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Bookworm ePub Reader Gets Boost From O'Reilly 59

Posted by kdawson from the open-book dept.
stoolpigeon writes in with news that ought to kindle Amazon's attention: "O'Reilly announced recently that they are now hosting Bookworm, an online ePub reader. ePub is composed of three open standards (OPS, OPF, and OCF) that allow users a great amount of flexibility without any lock-in. Bookworm lets users upload ePub files, read them online from a PC or mobile device, and also export them to mobile devices that support ePub. Bookworm can also export directly to Stanza. Once a user has uploaded their ePub books to Bookworm, they can track progress through them even across multiple devices."
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Bookworm ePub Reader Gets Boost From O'Reilly More

Bookworm ePub Reader Gets Boost From O'Reilly

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  • I used to work in the college textbook industry, and there was a constant background drum from the book publishers talking about switching everything to eBooks. However, all the students that I ever asked about it were very much in favor of being able to fold down corners, draw in the margins, use highlighers, etc. Personally, when I read, I *like* the tactile interaction with the book. I'm not all that familiar with the current eBook readers - are they very popular?

    • A large university can install a mini printing press (or in other words, a big printer that does bookbinding) in the library. Publishers (or authors) can distribute their books electronically, and for those students who want to pay for it, a print-on-demand copy will be fairly cheap. Other students might prefer to buy an ebook reader like the Kindle (or just use their mobile phone, in a couple of years' time when screens are good enough) or just spend as little money as possible by reading the book on a c

      • Currently done that way here. (Score:5, Interesting)

        by DrYak ( 748999 ) on Friday February 13, 2009 @01:08PM (#26845717) Homepage

        Geneva university here.
        Lots of university made material (professor's slides and notes, other documents written by the faculty staff, chapters from books that professors have authored and have the right to publish themselves, chapters of recommended books [the university libraries pay a tax that gives them the right to make books available to their students] etc.) are distributed in PDF format on a specialised website.

        The students can either read it on screen or print it with the university's or their home printers.
        Just throw in a low-power device able to read PDFs and it's exactly the situation you describe.
        At least with university-produced documents.

        • What is the low-power device you mention? I started to write about how it was a netbook, but they don't have the battery life. Maybe XOs? With their special screen they can serve as a pretty credible e-book reader, although the resolution is still a bit low perhaps.

    • Re:I don't understand the allure of eBooks... (Score:5, Interesting)

      by Bigjeff5 ( 1143585 ) on Friday February 13, 2009 @12:37PM (#26845223)

      Frankly, it's much, much, much easier to find information you are looking for in an eBook. Being digital, they a generally searcheable, which is fantastic. Also, depending on exactly what you are doing, it can be much easier to have the book on a monitor and your work right in front of you. None of that is as easy with a textbook. Trust me, I've used textbooks with a PDF option. I don't even like PDF's and I think it's really nice to have the option.

      Also, if you just need to -read- the material, an eBook in an eBook reader is infinately more convenient than a large textbook (you know, standard 700+ page books ;)). While the tactile feel is nice in a book, the awkwardness of a large textbook completely negates it and then some, in my opinion.

      Plus, have you read on an eInk device? It's like reading paper, only it's small and compact and has a massive geek factor, they rock. Mine doesn't let me search, only flip to certain sections, so searchability is about the same as a textbook, but others like the new Kindle let you search. I'm personally waiting for the Plastic Logic device that has a massive 8x11 screen, perfect for technical documents.

      Cheers!

      • The course I'm doing at the moment makes the material available in paper and electronic formats, and I use both. The book for scribbling in, highlighting, folding down the corners, reading in the bath and so on. The electronic version is indispensable when doing assignments for finding that quote you remember was in there somewhere.

        • Okular allows you to scribble in, highlight sections in documents, and add bookmarks and notes. 'Fraid that it doesn't make your computer waterproof, though.

      • Re: (Score:2)

        by Thaelon ( 250687 )

        My problem with eInk is the lack of a backlight.

        It blows my mind that amazon went to all the trouble to get eInk going on the kindle, but you still need a kludgey booklight to read it in the dark.

