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back to article Apple vs Amazon in ereader format smackdown

Format wars are a mixed blessing for consumers. Whether it's Betamax versus VHS or Blu-Ray versus HD-DVD, the consumer ultimately wins because companies have to advance superior technologies. But problems arise if the format you backed loses the war - and your device becomes next year's expensive doorstop. A new fight is …

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  1. Anonymous Coward 101
    Thumb Up

    At last

    "...but keep in mind that we're talking about next-gen titles with full interactivity, video, sound and graphics (and probably some text too)"

    Looks like the Philips CDi has come of age.

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  2. Marty McFly Silver badge
    Thumb Down

    I don't get it

    Next-gen books = movies. A book is a book. A movie is a movie. A book with moving pictures is a movie with subtitles.

    All I want to do is read the darn book. I don't want sound or video to entertain me.

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  3. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    They're just asking for it...

    Proprietary filespecs require proprietary client readers, which (for me, anyway) encourage breaking the DRM. I wouldn't bother otherwise. Free readers on tablets/phones are a lot more functional than proprietary ones, with the added benefit that you don't need several competing bloated readers like Kindle/Nook taking up cycles/memory on your device.

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  4. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    Alternative Access Method

    I get around this problem by downloading my ebooks from torrent sites. If the companies are not going to settle on an open, industry-wide standard, then I'm not interested in investing in their product.

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  5. kwnewton

    Remember the average reader

    It sounds like you think that Apple could sell more books because they use a standard format. I don't agree, unless you limit "books" to be kids' picture books or complicated nonfiction books full of charts and graphs and hyperlinks. Otherwise, in 99% of novels, I don't think the format matters that much. Amazon sells more books because they make it easier to find, buy, and read them. The average reader doesn't know or care that there are different ebook formats. He or she just wants to read.

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  6. Confuciousmobil

    eBook reader - why?

    Never saw the point of eBook readers. I read one book at a time and very rarely read books more than once and tend to do a lot of my reading in the bath (probably not a good idea with an eBook)

    But I do have an iPad, so downloaded some books and, while on holiday last year, read my first Dickens (Great Expectations - very good) while sitting by the pool in the sun.

    I still tend to get most of my books from the library, I don't own many books at all, I used to have a large collection but never read them more than once and when I moved to a smaller house I gave them all away.

    YMMV but if I want to keep a book I want a printed version and if I just want to read a book once, a dedicated device seems OTT. But I do like having books on my iPad.

    But, whatever you read - enjoy!

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  7. Mr Finance
    Unhappy

    So who is more likely to steal my library AGAIN?

    Hmm, well Amazon already has stolen my library when for no good technical reason they canned support for .mobi drm when they moved from mobipocket to kindle software. Ok strictly speaking I can still access my library if I still have a working symbian phone from 2005, but that's a bit like saying 'I haven't stolen your paper library, it's still available to view in a museum at Amazon HQ'. Drm gives corporates great power, and the capitalist in me says that's fine, but only when they behave with great responsibility.

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