Damien Broderick forwarded: =================
> All three formats we sell (Palm Doc, Acrobat, and Rocket) have a search
> feature built-in, so there is no need to convert to another format to do a
> search for a word or phrase. Authors and their agents get antsy if you let
> people manipulate the files, so we don't explicitly allow that.
Mr. Pendergrast, I do understand your antsiness at having the text content
too easily manipulated by the common word processors, but this is an issue
upon which the success of e-publishing hinges. Some of my personal
literature tools, such as word frequency analysis tools, require the text
to be reduced to ASCII. I recognize that it makes the text very
stealable, but many readers of nonfiction will pay more for ASCII
text than pulp based, with no intention of illegitimate duplication.
Amateur inventors are already experimenting with using digital
cameras with character recognition software to conveniently reduce
their personal book collection to a more useable form, such as one
that can be carried along with a wearable computer. spike
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