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Wow, that looks pretty well done. The iBooks App is in the App store right now too. The format is HTML-based, with some proprietary extension ( -ibooks-layout-h

by jstsch 15y ago

Wow, that looks pretty well done. The iBooks App is in the App store right now too. The format is HTML-based, with some proprietary extension ( -ibooks-layout-hint: anchor; in CSS etc). But don't expect an Android reader anytime soon...

fredley 15y ago
If Apple really wanted to improve education, they'd make the file format open. That way even schools without tens of thousands of dollars of Apple gear could benefit.
- runaway 15y ago
  It sounds like it is open. HTML-based with a couple vendor-specific properties that anyone can interpret if they like. Anything I'm missing?
  - fredley 15y ago
    A specification?
    - runaway 15y ago
      The impression I got from the article is that you'd just open it up with whatever HTML editor you want. Particularly where it says "authors can further customize their books with HTML5 or JavaScript". That's pretty well spec'd.
- johnnyn 15y ago
  From iBooks Author, you can export in iBooks, PDF, or text format. The iBooks format is pretty much a well organized version of the epub format. I just exported one, changed the extension to .epub, and loaded it into an ebook reader.
  - ezy 15y ago
    It's worthwhile to note that PDF export only outputs in a fairly useless landscape, two textbook pages per pdf page form. I have to think that this is done in this horrible way by design. Similar for your .epub "hack", I'm sure that will not be supported by Apple, ever. On the other hand, the textbook makers currently have such a lock on school districts that I don't feel really bad about this. iPads will only get cheaper.. I'm almost positive kids will complain when they get the shitty scratched up hand-me-down iPad2 the school district has had for 5 years when iPad7 is available -- but I've had worse experiences with paper textbooks. :-)
archivator 15y ago
Well, virtually all eBook formats are HTML based (EPUB and Mobi definitely are). EPUB3 even supports embedded JavaScript. It wouldn't have been impossible for Apple to push the CSS extensions to {CSS3}+1 and be using an open format. But no, it has to be Apple-branded and proprietary..
- masklinn 15y ago
  'far's I know, iBooks and iBookStore uses EPUB + DRM. Those textbooks would be EPUB3 with extensions and a custom file extension.

by jstsch 15y ago

fredley 15y ago

If Apple really wanted to improve education, they'd make the file format open. That way even schools without tens of thousands of dollars of Apple gear could benefit.

runaway 15y ago
It sounds like it is open. HTML-based with a couple vendor-specific properties that anyone can interpret if they like. Anything I'm missing?
- fredley 15y ago
  A specification?
  - runaway 15y ago
    The impression I got from the article is that you'd just open it up with whatever HTML editor you want. Particularly where it says "authors can further customize their books with HTML5 or JavaScript". That's pretty well spec'd.
johnnyn 15y ago
From iBooks Author, you can export in iBooks, PDF, or text format. The iBooks format is pretty much a well organized version of the epub format. I just exported one, changed the extension to .epub, and loaded it into an ebook reader.
- ezy 15y ago
  It's worthwhile to note that PDF export only outputs in a fairly useless landscape, two textbook pages per pdf page form. I have to think that this is done in this horrible way by design. Similar for your .epub "hack", I'm sure that will not be supported by Apple, ever. On the other hand, the textbook makers currently have such a lock on school districts that I don't feel really bad about this. iPads will only get cheaper.. I'm almost positive kids will complain when they get the shitty scratched up hand-me-down iPad2 the school district has had for 5 years when iPad7 is available -- but I've had worse experiences with paper textbooks. :-)

archivator 15y ago

Well, virtually all eBook formats are HTML based (EPUB and Mobi definitely are). EPUB3 even supports embedded JavaScript. It wouldn't have been impossible for Apple to push the CSS extensions to {CSS3}+1 and be using an open format. But no, it has to be Apple-branded and proprietary..

masklinn 15y ago
'far's I know, iBooks and iBookStore uses EPUB + DRM. Those textbooks would be EPUB3 with extensions and a custom file extension.