9.0

Hardware, operating systems, and
formats
When you're thinking about publishing to handheld devices, it's good to know as much
as possible about the hardware, operating systems, and formats currently available for such
devices.
Hardware
It's important to know which types of hardware you want to make your content available
on because different devices have different advantages and disadvantages. For example:
• Physical size: If you're designing content for delivery on a smaller screen, you probably
want to design it differently than you would for a larger screen. When designing for a
large screen, you might augment the table of contents with thumbnail previews for each
item — but on a smaller screen, you might want to keep thumbnail images to a minimum.
On smaller screens, you might also want to give serious thought to providing access to all
of your content in reflow view.
• Resolution: When designing on a computer monitor, keep in mind that the resolution
you're designing at might be different from the resolution your content will be viewed at.
If the resolution of your monitor is significantly higher or lower than the resolution of
the device you're designing for, you need to keep that difference in mind during design.
It also means you should do usability testing with your content early on, to avoid
committing yourself to a design that may be unreadable when viewed on the target device.
• Network access: Does the device you're designing for have constant access to the Internet?
Or is it designed to download content only from a proprietary server, like the Amazon
Kindle? If the device has constant access to the network, is it only at a limited speed or
limited file size? You need to know the answers to these questions if you're planning to
provide on-the-fly downloadable content such as updates or magazine issues.
• User interface: Selecting and zooming are a major part of the experience of consuming
content on a digital device. Does the device you're designing for have a touch screen? If
so, what gestures does it support? If you're designing for multiple devices, do you know
what kind of gestures they all support? Does every device you want to use support multiple
orientations?
10 | DIGITAL PUBLISHING WITH QUARKXPRESS 9
HARDWARE, OPERATING SYSTEMS, AND FORMATS