I don't mean optimize for one machine at the expense, to the exclusion of others, and bb should know that by now. I just mean ADDING new formats targeting the new machines, not wiping out their competitor formats. . . . mh On Fri, 21 Jan 2011, Bowerbird@aol.com wrote:
michael said:
so we can try to figure out what devices are being used the most to download and, presumably, read our eBooks. . .so we can optimize for those readers.
my goodness. no sooner do i issue my "i'm opting out" post than michael hart himself makes a bone-headed statement...
you had the right answer _before_, michael.
don't go now and let the people-of-wrong mess you up...
you do _not_ want to "optimize" for any specific machine, i don't care how many downloads that machine generates.
you want a master-format that can convert for any device.
the people-of-wrong finally got that part of the equation, but they're still ass-backwards in that they want to _do_ the conversion _for_ your end-users. that's doing it wrong.
you want your end-users to download the master-format and then do the conversion for themselves. big difference, because when they have the master-file, they have the power to convert to _any_ format that they might want in the future.
it also gives them the ability to control certain variables, which -- believe it or not -- they cannot do in many of the viewer-programs that are out today. just as a "for instance", do you know that an end-user often cannot choose between having a justified rendering versus a ragged-right display? they're _stuck_ with the setting in place during file-creation.
that's some major bull-crap, if you ask me. why shouldn't the end-users be able to specify that, to their preference? the answer is that they _can_, if _they_ do the conversion...
so give them the ability to do those conversions themselves, using their own preferences on all the important dimensions, for _whatever_ machine they happen to be using at the time...
you'll have empowered them by future-proofing them, which is what i'd expect the project gutenberg founded by michael hart would be holding up as its _goal_. or did i misunderstand you?
***
jim said:
Namely, html OUGHT to be the default input submission format, PG providing strong suggestions about how to write good HTML to well-support EPUB and MOBI, and that pg txt70 files have pretty much gone the way of the dodo, and ought to be supported as a file format that is computer-generated -- like EPUB and MOBI -- via a computer script from the submitted HTML.
jim, you seriously need to take your head out of your butt and take a good look around at the scenery for a change... really... a breath of _fresh_air_ would do you a lot of good... seriously...
using .html as a master-format would be ludicrous. ridiculous. i would love to see you try to come up with code to make it work. because you would waste a whole lotta time in the feeble attempt, plus it would keep you busy, and occupied, and hopefully quiet...
simply, .html needs to be an _output_ format, not an _input_ format.
If BB or other want to muck around with pretty printers let them do so as a way to help themselves generate preliminary html which they can then finish cleaning up before they submit it to PG.
"pretty printers?" you display your ignorance so witlessly.
using z.m.l. -- or r.s.t. for that matter -- i can churn out an .html file which knocks the socks off anything you do, and i can also churn out a .pdf that looks very _beautiful_ (or "pretty", if you prefer, both words apply fine, thanks.)
i can also convert out .epub and .mobi (by using kindlegen).
and not only can _i_ do this, but _any_ end-user can do it, if they're talented enough to run an app and click a button.
so i see your condescension, and raise it back to you _double_.
but, you know, have a nice day, and all that... :+)
-bowerbird