The last two Q&A posts have both examined electronic books and paper.
Benefits of electronic books over paper
Dealing with technology advances in electronic books
All has been pretty good so far. However, the modern publishing business hasn't helped things along, and there are still a number of technical challenges to overcome as well.
A paper book is useful as long as you have the book around. You can read it where ever you are and you can share it with others pretty easily. So - is this possible with electronic books? We again, asked our four Bible Software companies the questions.
Question: If I purchase a book that runs on your software, is it possible use that book on any other software?
Olive Tree:
Not at this time. Books purchased from Olive Tree will only work with Olive Tree’s BibleReader software.
Laridian:
It's possible but it's not likely. Like everyone else we have a proprietary format that we haven't shared with anyone else.
eSword:
No.
Logos:
Books that work with Logos Bible Software work with any product built on the Libronix Digital Library System; more than 50 publishers have released packages using our engine.
BibleTechnology.com:
Now this is interesting. If I purchase, say, a Holman Christian Standard Bible, I can only use it in the one Bible software application that I choose to buy it from. So - where as I can purchase a paper Bible once, I may end up purchasing an electronic bible multiple times.
To be fair, both eSword and Laridian support both Windows desktop and mobile devices, meaning if I went with either of these organizations I could get one book and carry it with me where ever I am. However, this may limit the choices of books available to me - as other organizations will publish books that these companies will not publish. So what if I purchased Logos for their desktop software and one of the others for their mobile software? That would mean I need to purchase books for different scenarios - one for the desktop and one for the mobile device.
To date, customers seem to just accept this and move on, however, I'd like to understand this a little more and see this change. As I understand it there is a technical issue - each file format is technically different. There are also non-technical limitations - such as limitations placed on the software manufacturer by the publisher (as opposed to the software manufacturer) - where the publisher sets restrictions based on factors they are concerned about.
We had another question in this vein...:
Question: Do you work or have plans to work with other software companies on standard book and note formats?
Olive Tree:
Yes – we are considering several possibilities in this area.
Laridian:
Been there, done that. Jim VanDuzer (Laridian VP) and I conceived STEP back in 1994-95. The issues we encountered as we sought to broaden the membership of our group were mostly political and egocentric. One company wouldn't join if another was a member. Another wouldn't join if we wouldn't implement it their way. Others would join but wouldn't give away any secrets.
In 1998 Laridian was a founding member of the Open eBook Forum, a group dedicated to the creation of an HTML/XML-based standard for electronic publishing. We were well on our way to a useful standard when Microsoft descended upon us and usurped the committee and format. As a result we went from having a goal of being a format which, like STEP, would permit users to install books from different publishers onto their book reader devices and software platforms to a format that is nothing more than a common typesetting language used by publishers to make life easier for electronic publishers. While this is useful in a very limited way, the more ambitious goal of user-level interoperability was abandoned.
I personally don't think it's possible to develop standard book and note formats. There are too many political obstacles (the technical obstacles are easy by comparison). However, we have designed our synchronization engine to be usable by other companies. So, for example, a company could create a plug-in for our sync manager that would allow our mobile devices to have their notes, bookmarks, and highlights synchronized to their desktop Bible software. It's a non-trivial task, but it's designed to be possible. We have pitched this idea to a couple of companies but nothing has come of it.
eSword:
I integrated STEP, but that has since been abandoned. I doubt that another attempt by the software community will be realized any time soon.
Logos:
Most of our data files are in industry standard XML format; our electronic books are in a private format so that we can continue to improve the files to take advantage of new technologies. Our book format is one of the distinct strengths of our platform.
BibleTechnology.com:
Interesting. There are quite different points of view here and Craig gives us some interesting background into previous attempts to do this sort of work. I really hope that Olive Trees attempts don't end up on the same heap - perhaps they should talk to Craig from Laridian :-)
While I understand the business need for proprietary formats, it ends up costing customers more money, and is confusing for many customers. Personally, I'd rather spend money on additional books than on the same book multiple times.