Expressions – Bhagwad Jal Park

I’m an avid ebook reader. I’ve been reading ebooks on a variety of devices right from 2004 when I got my first Palm Tungsten T. Since then I’ve had an O2 XDA IIs and finally, an iPod Touch. It’s no exaggeration to say that I’ve given up physical books completely and ever since I made the switch, I’ve never looked back. As such, I’m in a perfect position to comment on the sad state of ebook formats in acceptance these days.

The nub of the problem is this – each agency has it’s own way of deciding in what manner each ebook must be presented. It’s irritating because ereaders (applications that read the ebooks) support certain formats only and will not open ebooks encoded in another way. So the end result is that you sometimes have to have multiple ebook applications on your device in order to be able to open all the various types of formats. Of course, everyone has his or her own favorite application and thus gets into a tizzy trying to convert ebooks into a format that their application supports.

Image Credit: Sigalakos

The best of the ebook formats - open and free

There are pieces of software that are able to convert between different formats. But this can be a complex task as well. Some converters only convert between two specific formats. So if you want to convert from format A to fomat C, you may have to find one that first converts from A -> B and then from B->C.

Examples of file formats are txt, lit, pdf, doc, pdb, html, mobi, azw, opf, chm, and the new open source epub.

This unfortunate situation has resulted in the PDF format being widely accepted as a “normal” standard for ebooks. This is a terrible choice, and one made only out of necessity since PDF files are not meant to be read on a wide variety of devices. They are “fixed” layout files that display ideally on the screen size they were originally made for. When you try to convert the format for a mobile device, the line breaks and paragraphs don’t always render correctly. Reading a PDF file in it’s native format on a mobile phone is even worse. The navigation is clumsy and the zooming is always a problem.

Format Lock in

Of course, it’s in the interest of the publishing houses that people use only their readers that read only their formats. Mobipocket has the .mobi file type that is proprietary. Kindle has it’s own proprietary .azw format (like we needed another file type.)

For the benefit of the consuer, an open standard for ebooks is necessary that is adopted by everyone and all ebook readers. Once a large number of people start using this open standard and ereaders start supporting it, book publishers will be forced to offer their books in the same format. Network externalities are powerful forces.

Already, the EPUB (.ebub) format is approaching this goal. It’s open, and standardized. The goal is to ensure that all readers support epub files and there are a few tools that create these files. I’ve recently been using the free open source Calibre to convert ebooks to the epub format and to read on the fantastic program called Stanza (free) that reads only in the epub format.

In fact, Stanza is so good on mobile devices like the iPhone and iPod Touch that more people are using Stanza than Amazon’s Kindle! So I’ve turned into an epub fan and encourage all readers to support this open book format so that more publishers start publishing in it. This way, we will be able to secure the future of ebook reading and save ourselves from a future littered with dozens of proprietary formats and from the hair pulling of converting between them.

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Just finished reading Dostoevsky’s “The Gambler”. What a mad book! You can feel the emotions of gambling in your very head. Providence save me from such an addiction.

Once again, Dostoevsky astonishes me with his writing. Apart from the work itself, I’m constantly surprised by his depiction of Russian society. It’s obsession with all things French (an indication of the french cultural domination at the time), the odd formalities and hierarchies, and above all, the constant preoccupation with appearances. Our society is so different now, that with all it’s flaws, things are much better – perhaps not changed essentially, but certainly toned down.

Image Credit: airloc

I’ve learned from Wikipedia that Dostoevsky was able to write in this manner about gambling because he was an avid gambler himself. This means that he was perfectly aware of the dangers and yet he let himself get taken over. I believe there are only a few other addictions of the sort in this world – addictions where merely getting into them once is enough to damn you forever – no matter how good and great you were before. Dostoevsky describes in the book how a respected matriarch – a Grandmother no less – insists on being introduced to the roulette one day in her old age and ends up squandering all her immense wealth in a matter of days.

I’m reminded of the wisdom of Ulysses (or Odysseus), who when learning of the Siren’s ability to enchant, capture and destroy all men with their deadly song, ordered his sailors to bind him to the mast and ignore his pleas to be let loose while they themselves had their ears sealed up with wax. He alone realized that he wouldn’t be able to control himself. no matter how strong he thought he was. But he wanted to hear them nonetheless, and thus had himself tied up.

There is the saying – “Pride goeth before a fall.” I’m afraid to tempt fate – to declare to all that I am inviolable. Lancelot himself fell into this trap. While singing happily in the forest about how strong and pure he was, he overreached himself and fell so low that one can’t help but think that it was a warning. In fact, along with gambling, falling head over heels in love with the wrong person can be as devastating.

After reading “The Gambler” as well as “The Old curiosity shop” by Dickens, it seems to me that those who gamble without getting entrapped, never really get into the game. If anyone does, their own strong nature can be turned against them and they can be ruined.

My blood is still pounding in my ears and I can almost smell the roulette table. Getting into the mind of a gambler is a scary thing.

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