Dot Lit experiment

[qhitch]

One of the odd things that I do in my spare time:

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http://vysnu.com/misc/Galloway, James - Tower of Sorcery.lit

That's a .lit file of Tower of Sorcery, it's 1.34 MB so it's a pretty nice download, but give it a whirl and tell me what you think. I'll pull this if Fel objects, but Microsoft Reader is so good a way to read books online =) You can get it here: http://microsoft.com/reader/

[Lochar]

Please, tell me that's a PDA format of this?  I'm sooo going to download it once I find my PDA if that's the case.  Fel, please don't object, I want to be able to read this in class.  But wait, then I'd probably get bad grades.  What to do?  ???

[qhitch]

I think (I'm not sure) that .lit files can be read on PDAs.

[Forbidder]

Simply put, i refuse to use another standard that microsoft shoves down our throats.  I mean, what's wrong with plain txt files?  Other than formatting?  for that you can use html or rtf.  And that should be it, it keeps it simple and doesn't force everyone to download an extra reader and install more stuff.

Sigh, I do have the reader installed, but I hope to God or whatever diety that everyone worships that the .lit format doesn't become an self enforced standard like .html

lol, that was my rant, maybe i'm skewed on this one, who knows?

[riduan]

Nothing new...

I have been reading Fel's books from my palm since day 1. Converted all the doc into palm ebooks.....using "dropbook" software

As a matter of fact, I'll try to convert all softcopy downloadable stories/novels into ebook version ...save papers and much more convenient (to carry about).

[qhitch]

I'm not a fan of proprietary formats as such, but neither do I think that open formats are the best. In my case, I've found MS Reader to be the best screen reader, and so I use that As for why MS Reader is good, I suppose you'll have to use it to understand. It's got a way for all my books to form a library, it's got Cleartype, it's got great bookmarks, and generally it requires fewer keystrokes or mouse movements to go through a book than any other app.

[Spec8472]

I think (I'm not sure) that .lit files can be read on PDAs.

Yes, MS Reader can be had for Handheld PCs running the PocketPC 2000 OS or above. eg: Dell Axim, HP/COMPAQ iPAQ, Toshiba Exxx Range, and a myriad of others.

This is actually how I read most of my books... I have a Dell Axim X5 (and also a Compaq iPaq 3630).

- Never lose my place, even if I run out of battery power (which hasn't happened with the Axim, i think it's got like 72hrs battery life now)
- Very easy to read from
- Keep the whole series I'm reading on the thing.
- fits in the palm of your hand, a business shirt pocket, or trouser/pants pockets.

There are competing formats to .LIT for other OS's (such as PalmOS), so if you have another type of handheld, you'll just have to convert the book into that format.



Edit: oh, yeah... grab MS Reader for Pocket PC here: http://www.microsoft.com/reader

[riduan]

MS Reader ebook or Palm ebook?

My advise:
- when come to PDA, get Pocket PC
- when come to ebook format, get palm ebook (not MS Reader ebook)

Why? I have nothing against MS Reader (except that it don't run in palmOS). Infact I think MS Reader is too propriety (Microsoft don't want it to run in other platform). FYI, I have read ebooks of both versions - there are plusses and minuses...but bottom line, both give me the mobility objective which I require.

However, if I given a choice, palm ebook is my preference as it can be read from both Pocket PC and Palm, while Ms Reader ebook can only be read from Pocket PC.

So those people who already invested in Palm PDA, MS Reader ebook simply not a good option for them. Trust me.... And logic said that if you want all people to be able to read your ebook - make sure it is in palm version - to cater for both pocket pc and palm pda users!

cheers!

[qhitch]

..
And logic said that if you want all people to be able to read your ebook - make sure it is in palm version - to cater for both pocket pc and palm pda users!
..

Or provide a text version so that people can convert it to any format they choose

[Spec8472]

...make sure it is in palm version - to cater for both pocket pc and palm pda users!

IMO, if you want to cater for a really broad readerbase, providing just two formats (unless they're standard/open formats such as plain ASCII or RTF), isn't going to suit a lot of people -- and even then, it's still not going to suit a lot of people (like me, the picky bastard. If its in any other format than .LIT, I'll read it at home on my PC, otherwise I'll read it on my Axim wherever I happen to be.

Hopefully, someone with a bit more programming skill than I will come up with some nifty web-enabled multi-format ebook processor/generator that'll spit out copies that're properly formatted in HTML, TXT, LIT, PDF etc etc.

Which reminds me... gotta go dig up a .LIT version of Neal Stephenson's Quicksilver; this hardcover book is killing my shoulders, and at the same time, the environment and my bag is killing it too.

Good book so far, got the next two on pre-order already

[riduan]

not going to suit a lot of people (like me, the picky bastard. If its in any other format than .LIT, I'll read it at home on my PC, otherwise I'll read it on my Axim wherever I happen to be.

I'm not picky of document types...heck even read Fel's first few books in RTF / DOC format. So long the story is good, everything can and will do. But obviously, being on the move all the time - mobility and portability are just what I want...(...when things got interesting, can't wait any longer to finish Fel's books you know...nice font or not - who care!)