Help us decide: are eBooks ready for technical content?

About once a week, we get a request from a reader to have our books available in a format that can be read on an eBook reader (typically, nowadays, the Amazon Kindle).

In fact, we've had a prototype form of that capability for a while now, but we've always held back. Frankly, we didn't think the devices worked well with our kind of content. Basically, the .mobi format used by the Kindle is optimized for books that contain just galleys of text with the occasional heading. Throw in tables, monospaced code listings, sidebars and the like, and things start to get messy. The .epub format (used, for example, by Adobe Digital Editions) is slightly more capable, but it also has issues.

Last week, I reopened the can of worms and tried a quick hack. Rather than render code as text, I now create individual graphics files for each code listing, and embed those in the file eBook. The result is a lot better, but still has some drawbacks:

• the code doesn't scale when you scale the font size of the body text
• the code gets chopped off a the right margin
• code listings can't be longer than a page
• the fonts are not as readable as they would have been as text, as we don't get the pixel-level control you get with native fonts.

However. even if the display code problem is (kinda) fixed, we still can't have code fonts (or any other font) inside paragraphs. And we have issues with sidebars and tables.

So, here's the question. Given all these limitations, should we go ahead and publish eBook formats alongside our PDF formats? (If we did, a single purchase would get you access to all formats.) To help you decide, here's an (unedited) chapter from Stripes: ...and Java web development is fun again:

• In PDF format.
• In a rough-and-ready HTML format
• In .mobi format (which is suitable for the Kindle—just copy it to your Kindle's documents folder). You'll want to right-click and "Save As" to download this link.

If you don't have access to a Kindle, I put some screenshots down below. The last 3 show what code listings look like.

So... what do you think. Is this workable? Should we make these available, even though they're not very good, or should we wait for a later generation of eBook that's closer to the capabilities we need? Comments are open... :)

Cheers

Dave

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Sample Kindle pages—click each for a full size version.

Comments

[Tim Case]

Dave, if I could get two for the price of one, in other words the kindle version plus a pdf it would be a great thing. The kindle really is awesome for reading in situations when I'm away from computer, something I do more often now that I have a kindle. This would allow me to read the text and get the basic ideas of a lot of prag books. However, judging from the samples I could also see the need to have a pdf as well where code samples and images that render poorly in the kindle could be examined later in the pdf.

[the boy Ken]

Don't do it! Until the technology is there to support it, you'll have to compromise on quality (by pixelating all the code). And quality is what PragProg books are about (hence having about 12 of them at the last count, with 3 more on order), so you'd be polluting your company's reputation for the sake of short term sales... never a good PR route.

Look what that route did for the quality of O'Reilly's books these last 6 years or so, which now on the whole have a lot more rushed / inexperienced feeling about them compared to the reliable and definitive UNIX / open source tomes they used to publish :-/

Personally I'd stick to PDFs on a mac / iPhone / iPod Touch if I need to read electronic copies of anything on the hoof that has specific layout needs - at least PDF supports all the things you've listed (and you already make PDFs).

[Eustáquio Rangel]

I love the PDF versions to read and search on the desktop, but when reading on my Palm TX it's not the best choice. For small devices I think the HTML format is better because you can convert it on the best format that fits the device. And the Kindle ... is not an option right here on South America.

[Mark Imbriaco]

I don't think, in general, that technical books work well on eBook readers for exactly the reasons you mention -- they're really optimized for linear reading. I do think there could be value for supplemental material, perhaps a .mobi document with the Ruby class library documentation from the PickAxe, for instance.

[shane becker]

i say, don't bother with it until it can be done... better. at least the code samples.

overwhelmingly people that read your books want to read them with a computer near by to try out the lessons from the book, right?

we're not talking mark twain novels here.

-1

[Shelley]

Last week O'Reilly released its ebook initiative, including releasing 12 books to the Kindle. My book, Painting the Web, was one of them.

