Follett and Adobe Part Ways

On January 21, Follett, the leading distributor of book content to k–12 libraries, announced it is launching its own e-reader software. On its new Web site, Follett claims, “Adobe has announced that sometime in March it will discontinue support for the versions of Adobe Reader and Adobe Digital Editions that work with Follett eBooks.” In a story in Publishers Lunch, however, Bill McCoy, general manager of Adobe's digital publishing business unit, said that Follett books will still work with Adobe's readers.

Steve Siegel, v-p, e-content markets, for Follett Digital Resources, said, “We decided to create our own e-reader instead of hitching our digital strategy to somebody else's technology. It's not a knock at Adobe whatsoever. Our customers engage in content that's very rich in pictures, graphics and color, and we wanted to make sure that our tech could do all those things.”

Will the new reader support the e-pub standard? Siegel said no: “Publishers have continued to send us PDF files. If the publishing community says we'll stop giving you content if you don't take our ePub format, the first thing we'll say is send us your ePub.”

McCoy said that Follett e-books purchased before the switch to the new reader will still open in future versions of Adobe software. “We hope that over time,” said McCoy, “Follett sees the advantages of a cross-platform solution, and of industry standards.”