USA Today columnist calls for e-book standards
“A standard–and open–file format would be a good start; today there are competing ‘standards’ from Adobe, Microsoft, Mobipocket (probably the most popular), Palm, and Sony. Whatever format emerges as the winner will have to let me treat an e-book like a print one, making it free and easy to transfer ownership. If the publishers and the hardware and software vendors can get their act together, this market has a chance.” – Andrew Kantor, writing in USA Today.
The TeleRead take: Well, that’s progress. Now for USA Today to explain the need for an up-to-date standard that truly goes beyond the proprietary formats–and includes interactivity to distinguish e- from p-books. Yes, gentler and more flexible DRM would help as well.
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