Nice preaching by Tim O'Reilly urging Amazon to adopt an open ebook format for Kindle. Nice self-promo,too. Very interesting comparison between Amazon's situation and Apple's.
What matters, though, is that big, public companies like Amazon just don't do that. Not naturally, I mean. Uncoerced by huge forces in their socio-economic environment, they never go for open instead of proprietary, simply because financial minds at their respective tops crave sustainable long-term profits. Proprietary assets (such as technology) are logically irresistible from this point of view. Software houses (Apple, Microsoft), electronics makers (Sony), online retailers, publishing houses--everyone does it if they can. And you know what? The public doesn't care much about formats. Only when it feels discomforted by proprietary technology it rejects or bypasses it with such a force and sheer momentum that biggies can no longer ignore it and produce a "fight or flight" response to change. A great quote from Tim's article:
While Apple maintains tight control over what goes into the App Store, there's a loophole big enough to drive a truck through: Any Web page can act as an application for the iPhone.
I am looking forward to the day when I will be able to access any ebook in any format on any platform. The day when epaper will be ubiquitous. Millions like me share this desire. And the brand or company that achieves that will get our undivided attention.
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