re: !@!Re: [gutvol-d] Kevin Kelly in NYT on future of digital libraries
karl said:
Sure, these ASCII files are also useful for special purposes, but telling us again and again that's the best solution for all books and all times, is highly arguable.
to my mind, the only problem with the ascii files is the absence of book typography -- bold headings, justified lines, bottom-balanced pages, pagination!, properly rendered footnotes, all the looks-nice stuff, leading to a display that is so boring it becomes tedium. fortunately, i've found with my z.m.l. that an intelligent viewer-program can figure out all of that stuff itself, given a reasonable amount of easily-done "hinting", and apply it, which removes this "only problem" and makes the ascii files "the best solution" for most books, most of the time. -bowerbird
On Thu, 1 Jun 2006 Bowerbird@aol.com wrote:
karl said:
Sure, these ASCII files are also useful for special purposes, but telling us again and again that's the best solution for all books and all times, is highly arguable.
to my mind, the only problem with the ascii files is the absence of book typography -- bold headings, justified lines, bottom-balanced pages, pagination!, properly rendered footnotes, all the looks-nice stuff, leading to a display that is so boring it becomes tedium.
Some interesting points there, particularly that last one, as I have had multiple comments from our readers that they LIKE not having such boringly justified right margination, as it helps them better keep track of what line is next. As for the footnotes, I still agree with those who want an appendix containing all of them, rather than having breaks between pages contain them. I like this with paper books, and even more with eBooks, as it is trivial to switch from the text to the footnote and back again. I'll leave the pagination and margination issues to reader choice as their own personal decisions, along with fonts. Michael
participants (2)
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Bowerbird＠aol.com -
Michael Hart