eBooks, What Format Do You Use?

[dmccoy1693]

I'm considering putting some of my current/upcoming products for Traveller in eBook format in addition to pdf. But... There are ALOT of formats out there and I'd be crazy to try them all at once. So, you tell me, what do you use or plan to use in the near future for a mobile device?

Also, if you buy eBooks online, where do you currently buy them (other than DriveThruRPG/RPGNow)?

 

[FreeTrav]

OK, your intent is to actually ask a different question from the question you actually did. For recreational reading, fiction, I prefer Mobi because (a) it's reasonably compact, and (b) I have the reader for it for my Clié (PalmOS). This was what I answered the question based on.

However, for gaming, I wouldn't be relying on the Clié; I'd be bringing a laptop along, and would therefore use stock PDFs, or, if available, PDFs optimized for the landscape-oriented screen. (My current laptop has a 4:3 aspect screen, not the 16:9 or 16:10 aspect that seems to have become the standard.)

Even if 4:3 optimized PDFs were available, there is the strong possibility that I'd opt for portrait-orientation PDFs, so that I could have the book open in one window, and perhaps an assist program open next to it.

 

[Charakan]

Apart from Drivethru/RPGnow I occasionally by stuff of SJgames e-book store e23.

 

[EDG]

No interest in ebooks here (I just use PDF).
I pretty much only get gaming PDFs from DTRPG - e23 is another option, or elsewhere if I know for certain that the place is reliable. But the vast majority is DTRPG.

 

[GamerDude]

Personally while I've looked at the idea of getting an eBook reader, the market is still filled with too many choices and formats... so I don't get any.


If I want an electronic version I'd get the good ol' pdf.

 

[Lord High Munchkin]

I buy good old, power-cut proof, tactile and lasts for centuries, paper.

I do not buy air-polluting, burnt coal versions.

 

[Stainless]

My e-book reader will be an Asus netbook tablet (http://www.asustablet.com/), soon to be released. Thus, Windows 7 means I can read in many different formats, but pdf is the most likely as that is what gaming products are sold as.

 

[chrisdw]

I use an HP iPAQ RX5720 running windows mobile 6, I can read .lit files and pdfs, unless the pdf has been specially formatted for a small screen I find them unreadable but .lit files work fine for books which are mainly text or simple tables. I have taken a number of works from the baen free library and have read them on the train to work.

Chris

 

[Jacqual]

All that I use at this time is PDF and I want a little netbook for reading them and running gaming apps.

 

[Stainless]

Well I've just seen the future and it looks goooood

http://gizmodo.com/5369493/the-courier-files-how-microsoft-thinks-well-use-their-secret-tablet

 

[Gee4orce]

Well I've just seen the future and it looks goooood

http://gizmodo.com/5369493/the-courier-files-how-microsoft-thinks-well-use-their-secret-tablet

I've also seen the future, and it looks even better:
http://gizmodo.com/5370252/apple-tablet-aiming-to-redefine-newspapers-textbooks-and-magazines

(Though, lets be honest at the moment this is Microsoft vapourware versus Apple vapourware).

PDF is the way to go - robust support on all kinds of platforms, highly portable, prints out nice too.

Whatever happened to HTML anyway ? This kind of thing is EXACTLY what it was designed to tackle - but the web has become an application platform instead of a document network . You can, with care, produce really high quality, good looking, lightweight, extremely portable documents written in HTML. I think the problem is that people get blinded by the infinity of possibilities in HTML - develop a nice, functional standard look and stick to it. Some of the technical documentation sites are a good example of how to do it right.

 

[dreamingbadger]

I do use sony's ereader for books, but not for reference materials. I do find it an excellent system for reading or anything that is "linear" in style, but, not really good for the back and forth of gaming. A PC, though better, is still a poor substitte for an actual book.

 

[brionl]

Currently, I'm using Stanza on my iPod touch for ebook reading, and it does just about all of those.

If I was going to run a game, I'd take a laptop, but I like taking along my iPod for perusing books while I'm on the BART or riding along in somebody else's car, or waiting in the doctor's office, etc.

I buy my gaming PDFs from DriveThru RPG, and I buy a lot of ebooks from Baen books at http://www.baen.com. They've got their web site set up so I can log on and download directly to my ipod copies of their books I've already purchased.