Back in the 8/16-bit days there were always claims by game producers that they were no longer supporting this or that market because of piracy. And fairly, piracy was pretty rampant on all the platforms.

All you need to do to convert an unprotected ePub for the Kindle is to open it in Mobipocket Reader. A Kindle compatible .mobi file is automatically generated. I don't think that's much of an obstacle even for the most casual user.

Apple uses its own proprietary DRM scheme on the iPad, which makes its ebooks inoperable with any other reader.

Sadly, a universal format means nothing when each corporation implements its own DRM scheme.

Have to disagree. Amazon carries far more titles than all my local and chain stores put together. Also, I'm perfectly happy with browsing through books at the computer, downloading samples and making my choices that way. It's quick, convenient, relatively cheap and doesn't kill trees.

"Amazon was fighting this one because if the publisher wins, it hurts their profitability because it pushes prices down."

It's pushing prices up not down.

>How about we realize that we are far more likely to be killed by our car or the food we eat then by terrorists?

That's hardly the point. Terrorism, as the name implies, is all about terror.. It's largely inconsequential to terrorists if they pile up a body count or not, it's the fear even aborted or foiled attempts instill that matters. So, the actual chance of being killed by terrorists is irrelevant really.

I do carry around a dedicated e-reader. It is far superior to any phone or netbook for ease and comfort of reading. So, while a smartphone might be good enough for you it definitely isn't for me or a lot of other people.

HTC Touch Pro 2

Shouldn't it have been the FIRST great challenge once things were up and running?

The country that falls behind in basic research is the country that falls behind in history.

Was Matt Drudge involved in the pantsless egging?

Just make sure your kid doesn't have access to real guns first.

http://blog.cleveland.com/metro/2008/12/boy_killed_mom_and_shot_dad_ov.html

ePub is an ebook format. What they're talking about is more of a multi-media format.