often a lack of wireless connection options.
It is nevertheless a nice solution for those who already own a Kindle.
But for those who buy a Sony for example this workaround is unnecessary because the Sony has true native support for ePUB. It does not need ‘trickery’ so to speak. And it is able to handle ePUB books completely independent of online connections and services. To me that means a lot.
I am happy if this workaround works for you. But for me it is totally unacceptable. I personally would never buy a Kindle under those circumstances.
Mark wrote:
“So a new Kindle can, in fact, read ePubs.”
Andreas wrote:
No it can not. It is as simple as that.
Mark writes:
So…you’re arguing that I don’t use my Kindle to read my ePubs using Bookworm’s browser-based ePub reader. Interesting.
Andreas wrote:
It does not have true native support
Mark writes:
Certainly it does not. Nobody has suggested that it does. I’m saying only that I use it to read my ePubs. I do. Really.
Andreas wrote:
and you are dependent upon an online connection en third party online services.
Mark writes:
Indeed. Clearly, I haven’t had my Kindle for very long as yet, but so far I’ve experienced no glitches, no problems of any kind. So, in spite of its being a menu option listed under “Experimental”, the Kindle’s browser seems to work fine. As does the website which stores my ePubs.
Andreas wrote:
I do not care for that at all. I want a clean, direct approach to ePUB reading. And I shudder at the thought of having to rely on a wireless connection for something as simple as reading my own ePUB books.
Mark writes:
That’s fine. Undoubtedly your opinion and your preferences are as valid as mine, or anyone else’s. But that’s what you’re discussing: the differences of opinion and preference between the two of us. My point was: I read my ePubs on my Kindle by employing these means (which is to say: a wireless internet connection and a website which stores my ePubs).
Andreas wrote:
For a start I do not have a wireless connection at home. I also do not have a wireless connection at work were I often read during lunch break. And when I travel there is also very often a lack of wireless connection options.
Mark writes:
Yes, I see. Clearly it is by no means a suitable workaround for you. For me, it’s fine. Perhaps it might be useful for some other people, too, which is why I mentioned it in the first instance.
Andreas:wrote:
It is nevertheless a nice solution for those who already own a Kindle.
Mark writes:
Or, indeed, people like me who, between the original release of the Kindle and a couple of weeks ago, refused to buy a Kindle specifically because I couldn’t read my ePubs on it. As soon as I discovered that it /is/ possible, at least for someone in my circumstances, to read ePubs on the Kindle, I bought one.
Andreas wrote::
But for those who buy a Sony for example this workaround is unnecessary because the Sony has true native support for ePUB. It does not need ‘trickery’ so to speak. And it is able to handle ePUB books completely independent of online connections and services. To me that means a lot.
I am happy if this workaround works for you. But for me it is totally unacceptable. I personally would never buy a Kindle under those circumstances.
Mark writes:
Absolutely. I can quite understand this. The workaround I’ve pointed out is not suitable for you to use, owing to your circumstances. Perhaps other people can use it, as I do.
@Mark: “… Note that: for most people, it appears, /being able to read ePubs on a Kindle/ is the issue. …”
The reason I say it doesn’t matter if the Kindle displays EPUB or not, is because Amazon will sell you any book under the sun in their own funky format. It’ll work. You can read it. They even provide a mechanism to upload your own stuff to your Kindle.
@Mark: “…, but again that’s completely off-topic for this thread. The topic is: reading ePubs on Kindle.”
No, the topic is “Why Amazon Needs to Support the EPUB eBook Format”. It’s true the author (who is that?) seemed more concerned about the Kindle than the concerns of non-Kindle customers. But “supporting EPUB” makes the most sense when you mean Amazon SELLING EPUB to non-Kindle customers. So my concern is central to the topic.
<>
No I am not. :)
Read the first line in context of the rest.
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That indeed is a good thing. I presume many Kindle owners would like to know this.
I think you should also mention it at the Kindle user forums and for example the Mobileread forums. Many people never discover these things for themselves and would be glad to know this.
Oops, part of the text disappeared.
Let me try again:
“So…you’re arguing that I don’t use my Kindle to read my ePubs using Bookworm’s browser-based ePub reader. ”
No I am not. :) Read the first line in context of the rest.
“Perhaps it might be useful for some other people, too, which is why I mentioned it in the first instance.
That indeed is a good thing. I presume many Kindle owners would like to know this. I think you should also mention it at the Kindle user forums and for example the Mobileread forums. Many people never discover these things for themselves and would be glad to know this.
Mark wrote:
“… Note that: for most people, it appears, /being able to read ePubs on a Kindle/ is the issue. …”
Ken wrote:
The reason I say it doesn’t matter if the Kindle displays EPUB or not, is because Amazon will sell you any book under the sun in their own funky format. It’ll work. You can read it. They even provide a mechanism to upload your own stuff to your Kindle.
