Publishers Call for E-book Standard

By Paula Bernier, Executive Editor, IP Communications Magazines

VHS or Betamax. Blu-ray or HD DVD. There are plenty of examples of hard-fought format wars we can find in the high-tech history books. And, soon, another is likely to be added to the annals of history. That is the war over e-book formats.

As a story on the matter explains, ePub and MobiPocket are among the formats used for e-books.

Of course, the Kindle folks at Amazon are just fine with their format, as is the Apple (News - Alert) iPad camp, and even the Nook types from Barnes and Noble. However, publishers are more than a little uncomfortable with the range of format options and distribution options from which they have to select as the era of the e-read unfolds. But their main beef seems to be that these different formats lock users into reading books and other documents only while within a specific environment. They make this complaint despite the recent, high-profile moves by companies such as Amazon to make e-readers for their e-books available on the iPad and other mobile devices.

'Our fondest wish is that all the devices become agnostic so that there [aren't] proprietary formats and you can read wherever you want to read,' Penguin Group CEO David Shanks told Reuters (News - Alert), according to the above-mentioned report. 'First we have to get a standard that everybody embraces.'

While that may be the case, the same story mentions that this discussion is probably more about publishers' fear of the move from hard copy to electronic.

 

Edited by Marisa Torrieri

(source: http://vertical.tmcnet.com/topics/gadgets/articles/87151-publishers-call-e-book-standard.htm)

Today's Features • Empirix Announces Acquisition of Mutina Technology • Proposed Bill Would Prevent 'Anonymous' Sales of P..... • Phybridge Selected as an Endorsed Vendor by MiCTA • AT&T Revamps iPad Mobile Plans: Bye-Bye "Unlimited..... • Publishers Call for E-book Standard • DNS - May The Force Be With You

Latest News • Voxeo Expands Free Developer Program • Cloud Computing: Educational Resources • RADVISION Announces Interoperable, Multi-Vendor Co..... • Voltaire, Platform Computing Partner to Provide Cl..... • IP-based Surveillance Makes a Comeback: Report • Duncan Cable Selects EchoStar's ViP-TV to Deliver ..... • Hosted/Managed Unified Communications to Outstrip ..... • VoIP Pioneer Unleashes $9.99 Vonage Lite • A 'Smarter Desktop': Desk Phones and the Applicati.....

Latest Blogs • DashPad Brings Widgets to iPad via Safari • Grandstream Lands First and Only IP-PBX on Skype S..... • Doesn't Everyone Know What FoIP Is?

Industry Resources of the Week • Creating and Managing Value with IBM Tivoli Servic..... • Executive Update: IBM WebSphere Portal Enhancements • Apply the Human Touch for Less: The Future of Inte.....