About Engine House E-books
What Are E-books?
Engine House E-books are electronic versions of books that have been typeset
and formatted for viewing on electronic book readers.
What format are the files?
The files are in standard PDF format, sized to fit a device whose viewing area is approximately
3.47 inches (88.2 mm) wide and 4.54 inches (115.4 mm) high. This is the size of,
for example, the Sony e-book readers.
Do the files implement any Digital Restrictions Management?
No; they are ordinary PDF files. The files are copyrighted, but they impose no digitally-managed
restrictions. We do expect purchasers to abide by applicable laws.
So what is the quality like?
The technology of e-books is not yet mature; however, we do the best possible job given the limitations
imposed by current hardware and software. We re-set the material especially for e-book viewers, to optimize
the look of pages on their relatively small screens.
You mentioned Sony readers; what about the Kindle?
The Kindle 1 and Kindle 2 use a proprietary format, and downloads in that format are available only
from Amazon, which requires signing a lengthy and not-very-friendly contract with Amazon. Since we
support free competition and the use of open standards, at present we cannot justify making e-books
available for the Kindle. Customers may, however, download our PDFs and convert them via Amazon's conversion
sevice so that they may be read on Kindle readers. We are told that this process works well.
What E-books are available?
The current selection is available from the E-books drop-down menu at the top of this page.
