In fact Apple took the standard epub format and added their own proprietary elements, thus creating a new proprietary "ibooks" format. The new format will only be readable with the iBooks 2 software which is confined to iOS. The format specs are not published either, so I won't hold my breath for compatible readers from other companies.
Regards, -- Orionist On Thu, Jan 26, 2012 at 2:12 AM, Gregory Varnum <[email protected]>wrote: > I'm confused by what you mean by "walled garden". If this were the same > as the App Store model where they have a custom iOS app format and their > store is the only place to get it - that would make sense to me. That > doesn't seem to be the case here.. > > My understanding was the ebooks created with iBook Author works in any > ebooks store that supports HTML5 standards. I've been testing some ebooks > we threw together on lots of devices (almost all non-Apple) with no > problems. We've even turned some of them into interactive web pages. > > I haven't heard of this software breaking the current standard so much as > further enabling HTML5 within it - but I could be wrong. > > -greg > > > On Jan 25, 2012, at 4:16 PM, Gerard Meijssen wrote: > > > Hoi, > > I think we should not support Apple in breaking the standard and in > > preventing us from using our work anywhere else. We take pride in being > > freely licensed and there is no excuse for the walled garden approach > taken > > by Apple. There is also no excuse for us endorsing this behaviour. > > > > Obviously as what we do is freely licensed or public domain you can do > > whatever as long as the license requirements are maintained. I am sure > that > > as a consequence you cannot legally publish in Apple's walled garden. I > > hate to see anything done in this area that is endorsed by the Wikimedia > > Foundation. > > Thanks, > > Gerard > > > > On 20 January 2012 10:46, Magnus Manske <[email protected]> > wrote: > > > >> (This mail is focused on books, but the topic is of more general > >> interest IMHO, thus foundation-l) > >> > >> Hi all, > >> > >> I just saw the "iBooks Author" news: > >> > >> > http://www.macrumors.com/2012/01/19/a-closer-look-at-ibooks-author-textbooks-and-exclusivity/ > >> > >> Of course, all these pretty books will be only available in the Apple > >> paywalled garden. > >> > >> So I thought: As they use basically HTML5 (plus a few proprietary > >> libraries), could we produce such interactive, tablet/phone-enabled > >> e-books ("wBooks" as in "Wikimedia":-) from free content? I believe > >> the answer is yes, though it might be quite a push technologically > >> (just to be clear, I am speaking of the books here, not of the > >> authoring software). > >> > >> Also: Should we? I believe the answer is yes as well, for two reasons. > >> One, Apples work here might (yet again) set a new standard, which > >> means everything falling short of that standard will be neglected by > >> the target audience, which runs counter to our declared goal of > >> disseminating free knowledge; standing still might well mean falling > >> behind. Another reason is the opportunity that Apple creates for us > >> here: Once such e-books become accepted as general teaching tools in > >> schools, it will be much easier to switch from Apple-only, costly > >> books to run-everywhere, free books; they might just win the > >> "technology battle" for us. > >> > >> > >> What do you think? > >> > >> > >> Cheers, > >> Magnus > >> > >> _______________________________________________ > >> foundation-l mailing list > >> [email protected] > >> Unsubscribe: https://lists.wikimedia.org/mailman/listinfo/foundation-l > >> > > _______________________________________________ > > foundation-l mailing list > > [email protected] > > Unsubscribe: https://lists.wikimedia.org/mailman/listinfo/foundation-l > > > _______________________________________________ > foundation-l mailing list > [email protected] > Unsubscribe: https://lists.wikimedia.org/mailman/listinfo/foundation-l > _______________________________________________ foundation-l mailing list [email protected] Unsubscribe: https://lists.wikimedia.org/mailman/listinfo/foundation-l