        It's why I vastly prefer to use my Nokia N810 with FBReader over the kindle. It's tiny, customizable (think red text on a black background - night vision preservation - no light keeping your SO awake), and the N810 is ideal for one handed reading (a big deal when reading laying down on your side).

        Call me when amaz

      • Being digital, they a generally searcheable, which is fantastic.

        Generally, yes. I have, however, encountered a lot of technical documentation in a certain job that was celebrated for being available in PDF format, only to find that the PDFs were composed of full page scans of hard copy documentation (no OCR). Fun times.

        • ... only to find that the PDFs were composed of full page scans of hard copy documentation (no OCR).

          Ditto. Many of the books on archive.org are scanned no-OCR versions, typically HUGE, and the color versions don't work on my Sony 505. Some of them have bad PDF about ten pages in, which makes the reader reboot.

    • Re: (Score:1)

      by rHBa ( 976986 )
      I love the dead tree variety of books as much as the next man, especially for anything I'm going to be reading for more than 30 seconds but while I'm working I always use an easily searched eBook version, preferably a CHM for code references.

    • Re: (Score:2, Insightful)

      by Your Pal Dave ( 33229 )

      I used to work in the college textbook industry, and there was a constant background drum from the book publishers talking about switching everything to eBooks.

      They're probably hoping to dry up the used textbook market.

      However, all the students that I ever asked about it were very much in favor of being able to fold down corners, draw in the margins, use highlighers, etc.

      It seems to me that this would be where eBooks would shine. Add a stylus to the reader and now all of your annotations, bookmarks, etc can be indexed and easily searchable. Add to this the obvious weight advantage and eBook texts start looking pretty good.

      • Re: (Score:1, Interesting)

        by Anonymous Coward

        It seems to me that this would be where eBooks would shine. Add a stylus to the reader and now all of your annotations, bookmarks, etc can be indexed and easily searchable. Add to this the obvious weight advantage and eBook texts start looking pretty good.

        So like the iRex then? http://www.irextechnologies.com/ [irextechnologies.com]

        • Exactly. If only they had a halfway affordable price. The newest Sony Reader also has a touch screen but even it clocks in at $400 which is way too rich for my blood.

          • It depends on how the price the eBooks. For example, I remember a single semester that the textbooks were well over $400. So if the pricing of the eBooks reflects the reduction in production costs, it might be far cheaper to get a reader + eBooks instead of new (or used) deadwood books every 6 months x 4 years (if you're lucky).

            • > So if the pricing of the eBooks reflects the reduction in production costs,
              > it might be far cheaper

              Keep dreaming. Read any forum about eBooks, and the #1 thing everyone complains about endlessly is the fact that they're usually the same cost as the printed book... maybe, MAYBE a buck less... if you're lucky. By the time the eBook price goes down, the paperback edition is already in the 70% off pile at Borders.

              I guarantee... when college textbook publishers jump on the eBook bandwagon, they'll drop

              • > So if the pricing of the eBooks reflects the reduction in production costs,
                > it might be far cheaper

                Keep dreaming. Read any forum about eBooks, and the #1 thing everyone complains about endlessly is the fact that they're usually the same cost as the printed book... maybe, MAYBE a buck less... if you're lucky. By the time the eBook price goes down, the paperback edition is already in the 70% off pile at Borders.

                That's my main bitch about eBooks. You lose the ability to sell or lend your copy, and yet you pay nearly as much as a dead-tree copy for something with nearly zero reproduction costs.

                IMO an eBook should cost about 1/3 of a physical copy to make up for these losses.

                Fat chance of that happening.

    • Re:I don't understand the allure of eBooks... (Score:4, Interesting)

      by ColdWetDog ( 752185 ) * on Friday February 13, 2009 @12:46PM (#26845397) Homepage
      Nope, not very. There is an interesting story on Ars about the rise and fall and rise again [arstechnica.com] of eBooks.

