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Is Microsoft Reader—and the .lit format—on the way out?
July 6, 2009 | 9:06 am
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By David Rothman
What do you think, gang? Microsoft Reader just isn’t evolving the way other major e-book apps are—and some are worried, like ilovejadd, a MobileRead poster. And then there’s the problem of Microsoft’s Window-centric strategy, which reduces the number of potential users.
In Microsoft’s place, I’d release a version of Reader ASAP that could also handle ePub—thus protecting people’s existing investment in .lit books, while jabbing away at other proprietary formats. What’s more, I’d get Reader going on Linux. If memory serves, hasn’t Microsoft in the past hinted it might port some apps over? Microsoft Reader would be a great place to start.
Meanwhile, as pointed out by the poster, the ifs about Reader are yet another argument against DRM in e-books (same for the uncertainties about Mobipocket). You just can’t own the damn things for real with “protection” included—well, not unless your strip it away, a violation of the law in the States and many other countries.
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Comments:
Stopped using MS Reader as soon as I was unable to read one of the titles I purchased. I am primarily a fan of the ereader platform, which has a sane and reasonably equitable form of DRM – and wide distribution across platforms. If I can stay away from any Adobe standard, I will !
MS has shown little interest in e-books, since they realized they could not control the market… at this point, I’m just waiting for the day someone reports that MS has discontinued all apps and support for MS Reader.
Maybe they will eventually crank out an ePub reader, but even that would be a hard-sell for them if they already have a reader that’s not selling. So maybe, to revive the app, they’ll add ePub support to it… but only if they think it will preserve the relevance of Windows, which is quickly being lost on portable devices and dedicated readers.
Bottom line, I don’t expect to hear much else from MS Reader, other than its obit.
Microsoft seems to be staggering since Bill G left. I hope Ozzie can pull the company together, and that Ballmer lets him.
What I suspect is going on at MSFT is this: the next full iteration of the mobile OS will be based on Win7, rather like the iPhone OS is based on OSX. Thus, before MobileOS7 is released, MSFT must finish Win7. That’s why MSFT has a probable release date for mobile7 of next summer.
Any efforts to co-ordinate MSReader and future versions of .lit will go along with that. MSFT is known to loathe, fear, and hate Google, and MSFT thus would be following their history if they put a big push into revamping MSReader as ‘Google Books killer!’ EPUB support seems like it should be easy enough for MSFT to add, since their .lit format is not too different.
It would also make sense if MSFT folded up the Mobile7 with Zune3, so that a family of Zunes might be forthcoming, including the MS-MediaPad and ebook reader.
But somehow, I just don’t see it. That kind of grand strategy push seems beyond MSFT nowadays. It looks to me more likely, unless they get some new blood in there fast, that MSFT is going to be content to sit on their patent portfolio and ride their 2 monopolies into a glide pattern of comfortable middle age and eventual takeover.