Mark writes:
This is quite true, but it /does/ matter /a good deal/ to me, and perhaps to some other people, that Kindle can, with this workaround, display ePubs. As I wrote in a reply to Andreas (for whom, clearly, the workaround is not at all suitable) I refrained from buying a Kindle until I discovered that there is now a means to read my ePubs on it.
Mark wrote:
“…, but again that’s completely off-topic for this thread. The topic is: reading ePubs on Kindle.”
Ken wrote
No, the topic is “Why Amazon Needs to Support the EPUB eBook Format”.
Mark writes:
A good point, well made. Thanks for the correction. More accurately, I should perhaps have asserted, simply, that for most people, it seems, (and certainly for me) the /issue/ is “being able to read ePubs on a Kindle”, not mentioning the topic at all.
Ken wrote:
It’s true the author (who is that?) seemed more concerned about the Kindle than the concerns of non-Kindle customers. But “supporting EPUB” makes the most sense when you mean Amazon SELLING EPUB to non-Kindle customers. So my concern is central to the topic.
Mark writes:
Yes, it could be that eventually the folks at Amazon might realise that by selling ePubs, and enabling the Kindle to read them, it might accrue some revenue, and possibly even turn a profit, thereby. Clearly, Amazon is keen upon its customers’ buying more stuff from its stock. No doubt this is a clear case of “missing a trick”.
I agree with the other folks who point out that you can get anything you want on the Kindle and probably cheaper than ePub. There isn’t a week that goes buy that I don’t buy a GREAT Kindle book of some sort for 99 cents. Or get it for free. And there are sites like the incredible munseys.com that have all sorts of good stuff in any format you want.
I own a Color Nook by the way, which is a very nice device. But I’m giving it to my 8-year-old daughter because I prefer to read on my Kindle. I’ll download a lot of free classic children’s books to keep her occupied.
“I agree with the other folks who point out that you can get anything you want on the Kindle and probably cheaper than ePub. ”
No you can not. You should read the rest of the comments.
Foreign languages are very often published in the now widely accepted international ePUB format for example. Amazon really does its best to feature the most common titles, but that is not enough by a long shot. In europe ePUB is the format of choice. And I read somewhere that in the far east they also choose the ePUB format as primary format for ebook publishing.
Nevertheless Amazon is a great online bookseller. It has a huge and beautiful collection of books and other stuff. And indeed it has great cheap book offers. If I would happen to be a mono lingual american I might buy a kindle.
Another very important reason to buy a more open format e-reader brand than the Kindle is that I do not want my collection of books to be tied forever to an Amazon reader. My collection of books should be freely accessible from any device I choose to buy in the future.
@ Andreas
I apologize for being monolingual, although I do know a little Chinese! Most of my Kindle books are in Mobipocket format because I have downloaded them from munseys.com. I suspect the Amazon format will be around for a while and I hope ePub will be as well, although if I have a book I really plan on really reading a lot, I would probably get a hardcopy version. (Of course, with Calibre, you can convert pretty much anything to anything else.) The fact that we can have a format dispute with eBook readers means that they have actually become important–just like VHS vs. Betamax and Windows vs. Macintosh.
@ D.A. Trappert
Why would you excuse yourself for being monolingual?
Native english speakers very often are. And I believe that is quite understandable.
And concerning the conversion of books: That is indeed an option for some, but for many low level e-reader users it is not. They use e-readers like they use a microwave. They very often can just manage to put a book on the device and push the on and off buttons, but they are not interested at all in the hassle of having to convert every non-mobi ebook they want to read. That would even be a big NO for me, although I know very well how to do these things.
And there is also the big problem of bad conversions. Many conversions are second rate and turn a book into an esthetic mess. In those cases it takes a lot of work to clean them up. I don’t mind doing that once in a while (I use Sigil), but I do not want to make a profession out of it.
I love the calibre program by the way. I use it to manage all my ebooks.
After lots of tooing and froing over what ereader to buy i went with a cheap one from ebay which supports many formats,im not very good with digital stuff and didnt like the fact that i could only buy from Amazon if i got the kindle, Have to say i love my one had it just over a year and wouldnt change it for anything, i didnt need the wireless stuff the kindle offered i figured why would i need to download when out and about. Theres tons of free epub ebooks online and i have found some brilliant books and authors this way and have then gone on to buy some of their other books after reading a free one. i admit the kindle is nice but if you just want to pick it up and read a book why not go with a nice little cheap alternative without all the bells and whistles of the kindle, but you get a bit more choice where you buy your books and what format they are in. i just cant justify spending that much money on something when i can get something that suits me more for less.
I just bought myself a Kindle after I had bought one for my sister. I have no problems with the mobi vs epub formats because I get the majority of my books from Project Gutenberg. I am learning how to unpack epubs and change them and then recompile them to the mobi format using Mobi Pocket Creator. I do this only to learn about the differences in formats and it has been a good learning experience. I also use my older Sony Reader, but find the Kindle a little nice to use.