iBookStore or Kindle Store?

[lsquare]

Steve Jobs' biography is coming out on Monday and since I haven't made any commitment to either bookstore, I can start fresh. Which bookstore are you guys using? The most important thing for me is book selection and price. How are the book prices in iBookStore and how does that compare to the Kindle Store?

I don't have Macs at home, but I do use an iPhone 4 and iPad 2.

I know one of the advantage of the Kindle application is that it's platform agnostic. I know that I can load up the Kindle Store application in Android and continue reading from there. Other than that, are there any advantages of the Kindle Store to the iBookStore?

Even right now I've been trying to be platform agnostic because of the fluidity of the mobile sector. I don't want to be completely locked down with iOS. This is why I don't use iMessage and use Facebook Messenger so that I can continue the conversation with another platform. I do that with some other applications as well. Do you guys have a compelling reason to use iBookStore over the Kindle Store?

Thanks!

 

[EricNau]

The selection and pricing of both stores is basically identical; as a collaboration, Apple and publishers raised Kindle prices to match the iBookstore. Although I believe Amazon still offers slightly more titles.

(There's some pending litigation regarding this. I have small hopes that we'll see Kindle book prices drop as a result.)

I think it largely comes down to personal preference. I find my Kindle more enjoyable to read than a traditional screen (like on the iPad), so I purchased Steve Jobs for Kindle.

Kindle is also nice because it does work with non-Apple products and across virtually every platform. Plus, the devices tend to be cheaper (and as I mentioned, Apple doesn't make an e-ink reader).

 

[lsquare]

The selection and pricing of both stores is basically identical; as a collaboration, Apple and publishers raised Kindle prices to match the iBookstore. Although I believe Amazon still offers slightly more titles.

(There's some pending litigation regarding this. I have small hopes that we'll see Kindle book prices drop as a result.)

I think it largely comes down to personal preference. I find my Kindle more enjoyable to read than a traditional screen (like on the iPad), so I purchased Steve Jobs for Kindle.

Kindle is also nice because it does work with non-Apple products and across virtually every platform. Plus, the devices tend to be cheaper (and as I mentioned, Apple doesn't make an e-ink reader).

Thanks for the response. I don't actually have a Kindle and I don't intend to ever buy a Kindle. If I were to buy from the Kindle Store, I intend to use the Kindle app on the iPad 2 to read the book.

 

[spinedoc77]

I highly prefer the kindle app on the ipad versus the ibooks app, but that's just personal preference. The main reason I like the kindle app is they have the black background option which I find makes it MUCH easier on the eyes.

You are also right in that you can use the kindle one on anything you have the kindle app installed on. Currently I have the kindle app on a windows laptop, also a mac laptop (actually same laptop dual booted), an android phone, an ipad and 2 iphones. I'm not sure if ibooks has the same feature, but the kindle app syncs where you last were reading, syncs your bookmarks and notes, etc. to ALL devices, and it's pretty instant. So I can seamlessly go from one device to another. The only reason I use ibooks is it's nicer for viewing PDF files, they just seem to format better when using ibooks, but even then Goodreader or iAnnotate are nice options if you do a lot of PDF reading.

If you want both you can just extract the book from whichever app you purchased and use something like Calibre to change the format.

 

[Thetonyk123]

Kindle

 

[Liquidtrance]

Kindle, most of the books I am looking for (Cisco Exam Press Books) are MUCH cheaper on Kindle than the iBook store. Some of the iBook store prices are even more expensive than what you can get the physical book for. The prices I've compared between Amazon & Apple are usually night and day.


Kindle

 

[Randman]

Have Kindle but bought Steve Jobs for iBooks. Wanted to try it out for a comparison and it seemed a good choice for that.

 

[lsquare]

Does anyone here know if magazines for the Kindle Fire will be able for their Kindle App as well?

After giving it more thought, I really like the idea of the Kindle App and its cross platform abilities. I just realized that Kindle App is available for Windows Phone 7.5 as well. I wonder if the app's features is the same for all the platforms that it's available on?

 

[EricNau]

Does anyone here know if magazines for the Kindle Fire will be able for their Kindle App as well?

After giving it more thought, I really like the idea of the Kindle App and its cross platform abilities. I just realized that Kindle App is available for Windows Phone 7.5 as well. I wonder if the app's features is the same for all the platforms that it's available on?

From what I've seen, they seem pretty consistent. They also have the Cloud Reader available: no app required.

 

[dndlnx]

Kindle app for iPad. The advantage of kindle is cost, and the non-glassy "digital ink" display that mimics the book pages better. But that wouldn't be a deal breaker for me, if I was purchasing a portable reader.

 

[marc11]

For reading books I haven't found anything that beats a Kindle from a perspective of battery life, no eye strain, close to reading an actual book, capacity and ease of use. Add to that Amazon buying and shopping process, its back up and archive features, ability to share books on any registered Kindle app under your account and the Kindle was a no brainer for order the biography.

But for the OP, in your case, six of one, half a dozen of the other, Kindle App or iBooks, not sure there is much of a difference in the actual reading of the book.