would Essentials as a Kindle book be a good idea?

[Umbran]

There's no reason that charts couldn't be used in a Kindle book, anyway.

In theory. I've been told several times over that in practice the Kindle format currently handles such things poorly. It is optimized for presentation of larger amounts of straight text (like novels and essays), rather than the broken up text and charts (and images) found in most gaming books.

 

[ColonelHardisson]

In theory. I've been told several times over that in practice the Kindle format currently handles such things poorly. It is optimized for presentation of larger amounts of straight text (like novels and essays), rather than the broken up text and charts (and images) found in most gaming books.

Then they can use the pdf format. The pdfs I have on my Kindle DX, specifically the Dragon Archive pdfs, look pretty good to me, including the charts for some of the articles. At least, the early B&W Dragons look good.

 

[falcarrion]

In theory. I've been told several times over that in practice the Kindle format currently handles such things poorly. It is optimized for presentation of larger amounts of straight text (like novels and essays), rather than the broken up text and charts (and images) found in most gaming books.

There is nothing saying that a kindle book format would be 2 columns wide. As far as I know there are no gaming books in kindle book format. Which works different then how kindles handle pdfs.

 

[Umbran]

There is nothing saying that a kindle book format would be 2 columns wide. As far as I know there are no gaming books in kindle book format. Which works different then how kindles handle pdfs.

Two-column isn't the only issue here. However, this does sort of bring out the point:

Whether this is a good idea depends upon how the layout turns out.

 

[falcarrion]

True the layout would determine how useful it would be. But pdfs have there layout problems too. For example the Pathfinder core book pdf looks great on a computer.
but if you load it on a Kindle DX or Ipad some of the special characters and fonts don't translate. Thus you can have a word missing a few letters.

 

[falcarrion]

Also, part of the "Essentials" is the bits that you use to play the game. Electronic versions of character/monster tokens aren't very useful.

They can be if you print them out. I will not be surprised if the tokens from the red box will be on their website soon after the release for dowloading.

 

[Aeolius]

Books presented in standard kindle, ePub, or eBook format are not embracing technology to it's fullest. Envision interactive books, available as apps, which incorporate interactive graphics, video tutorials, social networking, and more:
[ame="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0QCAPv-IKuU"]iPad iMagineering - Penguin Books[/ame]

 

[Wild Gazebo]

Let me be clear. There is no resolution problem or clarity program...it is the speed and awkwardness of the viewing plane that makes the pdfs annoying. I can view the whole page and read it...but must hold it quite close because the text is very small. Scrolling back and forth with the zoom feature is, again, awkward and slow.

Regarding the images and charts: there would be no problem creating an ebook with charts...none. I would just be willing to give up all of the luxuries in exchange for that format.

As for the tech. I chose a kindle ripoff: the Kobo. I chose it for its...lack of tech. No that's not quite right. I enjoy that it feels like reading a book instead of staring at a computer screen--something that I do far too often. It is compatable with just about everything and is like reading a page in a book rather than a bright glossy touch screen. Its only problem, for me, is its memory...something that rarely bothers me as I mostly read ebooks as opposed to pdfs.