News for hackers. Stuff that matters.

A comment on Ask HN: can I transfer a $6,000 Kindle book onto PC, DRM-free?. Parent comment

Re:Ask HN: can I transfer a $6,000 Kindle book onto PC, DRM-... by silentOpen on Saturday May 09, 2009 @04:58PM (#601424)
HTML utterly fails at typography. Books need typography. Therefore, HTML should not be used for books.
[ Parent | on HN ]
Re:Ask HN: can I transfer a $6,000 Kindle book onto PC, DRM-... by pookleblinky on Saturday May 09, 2009 @05:28PM (#601456)
Although, not every book is a House of Leaves.
[ Parent | on HN ]
Re:Ask HN: can I transfer a $6,000 Kindle book onto PC, DRM-... by TweedHeads on Saturday May 09, 2009 @09:06PM (#601686)
Interesting book, html6 should be able to display it exactly as intended. Even showing text upside down, and divs floating in the middle of two columns.

If not, we're not doing the right thing.

[ Parent | on HN ]
Re:Ask HN: can I transfer a $6,000 Kindle book onto PC, DRM-... by TweedHeads on Saturday May 09, 2009 @08:54PM (#601669)
If html fails at typography (as you pointed out without any further explanation) then we should evolve html.

I insist, html is the answer.

[ Parent | on HN ]
Re:Ask HN: can I transfer a $6,000 Kindle book onto PC, DRM-... by silentOpen on Saturday May 09, 2009 @09:35PM (#601712)
Changing html to support more exact and more advanced typographical features is a possibility. Problem: diversity and noncompliance of interpreters.

XHTML maybe? Some XML dialect? I can see these working if the toolchain (generators, interpreters, transformers) is tightly controlled or harshly forces compliance. Even still, I'd like my books to always look correct even if made by Microsoft eBook Publisher 2013.

Layout failure on the web is a minor annoyance. Layout failure for a e-book I paid $20 for is completely unacceptable.

[ Parent | on HN ]
Re:Ask HN: can I transfer a $6,000 Kindle book onto PC, DRM-... by TweedHeads on Saturday May 09, 2009 @05:26PM (#601454)
Why you say html fails at typography?
[ Parent | on HN ]