Months into the Battle: iBooks or Kindle for iPad?

What is Your eBook Reading Software Solution on Your iPad?

  • iBooks

    Votes: 39 45.3%

  • Kindle, and I do not own an actual Kindle device

    Votes: 30 34.9%

  • Kindle, and I do own an actual Kindle device

    Votes: 17 19.8%
  • Total voters
    86
X

xomphos

macrumors newbie
I recently purchased an iPad and am looking to start reading eBooks. Looking at the reading apps available on the ipad, there are two major contenders: iBooks and Kindle. I currently do not own a Kindle or do I know if I will be purchasing one soon; however, I want the platform I buy into to be supported well into the future because of things like DRM and how content works in the long run. What e-reading app do you use, even if you don't have a Kindle?
 
You forgot the nook ...

Personally I use the iPad with:
- Kindle App - I already had a decent set of ebooks there.
- nook App - bought my wife a nook for Anniversary, and so we can share books that way. Sweet!
- iBooks - all of those books from MobiPocket, eReader, MS Reader, and on and on through the wasteland of lost eBook formats of the last two decades, reformatted to ePub in Calibri.
 
iBooks app > Kindle app IMO.

But when you add in selection plus the ability to read my books on many more devices (PC, Mac, Kindle, Android, etc.) makes the kindle app better for me.
 
I have all three ebook apps on my iPad. Most of the ebooks I have are in iBooks, but I do have several in the kindle app since I had that app on my iPhone long before I had the iPad. due to the iPhone size I never really used it as much as I've used the iPad for reading. I also have the Nook app on my iPad and all three seem to offer similar features. The kindle app though, seems to have the widest selection of titles.
 
It depends what you need. I like Stanza the best because it has no distracting graphics like iBooks has, it reads anything I throw into it, integrates to "Open In" dialogue which together with Dropbox and my eBook collection there is a killer combo.

On the other hand when I am looking for books in English to buy I always use Kindle. Amazon offer is great and Kindle sync automatically across all my devices.
 
From the 2 iBooks I have in my collection I have found I like the way of reading within iBooks but Amazon (and B&N) have a better selection to choose from :)

If only I could add Kindle/Nook books to the iBooks app then I'd be happy :)

Edit: I'd like to add that looking through the Nook selection it seems 100x better than Kindle so I'd place B&N Nookbook Store in first :)
 
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The kindle interface blows. It has the biggest and best selection of books, yet it ranks very close to the bottom on user interface. iBooks is way better to read on than Kindle, but it has a piss poor selection of books. Stanza is cool interface. Nook, kobo, borders, free books, and just about all book reader apps to download have a more intuitive design for the reader than Kindle.

I am so disappointed with Kindle. The actual e-reading devices sold by Kindle have a really cool interface and if you ask me they left out the reader experience on the iPad App intentionally so that they would not lose market share on the electronic devices.

They rank at the bottom on feel and reading. I feel like I am reading off a blank piece of paper on the Kindle.
 
Right now? The Kindle App as the Kindle Store currently has a better selection than iBooks. It also syncs my purchases across several platforms including my MBP, my Windows Desktop and eventually my BlackBerry (in Canada the BB Kindle app does not yet work...or at least didn't the last time I tried).

I can see myself purchasing more iBooks down the road simply because I frequently get iTunes cards for gifts and get use those to buy books.
 
And you can redownload all of your digital content at any time with Amazon.com. I have had so many issues with iTunes and have lost so much content with no easy way to just redownload what I have paid for.

I am even doing Amazon for my music download too.
 
Why can there not just be one store that everyone accesses?

It's stupid to have different stores for different books on different devices.
 
Piggie said:
Why can there not just be one store that everyone accesses?

It's stupid to have different stores for different books on different devices.
Click to expand...

Same reason you can buy clothes at Macy's, JCPenney, Kohl's, Gap, Limited, Target, etc. Competition.

