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So what’s better for e-books? The Open eBook format or Adobe‘s PDF?

Like many other e-book boosters, we prefer OEB’s philosophy over PDF’s even though OEB is far from perfect. At least as of now, it won’t let consumers take e-book files for, say, the Microsoft Reader and display them on all other systems that build on OEB.

Still, in “Why PDF sucks,” OEB booster Dorthea Salo finds much to like in the OEB format compared to PDF.

For one thing, Open eBook at least lets publishers convert files easily to different software companies’ variants. Plus, OEB isn’t as tied to page numbers the way PDF is. It’s high time that Adobe stopped confusing the computer screen with the printed page.

Above all, as Dorthea points out, PDF is a proprietary format. OEB, though much influenced by Microsoft, is evolving with input from many other companies.

Is OEB the be-all and end-all? Well, in the near future, we hope to be presenting yet other perspectives. Stay tuned.

Update, Oct. 29, 2002: Several weeks from now–it may be longer–a detailed essay will appear from a TeleRead particpant giving his personal views on the format issue. He’s caught up in his own projects and needs to find time to do the job right and also gird for the inevitable replies. Meanwhile Dorothea Salo, one of the OEB folks, wants to make clear that she and other volunteers have influenced the evolution of OEB. Agreed. This ain’t billg’s people alone. See my further thoughts. – DR

 
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