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