Apple Rolls Out iBooks Feature Page

[RalfTheDog]

Apple needs to sign some agreements with those who publish college text books. I can't think of any group who (1) buys/reads more books and (2) hates the current state of affairs more than students. This group along could put e-books into the main stream.

The problem with collage text books is that printing and distribution are a very small part of the book cost. It costs quite a bit to write and edit a book (The editing is the hard part). When you publish a work of fiction you can recover the cost over a number of years. Fiction also has a much wider audience to defuse the cost. By the time a text book has hit the presses, it is already painfully out of date. You need to make your money back in one fast printing of a small number of books.

The one exception is 17th century English history books. No changes have happened to 17th century English history since the end of the 17th century.

 

[foodog]

No need to convert

Ok, so does anyone know if there is an app that can convert PDF to ePub on the mac?

It supports PDF files

 

[Mcgargle]

Anyone who has gone to film school and studied cinematography (and I have), can tell you that there is a very pronounced difference between reflected and direct light.

Oh good grief. If you really did study cinematography, you certainly didn't understand it. The very pronounced difference you're talking about refers to parallel versus divergent light. Parallel light (like from a blondie for instance) produces sharp-edged, dark shadows and specular highlights, because the light's, well, parallel. Divergent or diffuse light, like what comes off a bounce card, produces softer shadows because the light's coming in at a variety of different angles.

And of course none of this has anything to do with the light that enters the eye, since the eye has quite a small aperture.

Light from a backlit screen is diffuse, not parallel. So even if you had a point at all, you'd have gotten it backwards.

 

[knewsom]

Oh good grief. If you really did study cinematography, you certainly didn't understand it. The very pronounced difference you're talking about refers to parallel versus divergent light. Parallel light (like from a blondie for instance) produces sharp-edged, dark shadows and specular highlights, because the light's, well, parallel. Divergent or diffuse light, like what comes off a bounce card, produces softer shadows because the light's coming in at a variety of different angles.

And of course none of this has anything to do with the light that enters the eye, since the eye has quite a small aperture.

Light from a backlit screen is diffuse, not parallel. So even if you had a point at all, you'd have gotten it backwards.

Obviously computer screens are more diffuse than a flashlight - it was a bit of an exaggeration, but it's still less diffuse than light from a reflected matte display, or a piece of paper. It's the difference between using a Kino vs a bounce card. Kinos look more direct, unless the source is very near the bounce, and the bounce is highly reflective.

 

[cmaier]

I'm sorry, but you're wrong. Anyone who has gone to film school and studied cinematography (and I have), can tell you that there is a very pronounced difference between reflected and direct light. THAT is the difference between a backlit display and a reflected light display. One is inherently diffuse, whereas the other is inherently direct.

...why is this so difficult to grasp? It may be difficult to tell the difference, visually, if the device has a good contrast ratio and the brightness is properly adjusted, but that doesn't mean it's the same at all.

Turning down the brightness reduces the amount of photons leaving the device. How is that not different?

It's not different. The claim was there was some magical property of reflected light that makes it easier on the eyes. There isn't. Just like polarized light reflecting off metal on a sunny day hurts your eyes, it all has to do with how bright the light is, and how much contrast you have. That's it. A photon is a photon, and each photon that hits your eye from a reflection has the same physiological effect as each photon that hits your eye from a light source.

 

[Becordial]

I'm liking the idea of e-books, but I hate being told what to do.

Apple... convince us to use your iBookstore, by convincing publishers to drop all the DRM crap. It did good things for iTunes when your stopped with the DRM, now get back in there and do the same for the books.

 

[djrobsd]

If it has DRM, I won't be buying ebooks from Apple. There are two things I like about REAL books..

#1 I can find them used at my local used bookstore of Amazon.com for 50-75% off the original cover price.

#2 I can loan my book to a friend when I am done reading it so they too can enjoy it. (or they can loan theirs to me!)

I refuse to take part in anything that restricts my ability to do what I want with my content, ESPECIALLY since they will be charging the same or more money then I would normally pay elsewhere.

 

[sigjuice]

It supports PDF files

How about encrypted PDF files?

 

[knewsom]

It's not different. The claim was there was some magical property of reflected light that makes it easier on the eyes. There isn't. Just like polarized light reflecting off metal on a sunny day hurts your eyes, it all has to do with how bright the light is, and how much contrast you have. That's it. A photon is a photon, and each photon that hits your eye from a reflection has the same physiological effect as each photon that hits your eye from a light source.

There's nothing "magical" about it - with reflected light, the photons entering your eye are entering in more directions, and fewer of them are entering as well because the photons are not travelling parallel - this diffuses the light across your retina. Reflected light displays also correspond to the amount of ambient light, which your eyes automatically adjust for anyhow.

Also bear in mind there are different types of backlighting - CFL backlit displays are wonderfully diffuse, whereas LED backlit displays, I find, are much more direct - I experience more eye strain with my new iMac than I did with my old computer's CFL backlit display, even when I turn the brightness down. This is because there is a layer in the display that directs the side backlights at a 90 degree angle through the screen itself, resulting in light that is much more direct than a typical display. ...and tell me, is the iPad CFL, or LED?

 

[LAS.mac]

ePub may be the only format which Apple sells, but is there any information on whether the iBooks app will understand other formats besides ePub? I have accumulate a lot of PDF material over the years (some of which is encrypted). It would be rather inconvenient to have a different app for each different format.

