Technology

Format wars! Who will emerge victorious?

The Digital race

The present day world is one where each and every electronic player in the market is constantly surprising (and may we say delighting!) the world with their product and innovation superiority. Consumers, not just the tech-savvy kind, have a feast of devices to cater to their every whim and fancy. Music that started with bulky gramophones can now literally be carried at your finger-tips, and played and shared among devices that are wirelessly compatible.The same digital magic is now being used for books. People no longer need to trudge along carrying  bulky print books but instead can have all their books in one tiny hand held device!

Herein lies the problem. Each book-reading device has its own format and all players in the market are fighting for dominance. This poses a challenge for book publishers  who are spinning to keep up with the competing formats so as to have their books readable by anyone who owns ‘any’ ebook reading device.

Although consumers have a wide choice of good-looking devices for downloading and reading ebooks, they are still limited both in terms of price and choice of books. They don’t have the freedom to buy just any book unless it is available in the format that their chosen device can read. Even in this era of digital superiority, these expensive ebook reading devices still don't entirely serve the purpose of an easy, convenient bridge to an unlimited supply of books, unless they are in a particular format. For example, one cannot buy from Amazon.com and read it on their Sony Reader unless it is in PDF or AZW format. So, it’s clear to anyone that there is a problem. The fact that each device requires a different format adds to the complexities for publishers and consumers. Each book has to be sold in a different format so as to reach all customers, who own different reading devices,

So who is the battle really between - different devices or different formats?

 

With over 40 portable reader units now in the market and many more coming, the e-reader device is poised to become “one of the major disruptive technologies of the 21st Century,” says research and advisory firm mediaIDEAS in a new report.

But the question is, are ebook enthusiasts really OK with requiring multiple readers for different books? The answer is, quite simply an obvious NO! Another question is - do individuals want a format that enables them to read a book on any ebook reading device or want a device that accepts any format?

Today, less is more and small is big! Everyone wants to have lesser devices that have a multitude of purposes - the cell phone being the most common example - with cell phones today doubling up as computers. Can publishers come together to take a stand against competing formats? What are their options? How can they resolve the problem of making their books available in multiple formats to satisfy readers with different reading devices and preferences?

A single format?

Adopting a standard format seems to be the most viable solution for publishers as well as consumers. The question is whether and how soon device makers will adopt this standard format. Can device selection be based on other product features like price, display, size, storage and hardware compatibilities rather than just formats?

The Kindle effect

Amazon’s toughest battle will not be about its Kindle competing with other devices, but rather defending its own proprietary file format for digital books AZW — against the open e-publishing (EPUB) platform developed by  the International Digital Publishing Forum. EPUB is based on a number of other open standards including XML, XHTML, CSS, NCX and DCMI, making ePub books ideally suited to be read on web browsers, phone devices or e-reading devices. Amazon competitors, Kobo, Barnes & Noble, Sony, Google,  to name a few support EPUB, which allows books purchased from Kobo or Barnes & Noble to be used with any EPUB-compatible device, similar to how MP3 music files can be played on any digital music device.

This provides us with an analogy of how Apple Inc. faced a similar situation when it launched its iPod and iTunes music service. Initially, songs purchased through iTunes contained DRM software which prevented them from being played on competing devices. Eventually Apple succumbed to the market and moved to selling MP3s, which is a universal format. Such is the case of the publishing industry where each retailer/ebook device maker has a unique format. As mass adoption of ereading devices take place the obvious choice for consumers would be a device that can read any format or a format that can be read by any device. Hence for device makers the choice is two fold - a device that reads any format or a standardized format for all devices. The latter would make sense for the publishing industry in general, as publishers will need to convert their ebooks in just one single format.

Benefits of a universal format

 The benefits of a standardized format impact all - the customer, the publisher and the device maker. For customers and publishers it is most definitely a win-win situation as consumers can have an unlimited selection of books and publishers will in turn have an unlimited audience reach, as well as ease of a single format to be created. The battle for the device makers and how they build their strategies around these market demands and challenges is something to watch out for!