O’Reilly explains what may kill the Kindle in the long run.
There’s few people out there who have a better understanding of digital publishing than O’Reilly. He’s spent the better part of the last two decades publishing technical books that have given developers the information they need to make innovation happen, while being a driving force behind the rise of “Web 2.0″.
In this article for Forbeshe not only discusses why Amazon’s opaque DRM standards are eventually going to be the device’s biggest hurdle, but also the subtle, but important differences that have made the iPhone work even though it’s a locked down device.
Amazon’s Kindle file format doesn’t provide support for tables or for so-called monospaced fonts, two formatting features that we use heavily in our line of technical books. And there is a viable alternative: Epub, the open format from the International Digital Publishing Forum, is based on the Web’s native format, HTML, and provides full table and font support. This is the first “strategy tax” paid by those who embrace proprietary platforms: They can’t support the needs of every niche and must prioritize their support for mainstream needs.
The single point of purchase was also a non-starter for us, since my fundamental understanding of information marketplaces is that they grow bigger and more lucrative for everyone when there is a rich ecosystem of cooperating players.
If you’re interested in understanding why open standards work for business and growth, it’s worth a read.
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