This is a book that has close to 400 images, in color. However, I found that the graphics actually worked quite nicely with the Kindle. There were a few where color was an issue, but for most, enough of the diagram came through that it worked for illustration.

However, that many images also made my book arguably one of the largest Kindle books, at 17MB. Figures also take more battery power, and are slower to "flash".

As for the code, well, it was shot. The simple one or two line code snippets did fine, but the larger programs wrapped into one jumble of text. However, this was compensated by the fact that the links I had in the text for further reading were active, so a person could click on these and go to the page using Kindle's own built-in browser. That was rather nice.

In the end, to me the code is not an issue if you provide the code examples in a downloadable compressed file. People tend to use the downloaded code anyway. And an advantage to Kindle is you can bookmark pages, search for terms, as well as copy pages to a clipboard (not to mention the active links).

I think that providing the package deal that O'Reilly does (with PDF, epub, and mobi), in addition to downloadable code is the way to go. If you sell Kindle books, you definitely need to make both your figures and your source available, separately. For instance, I have my Painting the Web figures in an online gallery (http://realtech.burningbird.net/image-galleries/book-figures), and the examples are available at O'Reilly--takes care of a lot of issues related to Kindle. Another approach could be to make available (for no additional cost) a PDF of just the figures, or the figures and code.

Preparing a book for the ebook market may seem like a lot of work, but you have the potential to reach a new audience of book buyers. Buyers used to the internet and having access to immediate information; who may not want to order a book and wait a week for it to arrive, but who will buy a book if it means they can have access to it now. I wouldn't have considered myself an "impulse buyer" when it comes to books, but I have probably at least a dozen books I bought because the ebook format was cheaper (that's a key element), and I could get the book _right now_.

As for your sample, it looked good.

[Shelley]

PS I do think that you may consider incorporating table and list information back into text for a Kindle. Too many tables and figures and lists, all of which are nice for a printed book, can be disruptive for an ebook. Just a thought.

[hgs]

I've not explored kindle yet. I don't think I'd find it particularly accessible. I was just wondering if it would take images in SVG, which might overcome some of the scaling issues, and SVG "knows" that text is text, so improves access.

While you are thinking about electronic books, could you look into talking book formats like DAISY (RNIB, not sure what happens for this outside the UK)? There's some info on the format at:

http://www.rnib.org.uk/xpedio/groups/public/documents/publicwebsite/public_daisy.hcsp

That says the format is worldwide, and it points to the DAISY consortium, with the much shorter URL:

http://www.daisy.org/

I've wanted to recommend your books to blind/visually impaired programmers before, and it would be nice to tell them they are accessible. I can't guess as to the size of the market of blind (and deafblind) computer programmers,
so I can only hope this is a commercially sensible thing to do.

Anyway, thank you for trying to stretch further the bounds of technical publishing.

[Remko Tronçon]

My opinion is that eBook readers should be able to display PDFs properly. Some already cope with this quite well (e.g. the iLiad), and this will only improve in the near future.

I like to buy electronic versions, and I rarely still buy the paper versions of books. However, I wouldn't spend a dime on electronic versions that do not look the way the author/publisher intended them to look (i.e. it should look identical to the paper version). I still think it's a shame that not all books are available in PDF, and that some publishers only publish stripped down formats. Luckily, the Pragmatics are all available in PDF! :-)

So, my opinion: If you decide to publish the crippled eBook formats, please keep on releasing the PDF versions. (which, taking from your post, you still intend to do)

[Ryan Hagan]

I recently wrote a review which covers technical books on the current version of the Kindle. Here's a preview, it's not good. That said, Amazon is apparently working on another model which has a larger screen. That MIGHT take care of the problem.

http://hokiecsgrad.newsvine.com/_news/2008/07/04/1639577-dear-amazon-heres-your-kindle-back

[Scott Fleckenstein]

I'm all for it, even in their diminished capabilities. Reading on the kindle has been transformative to my reading experience, and it would be great to apply that gain seen by my casual reading to my professional reading.

