image Dear Author is starting a series on “how to convert ebooks into formats that work on dedicated and multi function devices.” Kindle- and Sony-related posts almost surely will be coming.

But today’s tips focus on the eReader format as a destination. Then you can use the eReader program or Stanza to enjoy the books on your iPhone. eReader also runs on other device, including most PDAs.

eBabel’s perils

imageDA’s series will be a bunch of handy how-tos rather than a collection of rants. But here’s the real question, which DA’s Jane raises without even trying. Why—in this recession, with many people so cash-strapped—are publishers forcing consumers to jump through all these hoops to enjoy the e-books? This is one more reason why e-books are still just a speck of total book sales. It’s time to raze The Tower!

Alas, the advice from DA won’t even work on conversion of DRMed books into a format you might prefer—not unless you break U.S. law and use a “protection”-stripping program.

The good news: eReader software in the near future will be able to read files in the standardized ePub format. Plus, Stanza, one of my favorite iPhone e-reading programs, can now cope with even DRMed eReader files. But as I see it, that’s hardly an ultimate solution. The best approach would be ePub without DRM to muck it up. Still, the eReader effort is definitely progress even if its ePub will come with DRM when publishers insist on it.

NO COMMENTS

The TeleRead community values your civil and thoughtful comments. We use a cache, so expect a delay. Problems? E-mail newteleread@gmail.com.