[Klug-general] eBooks purchase/formats/readers

[Michael E. Rentell]

On 18/01/10 15:48, Mike Evans wrote:
> In a similar thread to Mike Rentell's question on eBooks:
>
> 1) What are the eBook formats available, what are the pros/cons of each.
>    I suspect that pdf would be preferred format as there are many and
> varied readers, but that as a result nothing worth getting is available
> in it.
>
> 2) Which of the formats have readers which work under Linux
>
> 3) Which are the good sources of eBooks for those formats which are
> readable on Linux?
>
> 4) What's the deal on ownership/copyright here?  As a complete novice to
> eBooks I would have thought that the reason a publisher/vendor wanting a
> proprietary format would be so that they can sell you a book which only
> you have the key to read - so you can't copy it to all your friends at
> zero gain to the vendor/author.  Given that authors make a living by
> selling their work that doesn't seem unreasonable to me.  I'd just like
> the price to reflect the fact that I can't sell it on and that they are
> not paying for the medium it is held on or the shelf space for
> displaying it to me on the high street/airport etc.
>
> All this is of course motivated by the fact that I've just taken
> delivery of a Touchbook and that I'm about to spend some time away and
> I'd like to get some books to read on my new toy.
>
> Mike
>
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> Kent at mailman.lug.org.uk
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>
Hmmm, some devious but valid thoughts there I hadn't, in my innocence, 
thought about.

I think that what I'm really looking for is the flashy (Flash?) 
page-turner display software - just like the Virgin on-line Magazine for 
those with cable. My association already has a marketing website which 
takes credit card payments for downloads or 'real' (i.e. posted) items. 
I'd like to make our quarterly journal available on that site available 
at the standard retail price of £7.00 so that interested folk with the 
money can pay, then pop it up on screen and page through the whole 
thing. That way they might then subscribe as a full member.

So it seems that ebooks isn't what I need is it? But having started this 
thread, the responses and the detailed query above are interesting and 
worthwhile.
MikeR