Android OS/Archos 5 Internet Tablet Notes For Monday November 2, 2009

Continuing my ongoing infatuation with — but not yet committed to buying — the Archos 5 Internet Tablet, from time to time I will do these posts which might not have much to do with the e-reading aspects of that device. And there might also be some Android OS-related items too.

eBook Notes For Monday, November 2, 2009

The Next Hot e-Reader: The iPhone

Unless the Apple Tablet becomes a reality, I think there is going to continue to be a market for dedicated e-readers, mostly because it is impossible to read large amounts of text on a smaller screen.

Emphasis added by me.

What century is Om Malik living in again?

Apple Will Break Open The Digital Book Floodgates

iWork secret life as ZIP file revealed, includes PDF preview

In the case of the new iWork files, changing the file extension to .zip and expanding the archive reveals the as-expected XML document and plist files (for the document and its formatting) as well as a little PDF surprise — a preview version of the file. What this means for you is that you can send an iWork file to a friend or co-worker and regardless of their operating system choice or installed software base, they can “view” your document by unzipping it and opening the PDF.

Yes! It’s true!

It’s XML down there! An unZipped Pages file:

Zipped up just like any ePub eBook file! Except it can do much more!

This is XML from Keynote:

Notice the capabilities: animation, UI status, and soundtrack!

This is XML from Pages:

Notice the capabilities: video, footnote, bibliography, annotations!

Check out Apple’s developer page about XML — this one is about Keynote (notice especially how they changed the 1.x file format for total XML!).

Let me spell out what this means.

You will not need a developer to create a digital book.

You will be able to do something just like what Vook:

and Enhanced Editions:

and CSI creator Anthony Zuiker:

are doing — using iWork, iMovie, and all standard software tools on any Mac!

No programming required!

This will break open the door to real artists who can envision what digital books can be as things in themselves.

Going all XML like this, making things simple, is how Steve Jobs wins:

Hop to 3:22 in this video to see a demo of Pages:

Creating a digital book will be that simple. The only things currently not in Pages are Preview and Create Digital Book menu options.

These digital books will be launchable, just like apps. Apple will not go the file route, making people first launch a reading application and then scroll scroll scroll through a list of files.

People might object that this will fill Home Screens with too many things. I insist that Apple has already thought of that and there will be a method to segregate and organize digital books.

All of this is the fatal stake in the heart of ePub and all eInk devices.

Because once people see digital books, they won’t settle for tarted-up text files.

If you’re a writer who has been sitting impatiently, thinking the digital book movement has been passing you by due to its expense and complexity, your day is coming. Get your plans together to bring them into creation.

Thanks to snoslicer8 and Jonathan (copyhacker) Vaught for supplying sample iWork files for this post; to Moriah Jovan for some XML parsing, and Gear Diary for the Level 26 screensnap.