Multiple Devices And Formats Means eBook Conversion Is A Science
The age of the eBook reader is upon us, but how does one handle the bane of all electronic devices, the proprietary format? Having to deal with this vexing issue as part of ebook conversion is far from the first time that publishers and content creators have had to cope with battling hardware manufacturers. For every successful digital standard like the CD or DVD, there are a dozen applications where the hardware producers simply cannot agree to a standard, leaving content providers to deal with supporting multiple formats. Have you ever bought a Mac version of Microsoft Office and tried to install it on a Windows PC? How about playing a Sony PS3 Game on a Nintendo Wii? Loading an iPhone app onto your Blackberry? Or saving data on a Sony Memory Stick using a digital camera that supports Compact Flash? Given that many of the same parties who can’t agree on computer, video game and portable memory standards are also involved in eBook sales, it’s no wonder that ebook conversion is a highly specialized service. Companies such as aptara have the equipment, knowledge of the myriad of devices and competing standards and trained staff needed to be able to provide ebook services to content providers who need to get their material onto as many devices as possible with as little hassle as possible.
Companies like this are going to become an even more important part of the content supply chain as eBook reader uptake increases and additional manufacturers enter into the marketplace. Simply getting content onto a device is only half of the problem; the real skill comes into optimizing the content to make the most out of each individual eBook reader’s capabilities. Given the dramatic differences between devices, effective ebook conversion becomes extremely important. For example, think of the last novel you read. Now think of just a few of the different devices an eBook version of that novel could be read on: a laptop computer with a big screen and high resolution; an iPhone with a small, landscape oriented display, a Blackberry, or a dedicated eBook reader like an Amazon Kindle or Sony Reader. Each device has a very different feature set, a wildly varying screen display size and completely different methods for uploading content. The same sort of challenge holds true for other material which might be viewed on portable devices, including medical documentation and even promotional or sales material. Professionally executed ebook conversion through an experienced ebook services company is the key to having content accessible and looking good across a range of dedicated and multipurpose devices.
About the Author
Doris Jacobson is an industry analyst specializing in ebook services and emerging technologies supporting the growing eBook and eReader markets. Doris notes in a recent feature article that the lack of widely adopted eBook standards and a diverse range of eBook-capable devices means it is more important than ever for ebook services to become involved in publication.
Sony e-book Reader
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