Amazon has their bookstore for the Kindle e-reader and Kindle app (Kindle e-reader was developed for Amazon)
Barnes and Noble has their bookstore for the Nook e-reader and Nook app (Nook e-reader was developed for Barnes & Noble)
Apple has their bookstore for their iBooks app (for iPad, iPhone, iPod Touch)
Sony has their bookstore for their e-reader

If you only want one source for books pick one and go with it. Your selection choice may vary or be limited though. Some books may be available across all platforms, but Amazon has been in the e-book business a lot longer than Apple, so of course their selection may be larger.

The Kindle and Nook apps are free for the iPad so I don't see a problem with downloading those apps and having the possibility of shopping their associated stores. sure the apps may have a few minor differences in features, but as long as it allows me to read the text I'm OK with it. On my iPad and iPhone I have iBooks, Kindle and Nook (Barnes & Noble reader on iPhone). If one does not have a book I really want to read, I will go to one of the others and can find it at one of the three choices.

Amazon and Barnes & Noble created iOS versions of their readers to open their marketplace to a larger audience. They understand that many who own an iPad may not want to buy an e-reader, or maybe after using say the Kindle app, may decide to buy a Kindle for themselves or as a gift for a loved one that may not necessarily want or need an iPad.
 
I buy unprotected ePub books from OReilly and also own a Nook WiFi so it's Nook > iBooks > Kindle on the iPad and iPhone.

(I do occasionally pick up the occasional Kindle only book despite not owning a Kindle).

B
 
There's no selection for both. I tend to use iBooks more, but I also use Kindle for certain books or certain book versions I can't get on the iBook store.

You know there's multiple versions of even a general freebie book like Alice and Wonderland? Yep. There are actual text differences between various versions. I believe I had to go look at iBooks and Kindle to nab different versions of the book.
 
Kindle is the better reading APP on the iPad IMO. But iBooks isn't terrible...I just dislike it for low-light reading since it doesn't have a white-text-on-black-background option.

I will say that when surfing around the web I tend to find a LOT more free (legal) ePUB-formatted files however. That alone makes the iBook app worth keeping on there.
 
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ScottNWDW said:
Same reason you can buy clothes at Macy's, JCPenney, Kohl's, Gap, Limited, Target, etc. Competition.

Amazon has their bookstore for the Kindle e-reader and Kindle app (Kindle e-reader was developed for Amazon)
Barnes and Noble has their bookstore for the Nook e-reader and Nook app (Nook e-reader was developed for Barnes & Noble)
Apple has their bookstore for their iBooks app (for iPad, iPhone, iPod Touch)
Sony has their bookstore for their e-reader

If you only want one source for books pick one and go with it. Your selection choice may vary or be limited though. Some books may be available across all platforms, but Amazon has been in the e-book business a lot longer than Apple, so of course their selection may be larger.

The Kindle and Nook apps are free for the iPad so I don't see a problem with downloading those apps and having the possibility of shopping their associated stores. sure the apps may have a few minor differences in features, but as long as it allows me to read the text I'm OK with it. On my iPad and iPhone I have iBooks, Kindle and Nook (Barnes & Noble reader on iPhone). If one does not have a book I really want to read, I will go to one of the others and can find it at one of the three choices.

Amazon and Barnes & Noble created iOS versions of their readers to open their marketplace to a larger audience. They understand that many who own an iPad may not want to buy an e-reader, or maybe after using say the Kindle app, may decide to buy a Kindle for themselves or as a gift for a loved one that may not necessarily want or need an iPad.
Click to expand...

Not quite the same.

No one is stopping you from walking into any of the cloths stores and buying what you want.

To follow your scenario it would be like having to buy one expensive key and that key only allowed you into certain shops to buy their product.
 
Piggie said:
Not quite the same.

No one is stopping you from walking into any of the cloths stores and buying what you want.

To follow your scenario it would be like having to buy one expensive key and that key only allowed you into certain shops to buy their product.
Click to expand...

And no one is stopping anyone from browsing the Amazon, Apple, Sony, Borders, or Barnes & Noble stores or any of the wonderful libraries supported by Stanza and buying anything they want. I don't get your analogy with the expensive key.

Personally, I use Stanza whenever I can because I usually read on my iPhone and I prefer the user experience with Stanza on the iPhone.

But, to the OP's original question: iBooks for UI, Kindle for selection. Can you imagine the kids these guys would have if they got married?
 
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