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Sony e-reader: Some fine print about formats–especially PDF
January 5, 2006 | 8:12 am
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By David Rothman
From the Librie list–an important question about The Sony Reader‘s treatment of Brand X formats:
Native support for PDF, TXT, RTF, MP3, JPG and of course BBeB. PDF support
> includes zooming (it may even rewrap text).
Weird, there’s a fine print at the bottom of the spec page:
“These formats require file conversion to BBeB using supplied software.”
Is the system similar to the Librie’s for handling PDF? As a former Librie owner, I can tell you that PDF conversion is hardly instant. Did early publicity about The Sony Reader gloss over the challenges of using PDF? BizWeek paraphrased a source: “Users will be able to load any .pdf file onto the reader…” If Sony’s fine print is accurate and inclusive and PDF isn’t supported natively and requires conversion, I’ll also be curious as to whether the machine can read e-books in a DRMed PDF format–the norm for best-sellers in PDF. Either way, in fact, I’d love to know. Interestingly, Sony admits that the machine will not play encrypted MP3s. Not exactly CD-simple!
Related: Sony’s spec page for The Sony Reader. See footnote 7.
Adobe queried: I’ve sent a note to Adobe’s PR folks asking for a definitive answer about the extent to which Sony supports PDF–including the DRM issue. I’ve reproduced my query in the “rest of” section of this post.
Disclosure for latecomers: I’m among the ringleaders at OpenReader, a nonproprietary e-text standard aimed at razing the Tower of eBabel and reducing DRM complexities. Our goal is to make e-books much easier to buy and own.
Copy of note to Russell Brady with Adobe’s PR department:
I run the well-read TeleRead blog devoted to the cause of well-stocked national digital library systems and related matters–including e-book standards (see openreader.org, in which I’m also involved).
Question: Will the new Sony Reader natively support PDF? And will it read DRMed PDF files? Will PDF files of e-books be especially formatted for the Sony machine? If so, how will the files be different from generic PDF files for e-books?
A fast answer would be much appreciated.
Thanks!
David Rothman
http://www.teleread.com/blog
703-370-6540 – drNOSPAMteleread.com
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Comments:
I saw the foot note as well but I had a different understanding of it. From what I’ve seen on the site, and I don’t claim to be an expert here, but there is native support for BBeB Book, PDF, JPEG and MP3. The blog and news feed support is what requires the conversion.
Terry
Thanks for your observations, Terry. If there is indeed native support of PDF, as claimed in the main part of the spec sheet, then Sony should modify its footnote. I’ll also be curious as to whether the Reader can handle encrypted PDF. Stay tuned. – David
More from the footnotes: “3 Plays unencrypted MP3 files.”
Wow! Who would have thunk? Sony finally and without reserve supports the format that was almost its undoing.
I still won’t buy from the company though that is responsible for the distribution of thousands, if not millions of hacker tools to the computers of unsuspecting customers.
Hi, Branko. Actually Sony was doing unencrypted MP3 in other products. Still, let us be grateful for whatever crumbs Sony throws toward consumers
. – D
IIRC, Sony at some point started offering MP3 alongside their encrypted format. When did they start offering products that solely play MP3?
OK, if you say “solely,” yes, that could be new! I recall reading that Sony’s MP3 players handled the proprietary format and MP3. But just MP3? Yes, Branko, that is interesting. – David
The spec sheet is contradictory and Sony needs to clarify. Either native acrobat files are supported, or acrobat files require conversion. This is a binary question, but the spec sheet pretty much says it both ways.
My question is not about the ereader but whether the 50,000+ books will be available to the rest of us schmucks in ereader or mobipocket or MS Lit format??
Jennifer: Not before someone writes a converter (to BbeB format – Sony will release the specifcation for it) or hacks the Sony Reader and develops an application for it that can display those formats.