Why is the Kindle document format so simplistic?

Post author By Amanda MacArthur
Post date January 22, 2010
No Comments on Why is the Kindle document format so simplistic?

[question]

Kindle document format is simplistic, HTML 1.0 or so, no table support, why?

[/question]
[answer]

Kindle seems to be keeping the formatting as simple as they possibly can, and we expect that as more competition comes into the market, the formatting will become more sophisticated.

Soon we’ll start seeing that a lot of publications will only be available in a digital format, and not in print. As Kindle, Nook etc. see the need for advancement in the technology, they’ll adjust accordingly.

Even more, the ePUB community is constantly developing the framework, and as long as readers continue to accept it as the standard, the devices will grow along with it.

[/answer]

Tags ad, online publishing, open source software

By Amanda MacArthur

Research Director & Managing Editor

Amanda is responsible for all the articles you read on the Mequoda Daily portal and every email newsletter delivered to your inbox from us. She is also our in-house social media expert and would love to chat with you over on @Mequoda. She has worked with Mequoda for almost a decade, helping to evolve the Mequoda Method through research, testing and developing new best practices in digital publishing, editorial strategy, email marketing and audience development. Amanda is a co-author of our four digital publishing handbooks.