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Kindle Software for Mac Under Development

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Amazon yesterday announced the launch of "Kindle for PC", a free Windows application that will allow users to read e-Books purchased from the company's Kindle Store on their computers. While the news release made no mention of a Mac version of the application, Fast Company reports (via 9 to 5 Mac) that a Mac version is in fact under development.
An Amazon spokesperson told me late Thursday: "Yes, we are working on a Kindle app for Mac."
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Amazon has worked to quickly broaden access to its Kindle Store content beyond the original Kindle hardware launched in late 2007. In addition to several new models released since that time, the company has pushed Kindle Store content to the iPhone with the release of a free iPhone application and an iPhone-optimized Kindle Store accessible through Safari. Earlier this month, Amazon also announced an international version of the Kindle hardware that allows global access to Kindle Store content.

Apple has reportedly been looking to pursue e-Book-like capabilities with its much-rumored tablet device, but is rumored to be taking things even further in an attempt to redefine print media by creating interactive experiences for users.

Article Link: Kindle Software for Mac Under Development
 
Article Link
https://www.macrumors.com/2009/10/23/kindle-software-for-mac-under-development/
Whew! They had me worried. I've been shouting at Amazon for this for a long time. Can't have the iPod of e-books without the iTunes of e-books....
 
How long will it be till the rest of the World outside America will have access to this? Kindle itself has only just become available internationally after how long? and the iPhone app is still US only.

Come on Jobsy, let's see what you can do.
 
NightFox said:
How long will it be till the rest of the World outside America will have access to this? Kindle itself has only just become available internationally after how long? and the iPhone app is still US only.

Come on Jobsy, let's see what you can do.
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I don't think this has anything to to do with Jobs unless APple wants to get into the ebook business. Of course if they do, they are going to face the same problems that Jeff Bezos and any other company that resells intellectual property on an international basis faces - a lot.
 
I don't know about this one... Reading books of my macbook sounds like one hell of a headache waiting to happen but it would be lighter on the back to have to just carry a laptop instead of that and a book
 
Why are Mac versions always an afterthought? Don't people know by now that OS X is where it's at nowadays? Long gone are the days of 1% marketshare.
 
This could be very useful as it would add some depth to the Kindle platform and remove the need to buy a Kindle before you get into eBooks. I could see some people downloading books, reading them on computer and then upgrading to the full Kindle reader experience.
 
pdjudd said:
I don't think this has anything to to do with Jobs unless APple wants to get into the ebook business. Of course if they do, they are going to face the same problems that Jeff Bezos and any other company that resells intellectual property on an international basis faces - a lot.
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Nah, like the second half of your post I meant come on Jobsy, give us something like Kindle but with added Apple Magic™ (that's "Magic" as in wonderful, not as in mouse) 😉
 
krye said:
Why are Mac versions always an afterthought? Don't people know by now that OS X is where it's at nowadays? Long gone are the days of 1% marketshare.
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Developing anything for a separate platform involves extra work. Sometimes thats how it is. Companies sometime prioritize their work based on market share.
 
Depends upon the book.

Ericatomars said:
I don't know about this one... Reading books of my macbook sounds like one hell of a headache waiting to happen but it would be lighter on the back to have to just carry a laptop instead of that and a book
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While I can agree with you with respect to books read for pleasure that isn't every book in my library. The fact is I'd love to have all my reference books, manuals and so forth in a common format. The problem is that format should be PDF for plain text.

Dave
 
Kindle vs ...?

What we don't know is what Apple is doing with their rumored tablet device.

What we do know is that Amazon has the Kindle -- a device I simply cannot find a way to like.

What we do know is that Barnes & Noble has introduced their own eBook reader -- a device that really does have my interest.

I'm waiting for several reasons. If this were a competition between devices already on the market, B&N has my money. Apple may change that opinion.
 
Vulpinemac said:
What we don't know is what Apple is doing with their rumored tablet device.

What we do know is that Amazon has the Kindle -- a device I simply cannot find a way to like.

What we do know is that Barnes & Noble has introduced their own eBook reader -- a device that really does have my interest.

I'm waiting for several reasons. If this were a competition between devices already on the market, B&N has my money. Apple may change that opinion.
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Hmm . . I must say . . I concur. :apple:
 
Vulpinemac said:
What we don't know is what Apple is doing with their rumored tablet device.

What we do know is that Amazon has the Kindle -- a device I simply cannot find a way to like.