Reading a 500 page book on a laptop in my dark office is pain compared to going up on my building's roof deck and lounging in the sun. Being able to purchase books from amazon with the "Send to Scott's Kindle" button makes the book buying process a simple impulse and I find myself doing it much more often. My wallet doesn't enjoy it, but the rest of me does ;)

-Scott

[Brian Doll]

One thing you may want to consider is which option enables you to participate more actively in the various mobile formats. It sounds like none of the formats are very fitting for layout-intensive books, but surely the formats could evolve. If you do participate, maybe you'll have a better position to work with Amazon, etc. in bettering the format for everyone.

Other than that participation however, I personally wouldn't find those formats useful as they stand today. I do really like having the PDFs however, for search purposes.

[Russell Jones]

So long as you never drop the PDF version, I cant stand ebook technology! Give it a few years to mature.

[Chris Bailey]

I would say do it, and just have a little popup link or what not with info describing some of the limitations. I already take the PDF versions you guys have and send them to my Kindle. My take is that I know it won't be perfect on the Kindle, but at least I can read it if I want to/need to. I don't use that with super technical books that often, but it's nice to have, and once in a while I will (for example, the "recipes" books tend to be nice ones to have, as I can just read a couple recipes on the plane or something if I want).

Thus, if I could get an official Kindle/.mobi format version, that was at least better than the PDF converted version, that'd be an improvement, and I'd really appreciate it. So +1 for Kindle versions.

[Ahmed Hindawi]

The epub format supports SVG, which can be used to do a lot. We are currently working at Hindawi on our XML/epub workflow in order to start publishing books as well as journal articles using epub. Both the books and articles will be highly technical in nature and I can say that we are happy with how epub works for us.

I have uploaded a few samples at http://www.hindawi.com/epub.html for those who might want to look at them. The second sample titled "On Optimal Bit..." is a short article with lots of mathematical content. The first and the third samples are whole books with mathematical and tabular content in the first and many diagrams in the second. epub is more versatile than what a causal content creator might be inclined to think, but you need to create a proper XML coding and production standard to utilize its full potential.

[Keith Fahlgren]

Dave: What are the .epub "issues"?

[DDHarriman]

Hi

I have just tested the mobi version in a Cybook Gen3 and it’s almost perfect.

So I say, parallel to the PDF version a mobi too.

[Steve Sanderson]

I vote for including a Kindle compat. version - certainly with some notation about the limitations. I will appreciate the additional access this will enable, i.e. I will have copies with me more often. However, this isn't likely to change my purchasing habits.

[Graham Clark]

I'm also interested to hear what the epub "issues" are. I have the sony ebook reader and they've just released an update to support .epub files.

[Dave Thomas]

Graham:

When I was working with epub, I found support to be very variable. Perhaps I was soured as at the time I was also looking at Adobe DE, whose epub support gave me no end of problems. If the two of you are saying that epub is solid, I'll look at it again. Is there a particular reader that stands out for epub support?

[Sergio Pereira]

To be honest, the only reason I do not own an ebook reader is the lack of technical content. If you had your titles in ebook format I'd buy a reader immediately.
I'd like to second the suggestion of having a deal with the pdf version just in case.

[Graham Clark]

To be honest I'm not sure how solid the epub support is on the Sony reader. The firmware update was only released a few days ago so I haven't had a good chance to test it fully. I've tried it with a few free fiction books from feedbooks.com and they work really well. I'm not sure how it would handle tables and diagrams though.

[Xavier Noria]

The PDFs in the Sony Reader in landscape mode are readable? I am pondering getting one.

[Phil]

eBook readers will be ready for technical content when they are capable of rendering PDF.

Offering Kindle versions just seems so compromising; maintaining the typographical quality of your books will put more pressure on them to improve devices instead of being able to say, "Look, this is good enough."

[Keith Fahlgren]

Dave: At the moment, Liza Daly's Bookworm is by far the best .epub reader: http://bookworm.threepress.org/ (also has a mobile version)