Amazon Releases Free 'Kindle for iPhone' Application

[kas23]

on another Note i wonder how this will hurt Kindle Sales.

I can't really see this hurting Kindle sales because Kindle sales are already down in the dumps to begin with. They only sold about 200,000 of the first generation and the 2G doesn't really add that much besides memory. I'm sure they would sell a lot more if they dropped the price by half - I definitely would buy one.

So, if anything, this is just likely going to boost books sold by Amazon. Some websites sell ebooks the same price as physical hardcovers. I don't see how they can do this because it definitely costs money to print physical books. If you cut that part out, shouldn't the price drop (instead of their profits going up)? $9.99 for books seems a lot more reasonable.

As for people quick to shoot down reading ebooks on their iPhone, please give it a try. I was the same way at first, I didn't want to try. However, I find that you can read in the dark, which is a big plus for people in bed with spouses and trying to read. All you do is invert the colors; white words on a black background. And don't use a reading program that makes you scroll pages - it's too hard because you have to use 2 hands then. Use a program where you can tape the side of the screen to advance the page (like Stanza).

 

[macfan881]

im planning on buying a book unfotrunetly i gotta hold of till payday for that.

 

[alphaod]

Good complementary app.

Still like my Kindle more though.

 

[illitrate23]

this is a cool move by amazon
i wouldn't buy a Kindle - if i want to read a book, i don't want to have to carry around yet another electronic device, so if i'm going to have to carry some else in my bag, i'd rather is was a paper book

but if i can put the book onto a device i'm already carrying, i.e. my iphone, then that's perfect.
my only question is what books are available? the reason i've never become much of an e-book reader so far is that none of the books i want to read (which are mainly new releases by less well known british authors) are never available in e-book format.

 

[alphaod]

my only question is what books are available?

http://www.amazon.com/Books-Kindle/..._rd_t=101&pf_rd_p=469959571&pf_rd_i=133141011

 

[maknik]

So anyone want to make bets on the over-under for when books sales for the Kindle reader on iPhone outnumber sales for the physical Kindle? 3 months, 6 months, a year? I certainly won't be surprised when it does outpace the Kindle reader itself, though I imagine Amazon won't be too eager to provide comparative data.

 

[4ndr3w]

Does the iPhone still automatically dim the screen while this app is open? Because I don't want to have to keep touching the screen to be able to read the text. It's a deal breaker.

 

[CitizenSnips]

Question though - how many of you would prefer to sit/lie/curl up with an electronic screen (even the Kindle's) to forgo the purchase of real hard copy book? just wondering here.

It's actually not as bad as it sounds . I wasn't sure myself, but after using Stanza (and eventually Comic Zeal ) I love having all my latest reads with me wherever i go.

I don't really know how necessary a kindle app is though, since you can add new titles to your stanza library whenever... Unless of course you have a number of titles from Amazon already.

i've never become much of an e-book reader so far is that none of the books i want to read (which are mainly new releases by less well known british authors) are never available in e-book format

This is where I run into problems. Good, relatively new e-books are kinda hard to find..

 

[Flowbee]

Does the iPhone still automatically dim the screen while this app is open? Because I don't want to have to keep touching the screen to be able to read the text. It's a deal breaker.

Well, considering the pages on the iPhone are very short, unless you're a verrrry slow reader you'll be touching the screen often enough (to turn the pages) that screen dimming shouldn't be an issue.

 

[alphaod]

So anyone want to make bets on the over-under for when books sales for the Kindle reader on iPhone outnumber sales for the physical Kindle? 3 months, 6 months, a year? I certainly won't be surprised when it does outpace the Kindle reader itself, though I imagine Amazon won't be too eager to provide comparative data.

Again, Amazon's core business is selling books.

The most sales for them the better. Besides have you tried staring at the iPod/iPhone screen for hours on?

 

[kresh]

Too little, too late. I am perfectly happy with "Bookz Reader + Dictionary". I have already read over a hundred novels using this app.

This $4.99 app saved me from buying a Kindle and since it took Amazon practically forever to release a Kindle app for the iPhone/iPod Touch platform they missed my needs completely!

 

[Flowbee]

Anyone else having trouble buying a book on Amazon? I've installed the app on my phone and entered my email and password to register the device... so far so good. But when I try to buy a kindle book on Amazon, it tells me no device is registered and won't let me buy one.

Maybe the system isn't fully up and running yet.

EDIT: After logging out and back in, turns out that for book purchases my iPhone is registered... Just not for magazine purchases. Looks like they have a little more roll-out to finish up.

 

[okrelayer]

i was really thinking about getting a kindle, if only to buy books for 9.99 or less. Now i dont think i have to. I read once or twice a day for about an hour. So the battery is not a huge deal on the iPhone. I am used to stairing at computer screens all day, so the eye strain i am quite accustom.

Now if i was able to reference, and read the books on my computer through the amazon webpage, of software THAT would be icing on the cake. I will be buying my first kindle/iPhone/eBook very very soon.

kudos amazon.

