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All iPads I wanna start reading, do I just look for an app that has books?
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iBooks, Kindle, Google Play, or OverDrive. The latter allows you to download and read e-books through your local library. You need a library card, but it's a pretty nifty app.
If you have an amazon account I highly suggest the kindle app. Go on amazon and find some books that interest you and get a free sample. If you enjoy it then buy the whole book. If you have iTunes credit then do the same thing through iBooks
I have both Kindle and OverDrive. Overdrive books are free as long as your local library provides the service. Kindle books you need to pay for. I bought my iPad mostly for reading books since I can change font size which helps my eyes.
Both Kindle and Overdrive have good points.
It's worth having both if you have a local library that supports OverDrive. Kindle for books you buy is great if you buy books.
Both Kindle and Overdrive have good points.
It's worth having both if you have a local library that supports OverDrive. Kindle for books you buy is great if you buy books.
Buy a Kindle Paperwhite, it's only $119 and is the best reader at any price.
I use my iPad 4 & iPad mini for everything else.
Nothing beats a purpose built reader like the Paperwhite. Period.
For anyone that reads, I wholeheartedly agree that you should get a Paperwhite. I own an iPad mini and a Paperwhite, and while I read sometimes on my mini, I mostly prefer my Paperwhite, it's a great device.
What I wanted to add to the conversation was that there is a great site where you can get free eBooks in any number of formats: Project Gutenberg. They take books no longer in copyright and make them available for download, it's legal and free. Amazon also has quite a few books that are free for download (and I don't think you need an actual Kindle, just the Kindle app on an iPad or on your iMac will suffice I think). If you like classics, those two are great places to find loads and loads of great free stuff. As an aside, if you like audiobooks, LibriVox has audio versions of some of these same books you can get free in other places. I trawl Amazon's free (some can be as much as £.77) books and find some real gems in there from time to time.
The other thing is that you should get the free ebook library software, Calibre. It not only manages your eBook library (and does it well), but it'll fetch RSS feeds from websites and magazines and newspapers and send them to your reader in eBook format, which is quite cool - you can end up reading something like the New York Times (or any major newspaper or magazine) on your eReader, and it'll even put a Table of Contents together. Really cool stuff out there for eReaders!
A good place to start is your local public library. Why get into the fuss of ebook readers, various accounts etc, only to find you hate the activity.
Check with the library and see if they rent ebooks and the time period available. I have found it's generally 2-3 weeks. If you can read a book in that time, great. If you are a slow reader or don't have a lot of time, not so much.
If their system sounds okay to you, find out from the staff what app you need and how the system works.
The other alternative you can use, particularly if you are into classics over current titles or are willing to 'go classic' for the point of testing it out is Apple's iBooks app. Once you have that you can access their store. There are tons of public domain books that are free. And they do a free book of the week although the style of book varies. But you can get something like Charles Dickens, Mark Twain etc for free as a test run
Once you've decided you are okay with reading off the ipad you can either stick with the library books or buy authors you know you like, download samples of other folks to taste before buying etc. from iBooks
I use all of the above, plus here's a little gem: if you are on Facebook, like BookBub and register. They will send you a daily email with free books available on Amazon, iTunes and Nook. There are also some for $.99. Most of the books are light reading. But, there are some true hidden gems.
In general, the app you use will depend on where you're getting your books. If you're buying from iTunes, you'll need the iBooks app. If you're buying books from Amazon; the Kindle app. If you're borrowing books from the library, there'll be an app for that (check with your library). Then, there are sources of free books that you can get through these apps and others.
To get your feet wet, download iBooks and look for some free books.
Regards,
Tom
I use the Kindle app as well as the iBook app. I do prefer the iBook app though.
The nice thing with the Kindle app is that I could read my purchases on just about any device that I have and that includes the MacBook Pro, iPad 3, iPad mini, iPhone 5 and even a Kindle touch. Another nice thing about Kindle they have a larger selection of free books available.
The nice thing with the Kindle app is that I could read my purchases on just about any device that I have and that includes the MacBook Pro, iPad 3, iPad mini, iPhone 5 and even a Kindle touch. Another nice thing about Kindle they have a larger selection of free books available.
Yes, some Kindle books can be loaned to other Kindle users. Under product details look for Lending (as shown in the picture). The ability to lend is determined by the publisher.
Attachments
Huh?
Amazon has a better of variety of ebooks (made by publishers) then Apple does. Amazon has been doing it about 4 years longer then Apple.
The only difference between the relationship between publishers and Apple or Amazon is that Apple takes a bigger cut of the purchase price then Amazon does.
If you like science fiction, then go to http://www.baen.com/ they have a good selection of free (and otherwise) books, and you can get them emailed to your kindle application, so it will pop up on your ipad automatically.
EDIT: looks like I am behind the times. Baen now offers free and purchase books directly through Amazon:
http://www.amazon.com/s/ref=nb_sb_noss_1?url=search-alias=digital-text&field-keywords=baen+books
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This is not true. Before Apple came along Amazon took 70% of revenue for e-book purchases. Apple only takes 30%. I know. I work directly for a VERY large publisher. We've had discussions at work about this and other topics before and after Apple released their iBooks app. I'm not encouraging anyone to buy from the iBooks store. I'm telling them to buy from the publisher directly. You can have all versions of the file and iBooks APP not store supports all non proprietary formats for e-books.
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