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Second Life’s open source challenge: Lesson for e-book biz
July 15, 2008 | 9:39 am
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By David Rothman
I’ve warned and warned. Both the content and tech ends of the e-book business had better get use to the idea of open source technology.
Now, in the words of the Ostatic site, the Second Life VR site is "is facing a potential upheaval to its business model, as alternative compatible virtual worlds are maturing." Second Life is hardly about to die tomorrow—growth is still impressive. But Ostatic is looking to the future.
Open source e-reading apps: Inevitable
The thing about SL‘s owner, Linden Lab, is that it hasn’t completely ignored open source, far from it. But the commercial side of the book biz has, with a few exceptions. At least that’s true of the big, DRM-crazed players when it comes to e-book reading apps such as FBReader (old screenshot).
By downplaying DRM and fighting eBabel and letting their books be readable on open source software, some small nimble publishers could grow into big nimble publishers.
Even if the software itself isn’t open, format standards should be. Someday there will be the Firefox of e-book apps. Or maybe Firefox itself or another browser will include sophisticated reading capabilities going far beyond those of the Open Berg Lector plug-in (a nice start).
Open source in publishing at the production end: TeleBlog contributor Liz Daly‘s Theepress site. What’s more, as I recall, the IDPF‘s EpubCheck validator is also open source.
Related: Stanza e-book software shows direct download of Feedbooks title: Bad omen for less-open Kindle approach. Regardless of whether you can get the Stanza to do everything in the video right now, that’s the future.
Technorati Tags: Second Life
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Comments:
Hi David — Let me try and pin down your thinking on this.
I am not really sure where the Second Life lesson is for ebooks. I understand your notion. But can you be more precise in what you’re saying?
You can have open devices where the firmware is non-proprietary.
You can have open formats where the software is non-proprietary.
You can have un-DRMed content where the content isn’t locked down.
I understand that a closed ecosystem like the Sl retards innovation but I am not clear on what you are prescribing? Should Amazon open their platform? Should Amazon support ePub? Should Amazon go DRM free? Or should they do all three?
In my experience, book execs fear open source because they don’t know what it means. Technologists, either keen to make a buck or uninterested in explaining the benefits of the open source, simply gloss over the topic.
best
Excellent questions, Mark. Here’s my reply,
Amazon needs to make a profit, but, yes, I want Amazon to abandon e-book DRM just as its MP3 store currently avoids “protection.” DRM is a sales toxin.
What’s more, Amazon needs to make the Kindle read ePub natively. That would reduce Amazon’s share of the pie but help enlarge the pie to the benefit of its shareholders. eBabel is a major usability problem for nontechies and even techies, just like DRM.
As for the firmware issue, that’s a tricky one, but perhaps some components of it can be open, in the interest of promoting interoperability.
The Amazon platform in general? In one sense Amazon is a good example because of its encouragement of third-party sellers. But then again, all is not well. As someone who runs Amazon’s ads, I find they come with some nasty restrictions. Without them I could help them sell their products more effectively.
You sound new to TeleRead (where we’ve been discussing these issues forever), in which case I welcome you! Thanks for your thoughtful note, and I hope you’ll spread the word about us.
David