Buzz
by John Wolf
So where are we now with eBooks? Since March of this year the busy minds of the techno-nerds have not been idle. They have been working on formats for eBooks, such that these literary gems can be downloaded to portable devises with protection for copyright and work on a wide variety of electronic readers.
It was all rather in the background until Sony announced recently that they had gone to the Adobe electronic publishing format called ePub. The book material and handling becomes a computer file with the extension .epub. This is a special XML formatted standard for "reflowable" digital books and publications. Here we go with the new lingo. Yes, ePublishing is so hot that it has it is creating its own language, emerging like hot lava destined to burn its way across the landscape. You can’t escape.
Reflowable eBooks means information in digital book form that can be distributed like iTunes. In fact, Apple’s success with iTunes is the driver for how to do eBook sales right so that publishers can make a buck in a world full of pirating intellectual material. But it also means that readers get books cheaper, which is the driver for the marketers that promote this new industry. How big is it? Let’s check recent published stats:
Exponentially rising numbers represent sales figures makes marking executives wet their pants. If you don’t see the potential dollar signs in your eyes in the figure above, don’t bother to finish reading this article. You are profit incentive deficient and are doomed to be a peasant.
If you don’t know what an XML format is, that’s okay, there are plenty of geeks wandering around in your neighborhood to fill you in, but basically it’s like the code that makes up a web page called HTML, which you might have heard of, but unlike HTML, which is a rigid structure, XML allows you to write custom designed code that can be interpreted and turned into a web page. This allows techno-nerds to making anything into a web page for display while being able to store the information and move it around using their own definitions of how to do this. This opens up Pandora’s Box for schemes to do almost anything and is the main concept behind much of the new digital technology advances in providing varied information on the Internet. We can listen to streaming radio stations across the nation by going to a website and turning up our speakers. We can list the latest game scores seconds after each game is played via RSS feeds. All sorts of data are placed in XML formatted schemes and delivered to users via regular Internet web pages build with HTML. So why not books?
The new ePub standard is open sourced, so the world gets to look at the source code and help improve the scheme unlike the nefarious processes used by many software kings to keep everything a secret. Well, that results in bum software, because what these programs do is so complex, it takes worldwide thinking to get it right. What makes it profitable is the licensing to run the applications via special server-side software that Adobe just happens to provide called Content Server 4. I suggest buying Adobe stock soon.
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There are three components to this slick standard that covers the bases need for distributing publications.
1. Open Publication Struture (OPS)
2. Open Packaging format (OPF)
3. Open Container format (OCF)
All of this is organized and managed by the IPPF or International Digital Formatting Forum, which is making a few bucks by selling membership so those wanting to use this new scheme for distributing eBooks can stay informed. You can tell this is hot, because it costs non-profit organizations $750 a year just to look over the fence. You have to be a bonifide CEO with a budget to know how much it costs!
Here are some of the features Adobe’s server software does:
1. Support for industry-standard file formats (Word, PDF, etc.)
2. Sell or lend rights-protected eBooks in either PDF or EPUB format, the reflowable open standard for digital eBooks I’ve been talking about.
3. Expiration of permissions for lending content, which will change the face of library operations. This makes eBooks available for a specified length of time. At the end of that period, the content is returned to the lending institution—electronically.
4. Pay-as-you-go pricing. After an initial startup fee that covers any amount of servers and files, pay per transaction with rates that vary depending on how your content is distributed, whether using permanent or expiring licenses. This will look and smell just like iTunes.
5. Desktop and mobile support. Allow readers to manage their digital rights-protected eBooks on Mac OS and Windows® platforms, as well as on mobile reading devices like the Sony Reader Digital Book. Amazon Kindle users eat your heart out.
6. Flexible permissions. Assign custom print, copy, and expiration permissions on your eBook files, including limits on printing and copying over specified time periods.
7. Multichannel support. Distribute content to multiple retail and library websites.
8. Improved security. Take advantage of the latest encryption technology in Adobe Content Server 4.
9. Convenient administration. Flexibly manage Content Server either though APIs or a convenient Admin Console.
So if you don’t have an eBook reader now, you may soon see these services show up as a iPhone app, Blackberry feature, and available right on your laptop computer. The planet is going to be overrun by trees. Paper products will be only used in near a toilet in the future. If that goes digital, I’m getting out of town.
Amazon and Barnes&Noble are going to be shifting their feet around to deal with this explosion in eBook availability. They have independent format schemes based on specialized hardware, a no-no in if you look at the past history of what worked and what went into the trash bin. I would suspect B&N to jump over to this new format in a week or two. They would have to shut down their efforts they have going in the back room, designed to compete with the Kindler reader, but the smart money is on this new system. This leaves Amazon, who currently is in the lead with eBook readership. I see a new “Cola-Wars” brewing on the horizon. Stay tuned.
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John keeps the kennels clean at the Fox&Quill Hunting Club. |
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