I use, on my iPhone, an application called Papers.
http://mekentosj.com/iphone/

Although it's mainly devoted to scientific papers, in several formats (pdf too, clearly), it works quite well. It can be synced from mac to iphone, it allows full screen reading, etc. I don't know whether it will be ported to ipad, I hope so.

 

[justinfreid]

Amazon say whaaa

So will the Kindle app be available for the iPad?

 

[bigjnyc]

Will the iBooks app be available for the iPhone? has anybody read anything about that?

I use stanza now and its great but it would be nice to explore a new interface, and keep books in itunes along with all my other media.

 

[NT1440]

Apple needs to sign some agreements with those who publish college text books. I can't think of any group who (1) buys/reads more books and (2) hates the current state of affairs more than students. This group along could put e-books into the main stream.

THIS.

I can't wait until i can get all my textbooks on one device that had a form factor meant for reading as if your holding it. I HATE reading long PDFs off my laptop. It doesn't seem natural at all and the constant scrolling up and down annoys the **** out of me.

 

[kas23]

I use, on my iPhone, an application called Papers.
http://mekentosj.com/iphone/

Although it's mainly devoted to scientific papers, in several formats (pdf too, clearly), it works quite well. It can be synced from mac to iphone, it allows full screen reading, etc. I don't know whether it will be ported to ipad, I hope so.

I love this program. I have both the iPhone App and the desktop version. I hope the port it to the iPad too.

On a different note, you should check out Mendeley. It is like Papers, but your PDFs are also stored in a cloud so you can access them from any computer.

 

[cmaier]

There's nothing "magical" about it - with reflected light, the photons entering your eye are entering in more directions, and fewer of them are entering as well because the photons are not travelling parallel - this diffuses the light across your retina. Reflected light displays also correspond to the amount of ambient light, which your eyes automatically adjust for anyhow.
?

No, light from a display is not collimated light. It's not parallel. Travelling through the air diffuses the light similarly to light reflected from an e-ink display, particularly given the small relevant diameters in your eye. Certainly such light is no more collimated than light reflecting off the display.

 

[mambodancer]

I use, on my iPhone, an application called Papers.
http://mekentosj.com/iphone/

Although it's mainly devoted to scientific papers, in several formats (pdf too, clearly), it works quite well. It can be synced from mac to iphone, it allows full screen reading, etc. I don't know whether it will be ported to ipad, I hope so.

If it hasn't been mentioned the Stanza app for Macintosh converts between a wide variety of formats: epub, mobi, pdf, etc. It can even convert text to spoken audio and import it into iTunes as an audiobook.

 

[angrynstupid]

The problem with collage text books is that printing and distribution are a very small part of the book cost. It costs quite a bit to write and edit a book (The editing is the hard part).

Actually most of the cost goes towards buying paper, printing and shipping. Publishers like to tell you different.

 

[DaveTheRave]

Hours of reading on that screen? People will see by e-ink was the chosen method before the iPad.

Stupid question, but I'll ask anyway....Can't you test this right now by downloading the Amazon's Kindle for Mac app, buy a Kindle book (no Kindle necessary, I think, just the Mac app), and read it to see if your eyes hurt or not? If they do, then reconsider whether the IPad will be acceptable to you for reading/buying books.

EDIT: Never mind - I see on Amazon's website that the Kindle app isn't available yet. I was also assuming that a Mac screen will be the same as an Ipad screen. Maybe it wont be the same.

 

[firewood]

Get light diffusing glasses for reading on the iPad. I think these will become more and more popular. Some people who use computers all day long use them to take the strain off their eyes but they just haven't become that mainstream yet. With the rise of tablets I think you will see more and more of them.

And where, praytell, might one find said glasses?

I smell a business opportunity for some company making ipad sized matte/privacy display overlays.

 

[petercooper]

This image, like other previews of iBooks, shows fully justified text.. please let that be user customizable! Fully justified text is harder to read than ragged right text (the most common type on the Web). Fully justified text can "kinda" work in regularly printed newspapers and paperbacks, but it's not optimal and was only brought in as a practice to save paper.. not an issue with e-book readers.

 

[ogee]

The one exception is 17th century English history books. No changes have happened to 17th century English history since the end of the 17th century.

Very true. 16th C French history is constantly changing.

 

[slffl]

If it has DRM, I won't be buying ebooks from Apple. There are two things I like about REAL books..

#1 I can find them used at my local used bookstore of Amazon.com for 50-75% off the original cover price.

#2 I can loan my book to a friend when I am done reading it so they too can enjoy it. (or they can loan theirs to me!)

I refuse to take part in anything that restricts my ability to do what I want with my content, ESPECIALLY since they will be charging the same or more money then I would normally pay elsewhere.

You do realize that the same could be said for music/CDs right? And look where the iPod and iTunes store is at now. Go ahead and stick with your books. I'm sure you'll also enjoy your vinyl as well.

 

[SPUY767]

It supports PDF files

I just hope that it gives the same level of quality with PDFs as with ePubs. I have a ton of books that I'd love to load on one but they're all in PDF Format.

 

[SPUY767]

You do realize that the same could be said for music/CDs right? And look where the iPod and iTunes store is at now. Go ahead and stick with your books. I'm sure you'll also enjoy your vinyl as well.

I love vinyl. If you take car of it, it produces a much richer and organic sound than CD's. Sounds great over a good quality sound system.