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Wanted: one universal e-book format

E-books and e-readers have moved out of the fringes, and publishers and readers want a standard format that will work with all devices.

In a Reuters story, Kobo chief executive Michael Serbinis said the battle between companies like Amazon and Apple  for the biggest virtual store and most popular e-reader only distracts us from the real changes coming to the book world. Kobo books can be read on most devices, and the forthcoming Google Editions promises the same.

From Reuters:

“Today you can buy a book at Barnes and Noble and you can buy a book at Walmart and you don’t have to keep them in separate rooms in your house,”Serbinis said. “You buy a book from Apple and Amazon and you have got to keep it tied up with your Apple universe or your Kindle universe.”

David Shanks, chief executive of leading publisher Penguin U.S. also weighed in on the subject, telling Reuters: “Our fondest wish is that all the devices become agnostic so that there isn’t proprietary formats [sic] and you can read wherever you want to read.”

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