000 & 111

I've been hearing a lot of talk over the last few years about how eBook sales have gone down steadily from their initial rise onto the book scene. After the heights of 2013-2014, market share has steadily decreased, including an 18% decrease in May 2016.

It's hard to tell if this decline is for reading digital content altogether or if people just don't want to pay for eBooks. When I look out, I see a proprietary landscape full of uni-functional eReading devices that are controlled by a few companies. But when I look out at the rest of the digital world, I see a plethora of devices that can use apps and browsers. Because of the proprietary nature of eReaders, people must choose which platform they will "go with" as their preferred eBook solution.

In response to this proprietary problem, I'm presenting uBooks (Universal Books). They are web-based, browser-based alternatives to what we have always known as platform-specific eBooks (files that end with .mobi, .epub, etc).

You might be thinking, "Okay, great. What is a uBook?"

A uBook is essentially a website or web app that holds the content of a single, full book. It offers navigation and features chapters or divisions, just like an historic eBook. The advantages of the open web over proprietary eBook systems that we have now are numerous. Here are some of the best ones I've thought of:

• Cross-platform
• Cross-browser
• Offline capable
• No reliance on proprietary marketplaces
• No download necessary
• SEO-friendly
• Mobile-first/Responsive
• Small (Light)
• Fast
• Simple codebase for developers
• No sacrifice in UI/UX
• Media features are powerful and easy to implement
• Searchable
• Compatible with a CMS (e.g., WordPress)
• Can be printed
• Capable of being divided in multiple ways (1-page or multi-page)
• One base form can hold multiple types of content
• Using one code base, the book can be internationalized (translated) into multiple languages

It seems no good to tout such an idea without creating a demo first, so I created a demo that you can view here:

eBooks are a great resource for authors and for readers. They're cheap to buy and produce, easily accessible, can be read offline, and you can carry a ton of them in a small package. But there are some downsides to eBooks. So what are the pain points of eBooks and how can we solve some of them while still preserving the valuable aspects of having eBooks?

Pain Points for Consumers

• Not very transferrable across devices
• Downloading and keeping track of books
• Getting books from quality publishers
• How to choose an eReading device

Pain Points for Creators/Authors

• Proprietary platforms
• Proprietary marketplaces
• A code base for every platform
• Requires the use of third-party software for file creation
• Accepts only the most basic code and design

Introducing uBooks

All of these pain points can be solved by creating Universal Books (uBooks). These samll, cross-platform electronic books are great because they are created using only HTML, CSS, and Javascript so they are cross-platform and do not specifically require an eReading device to read, although you can read them on an eReader of your choice. Each book is like a mini-website or web app that you can open in any browser on any device (including a huge tv, if you really wanted to). In this way, they are truly universal. Even open it on your eReader's browser (I'm thinking Kindle, specifically) and enjoy the benefits of the paperwhite screen but without getting locked into the Amazon universe.

For developers, the simplicity of the code base makes digital book creation much simpler. There is no third-party software to download and no special XML commands to learn. It's just plain HTML, CSS, and Javascript. Since the code is standard across all browsers, there will only be one code base to maintain. The nightmare of producing and keeping track of several files for specific platforms is over. Plus, there are no proprietary marketplaces to deal with. Finally, there is so much more that you can do when you are creating a website. Developers can finally be set free from the limitations of the eReaders.

Proprietary eReaders and platforms have opened the world to the possibility of reading books on a device. It's time to take the next evolution in digital books and begin producing and adopting uBooks.

Want to see it in action? A demo uBook is available! Read Moby Dick online

I received word that the Mozilla Developers Network (@MozDevNet) included me in their most recent newsletter! I saw they had put out a call on Twitter for developers to show off what they've been doing with CSS Grid. I've been working with Grid for several months and put together a collection of pens on Codepen and submitted that to MDN. After not hearing from them for a couple of weeks I decided to reach out and see if they used it. Here's the response:

@BrianHaferkamp Indeed it did! :) here's a screenshot! Our newsletter is here: https://t.co/owOa1cSQrM (in case you are curious) Thanks! pic.twitter.com/gMxU5GsYQq

— MDN (@MozDevNet) March 3, 2017

I'm not sure necessarily what this means. It's obviously good. I'm excited to be recognized by people I admire in the field. And I hope this collection of pens is something others can use as we prepare for the world-changing features that is CSS Grid.

You can check out the Codepen collection here