What we do know is that Barnes & Noble has introduced their own eBook reader -- a device that really does have my interest.

I'm waiting for several reasons. If this were a competition between devices already on the market, B&N has my money. Apple may change that opinion.
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I feel the same way. I started using Kindle on iPhone and like it, but I have been annoyed that there is no Mac support and I do not like the Kindle device at all.

I planned on buying all future eBooks via Barnes and Noble.

Really hope Apple builds a Tablet and makes this a lot easier.
 
wizard said:
While I can agree with you with respect to books read for pleasure that isn't every book in my library. The fact is I'd love to have all my reference books, manuals and so forth in a common format. The problem is that format should be PDF for plain text.

Dave
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Why PDF? Why not just simple, plain, text? Or rather, RTF. The only formatting needed is paragraph tabbing, spacing and the occasional centered header. PDF locks you into specific page structure. RTF allows the page to adapt to the size of the display and still keep the text at a readable size.

I'm perfectly happy with Stanza on my iPhone; I tried the Kindle software and couldn't do a thing with it. I couldn't change text color, I couldn't change formatting, and I certainly didn't like the prices of their available library. So far my Stanza and every book in it has been free. (Project Gutenberg, I love you!)
 
Vulpinemac said:
I'm perfectly happy with Stanza on my iPhone; I tried the Kindle software and couldn't do a thing with it. I couldn't change text color, I couldn't change formatting, and I certainly didn't like the prices of their available library. So far my Stanza and every book in it has been free. (Project Gutenberg, I love you!)
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You can change text color and size on the Kindle for iPhone app. What sort of problems were you having with formatting?
 
IgnatiusTheKing said:
You can change text color and size on the Kindle for iPhone app. What sort of problems were you having with formatting?
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How about White on Black? How about changing fonts to a more readable style? Of course, maybe it's just because Amazon bought Stanza that the Kindle app gained these abilities. I tried it before they bought Stanza.
 
pdjudd said:
I don't think this has anything to to do with Jobs unless APple wants to get into the ebook business. Of course if they do, they are going to face the same problems that Jeff Bezos and any other company that resells intellectual property on an international basis faces - a lot.
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.......You do realize Apple has years of experience in that area with music rights for iTunes? IP is IP, no matter what type of media, there's always some tough road to pave.

krye said:
Why are Mac versions always an afterthought? Don't people know by now that OS X is where it's at nowadays? Long gone are the days of 1% marketshare.
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There are far more programmers experienced with Windows than there are Mac programmers. Christ, there's more Windows programmers than there are Mac and Linux users combined.

Amazon probably doesn't have any Mac programmers in their staff atm, so they need to expand their resources and that always take time. They need people who have extensive knowledge of Obj-C or they may be paying their current programmers for Obj-C training; either way, they both require a lot of time.

Vulpinemac said:
Why PDF? Why not just simple, plain, text? Or rather, RTF. The only formatting needed is paragraph tabbing, spacing and the occasional centered header. PDF locks you into specific page structure. RTF allows the page to adapt to the size of the display and still keep the text at a readable size.

I'm perfectly happy with Stanza on my iPhone; I tried the Kindle software and couldn't do a thing with it. I couldn't change text color, I couldn't change formatting, and I certainly didn't like the prices of their available library. So far my Stanza and every book in it has been free. (Project Gutenberg, I love you!)
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PDF because it retains the tables, code syntex structure and so on. RTF sucks at those. Reference Manuals aren't that good in RTF, they only work well in PDF. Also, there are reflowable PDFs that will adapt to the size of the display, it's just that many PDF aren't optimized to include reflowing technology.

Stanza on iPhone may be nice but there are people like me who read for hours on end and iPhone just doesn't work. Books or Kindle are the best way to do this. Kindle for Mac might help for some short breaks and it might read better on 24" monitor than 4" iPhone. It'll save the battery for our iPhone cuz dude, the battery life sucks as it is without Stanza reading.
 
Vulpinemac said:
How about White on Black? How about changing fonts to a more readable style? Of course, maybe it's just because Amazon bought Stanza that the Kindle app gained these abilities. I tried it before they bought Stanza.
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They have white on black, black on white and brown on beige ("sepia"). You can't change the font but you can change the size of the text.

I think the font might be book-specific, because I've noticed differences from book-to-book and even different fonts within books (such as between header and body text). I guess it doesn't bother me because I'm still used to regular (non-"e") books.
 
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