 

[tufaw]

I think this is a great complement to the Kindle: at home you read on the Kindle, when on the go you continue reading using your iPhone. Of course you can bring the Kindle on the go too, but it's a bit of an overkill if you're just reading NYT.

Great move by Amazon, now I'm only waiting for them to introduce it internationally. (Publishers: please!)

 

[Jeremy81]

Good complementary app.

Still like my Kindle more though.

Completely agree. I think it will be great to read a few pages here and there but not an entire book. It's hard to explain to non Kindle users how much better it is to read with an e-ink screen.

 

[sherthang]

It's actually not as bad as it sounds . I wasn't sure myself, but after using Stanza (and eventually Comic Zeal ) I love having all my latest reads with me wherever i go.

I don't really know how necessary a kindle app is though, since you can add new titles to your stanza library whenever... Unless of course you have a number of titles from Amazon already.



This is where I run into problems. Good, relatively new e-books are kinda hard to find..

The Kindle store has many more mainstream books that ereader.com or fictionwise.com and the prices can't be beat. $10 on amazon, $26 on fictionwise for the same book. Now if stanza will read kindle drm books, that would be nice as its interface has many more options

 

[okrelayer]

yeah the price of the ebooks and the amazon namesake makes their ebook service a killer.

 

[Michael CM1]

I'm sure Jobs and his friends read. I bet most successful people do. His quote that "people don't read anymore" was based on a statistic that 40% of people in the U.S. read one book or less in 2007.

Here is the relevant passage from the New York Times:
"It doesn’t matter how good or bad the product is, the fact is that people don’t read anymore," he said. "Forty percent of the people in the U.S. read one book or less last year. The whole [Kindle] conception is flawed at the top because people don’t read anymore."

Insert the word "books" between "read" and "anymore" and it doesn't sound so crazy. Many people obviously read, but a lot of them (ahem, me) do most of their reading on a computer screen. I work for a newspaper and hardly read the finished print copy. However, I'm ALWAYS reading AP news on my computers and iPhone, and I also use the NY Times and USA Today apps.

I do sorta agree with SJ. I think the Kindle is flawed because all it lets you do is read books, newspapers and magazines (right?). That's great if you're a bookworm, but it's just not enough to pry $359 away from a lot of people. Obviously there's a market for it, but I don't see "huge" success for it unless the price drops and the device evolves into more.

That being said, I'm very interested to try this app out. I think eBooks have a future, but there's a lot to work out -- namely people like JK Rowling objecting to them because she thinks we should all read the paper version. Well, I have a hard copy of each Harry Potter book. Maybe I want to carry a version around on my iPhone that is more portable than a big, thick book.

 

[Andrew K.]

I'm sure Jobs and his friends read. I bet most successful people do. His quote that "people don't read anymore" was based on a statistic that 40% of people in the U.S. read one book or less in 2007.

Here is the relevant passage from the New York Times:
"It doesn’t matter how good or bad the product is, the fact is that people don’t read anymore," he said. "Forty percent of the people in the U.S. read one book or less last year. The whole [Kindle] conception is flawed at the top because people don’t read anymore."

True, I have only read one book a year, but I just bought the new kindle 2, my sister already has it and the e-ink screen ( though sounds like a step back ) Is something you have to experience in person before you shun it out all together. The Kindle 2 has re-ignited my interest in reading more. So even though Jobs thought it was a flawed product, amazon has proven to respark some interest in reading again in alot of people.

First and foremost it's an eBook Reader, so I wish people would stop complaining for things it doesn't have like a color screen, when's the last you read novel with pictures? I know it may be good for textbooks and some other pics for newspapers and blogs in the future, but right now I think it is packaged well for what it is aimed for. The design is excellent and 2gb for books and maybe some subscriptions is enough for me, plus I got mine for $300 so I couldn't beat that.

Also I bet if Apple eventually came out with one it would be called the iBook, haha

 

[knightlie]

Very much doubt it.

Yeah, I doubt it too, but if they did this outside the US I'd get an iPod Touch for this alone. Great news.

 

[ebrunn]

Can anybody get newspapers and magazines to sync over? It keeps saying my phone isnt registered. Works fine with books though.

 

[Jeonat]

Wow... I wasn't expecting this to happen! But it's good for everyone in my view - Amazon because they can market their ebooks to a greater audience, and the consumer because they can get premium book content on the phone without having to buy another device.

Unfortunately I can't try it out being in the UK... so do some negotiating across the pond please Amazon!

 

[alphaod]

Can anybody get newspapers and magazines to sync over? It keeps saying my phone isnt registered. Works fine with books though.

Only works with books; besides you can only sync your magazine and newspapers to one Kindle.

Unfortunately I can't try it out being in the UK... so do some negotiating across the pond please Amazon!

I think you can still buy books from the US Kindle store; though you may have to download the application from the US iTunes store as well.

 

[talkingfuture]

This plays into my theory that the Kindle is aimed to "Kindle" the e-book market so that Amazon can go back to selling content rather than hardware.

I am so convinced I reckon there certainly won't be a Kindle 4 and maybe not even a Kindle 3.

 

[ebrunn]

darn