WordGear’s demise: Possible lesson for proprietary format and DRM boosters
Say good-bye to the Panasonic WordGear (sold for $350, with a 5.6-inch color LCD screen and 1,024 by 600 res).
You read that right: Panasonic is discontinuing the WordGear. Might the WordGear have survived if the IDPF’s ePub standard had been in widespread use and the WordGear could have displayed a zillion and one e-books in that format? Ideally nonDRMed. Panasonic didn’t help when it apparently used a clumsy DRMcentric approach.
Meanwhile hello to the BEBOOK (330 Euros for such features as the 6-inch E Ink display and the ability to read .doc, .txt, .pdf, .jpg, .htm and .rtf files) from Endless Ideas. So when will we see the BEBOOK selling for $159, the price tentatively mentioned for the basic Astak? And how long until the BEBOOK can handle DRMed Mobipocket or another common format used for bestsellers? Mobi is supposed to be on the way. If so, will Mobipocket permit other DRM-”capable” formats? Or bully Endless Ideas by saving Mobi must have an exclusive? If you want a bunch of hardware makers around, competing to offer the best gizmo at the lowest price, then root for ePub—especially a nonDRMed flavor. Aren’t you tired of Mobipocket and the like dictating to hardware makers?
(Via MobileRead.)
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