ITinfo: Adobe Brings PDF to E-Books

PDF E-Books

Portability & printing, too

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Adobe Brings PDF to E-Books

by Dave Murphy
ISSN 1535-3613

Adobe intends to beat Microsoft at the e-book game.

Microsoft has already released its Microsoft Reader e-book software that formats text for reading only on computer screens -- there's no option to print single or multiple pages. Microsoft has inked distribution deals with both barnesandnoble.com (bn.com) and Amazon.com.

Yesterday, Adobe announced the acquisition of Glassbook, Inc., a Boston-based developer of e-book software. Adobe already commands the entire field of full-size computer documentation distribution with its Acrobat PDF (Portable Document Format) product. Using a combination of PDF and Glassbook's software, Adobe will create e-book texts that are easy to read on-screen and print in finished format.

"The Microsoft position that this thing doesn't print is just them hopelessly deluding themselves," said Adobe CEO John Warnock. Barnes & Noble Inc. also believes consumers will want to print. "A digital revolution is coming, but the largest amount of product from that is going to come in physical paper form," said Steve Riggio, vice chairman of Barnes & Noble.

Riggio said Barnes & Noble plans to digitize the 1 million books in its warehouses over the next five years, giving the company options such as packaging e-book files along with books, printing books on demand, and resurrecting out-of-print titles.

I'm fat, dumb, and happy about Adobe's acquisition. The combination of Glassbook and PDF will enable electronic publishers to add portability and printing flexibility to their publications.

I've been publishing full-size e-texts in PDF and other formats since the early 90's. PDF is a cool format. The only rule is that text readers must use at least the same version number of the product as the publisher. As long as readers keep their software updated every two years or so, PDF books work on screen and print on all sorts of output devices, including common office laser and inkjet printers.

In a related announcement, Adobe plans to release Acrobat PDF for Palm OS devices later this year. With this product, Palm OS handhelds can be used to transport entire book collections and print using cabled or infrared connections. Cool concept.

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updated August 29, 2000
http://dgl.com/itinfo/2000/it000829.html