      Interestingly, Safari OnLine [safaribooksonline.com] (an O'Reiley site) doesn't mention this new initiative at all.
      • While there's clearly a relation there, Safari is more like a premium cable channel for technical books, where Bookworm is used to manage your personal library of individual ebooks. Certainly I'd expect we'll learn things from Bookworm that can be applied to Safari.

      • Yeah... when can I start buying O'Reilly books in a free ebook format? I'd settle for PDF, even, but it seems the best I can do is order a dead-tree version and hook it up to their Safari site, which is only accessible through a browser, only searchable through their search, and not possible to download.

        • You can already buy 400+ O'Reilly books that come in an "ebook bundle" of three DRM-free formats (PDF, EPUB, and Kindle-compatible Mobipocket). Several hundred other titles (including our Head First books) are available just as PDFs. Follow the link referenced in the main story for more details and a Slashdot-discount (see the first paragraph): http://toc.oreilly.com/2009/02/bookworm-now-part-of-oreilly-labs.html [oreilly.com]

        • What's the difference between PDF and "ebook format"?

          • What's the difference between PDF and "ebook format"?

            The PDF file format was developed to keep every item fixed based on its absolute position on a page of set size. PDFs are wonderful inputs for a printer.

            Reflowable "ebook format"s like ePub were developed to let content "flow" into a screen of whatever size was available with no correspondence to any "page" idea. ePubs are wonderful inputs for reading systems.

            Open a PDF, reduce the size of the window, all you get is the top left corner. There are the same number of pages, you just see a portion of the first

            • Open a PDF, reduce the size of the window, all you get is the top left corner.

              *My* PDF readers are configured to make the text too small to read in this situation. ;)

              All kidding aside, was generating a new format entirely necessary? What about good 'ole HTML + CSS? (Or is ePub XML that gets transformed into HTML and CSS?)

              Anyway. Thanks for the info!

      • Re: (Score:2)

        by Garwulf ( 708651 )

        "Nope, not very. There is an interesting story on Ars about the rise and fall and rise again [arstechnica.com] of eBooks."

        The Ars Technica article doesn't really get it right, though. I was there for the beginning of the first e-book "revolution," and while it is interesting to read what was going on at PeanutPress, that article doesn't cast the net far enough back.

        Publishers did look into the e-book quite a bit, but the big experiment, if you want to call it that, wasn't in 2002 - it was in 2000-2001. Dur

      • Thanks for the link dude. It's a good read. The stuff that makes Ars Technica great.

    • Re: (Score:3, Interesting)

      by drinkypoo ( 153816 )

      If you just quickly browse ebay for various types of tablet computers (try things like "ebook", "tablet pc", and so on) you will quickly discover that the old axioms about good, cheap, and fast apply best to "new" technologies like ebook readers/tablet PCs. If it's fanless it's dog-slow, has a tiny screen, costs a zillion dollars, or has some combination of these particular flaws (and possibly many others, typically including limited I/O.) If it's got a super-low-power display, e.g. e-ink or OLED, the cost

    • Re: (Score:3, Insightful)

      by InlawBiker ( 1124825 )

      Personally I've been drooling for an eBook reader for a couple of years. The price-point and DRM is keeping me out though.

      I would LOVE to have so many books at my disposal with me at all times. I'd read a lot more, especially since the books are much cheaper and easier to get.

      But at around $400 the local library is a still a lot more attractive.

      The publishing industry needs to wake up innovate before Amazon and Sony become the new iTunes of print publishing and come steal their lunch money.

      • Local public libraries rocks! Usually local public libraries share their resources with all other public libraries in the county. Almost all of them have a website and online search facility. You get free access to unlimited books. Why not support you local public library instead of buying DRM laden crap from Sony or Amazon?

    • Searchability is a big one. Indexes don't even come close to just doing a fulltext search.

      Netbooks can be had which weigh under 2 lbs. I don't have one of those, but my current laptop is with me everywhere. Dead-tree books means I would have to carry at least one, if not two, for each class, plus that laptop -- it's just dead weight. In high school, at least, this was actually unhealthy -- backpacks weighing 20 to 50 lbs are no fun.

      The things you've mentioned are pretty much blown away by decent software. F

      • Drawing in the margins, I haven't really seen, though I'm sure it's been done. Highlighters? Just copy/paste an interesting passage into your notes.

        Okular does highlighting, inline notes, and drawing in the margins. If you use Windows, look here http://windows.kde.org/ [kde.org] to try it out. If you use Linux, you'll have to install a chunk of KDE 4.1 or 4.2.

    • Neither did my wife, an avid reader, when I bought her a Kindle... against her wishes, for her birthday. She has never put it down since. eBooks offer enormous advantages, and for those midguided college students paying $150 for a text book just imagine the possible savings if the cost of printing and distribution were eliminated and shared with the purchaser. Marking entries, bookmarking, notes, all have more useful analogies in the ebook world, along with many others, like automatic citations, copy and p

  • Good news for Sony (Score:2, Insightful)

    by Anonymous Coward

    Thats good news for the Sony Ebook Readers like the PRS-505 and what not. Currently the Kindle doesn't support ePub so it really is interesting to see how the ebook format war will shake out.

  • Reading eBooks is all about interface. This one assumes that you can override text-size on your browser. My G1 doesn't do that... It'll zoom in, but then you are constantly scrolling left and right to read.

    And formats! This thing only accepts ePub format. I've never found a book in the wild in that format. Baen.com doesn't have it for sale.

    I'm all about open formats, but ... You know, they have to be useful.

    • Well - I think that is part of why this O'Reilly thing is a big deal. Not only are they hosting the site, they are making a number of their books available in epub format. Hopefully this will help it gain momentum and we can get away from the nasty drm laden formats.

      • Re:Interface! (Score:4, Informative)

        by abdelazer ( 849221 ) on Friday February 13, 2009 @02:50PM (#26847145)
        Yeah, we (O'Reilly) are so committed to the ePub format winning the war that we threw up 262 more ePub-available titles on Tuesday and now have more than 400 available. See http://www.epubbooks.com/ [epubbooks.com] for other publishers (there are starting to be a _lot_).

        • If you're so committed, why don't you have any free offerings? O'Reilly has tons of selections freely available online, and likely tons of books hidden in storage that are both out-of-print and never to return (at least without serious revision). Why not open up and share them?

          The ePubBooks.com site says it wants ePub to be to books what MP3 is to music ... the only way that can happen is if there are tools to publish content, legal and questionable, and have free, questionable, and licensed media be ea

    • EPUB is pretty useful. It's an outgrowth of the Open eBook (OEB) format. If you have something in that form I expect all you'd need to do is change the filename to get an EPUB reader to open it. It's essentially XHTML plus some metadata, so it's pretty easy to convert existing HTML docs to the format. Likewise, Microsoft LIT files (non-DRM'd, anyway) can be pretty trivially translated to EPUB.

      It would be nice if Baen supported EPUB directly. It would also be nice if they were consistent with their metadat

  • I post this three hours after this story hit the front page of slashdot and there are 32 comments. I take this as indicative of the interest among Slashdot readers in this new technology. Contrast that to the interest, a few days ago, in the Kindle and you can draw your own conclusions. My own conclusion is that this will not fare well, at least in this demographic, and O'Reilly/ePub may want to consider some additional marketing/buzz generation schemes.

    Then again, I think someone said that about the iPod y

    • The coverage on Wired and CNET suggests at least *some* of this audience is interested: * http://blog.wired.com/business/2009/02/bookworm-gives.html [wired.com] * http://news.cnet.com/8301-17938_105-10161617-1.html [cnet.com] And while we're thrilled to get the attention, this is more about supporting an important standards-based open-source project than about generating buzz.

      • I hope I speak for the silent majority here in expressing my interest. :)

        I've actually been very interested in e-books in general for quite some time. Despite my longtime interest, it was only about 6 or 7 months ago that I finally invested in an e-book reader. Concerns about DRM certainly gave me pause, but I did end up going with a Kindle for reasons [slashdot.org] I briefly listed in another Slashdot discussion. One of those reasons was my (perhaps naive) belief that Amazon may ultimately be on the consumers' side o

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