No way to read iBooks in OS X... a mistake?

[Dwalls90]

Amazon allows kindle eBooks to be read in OS X ... given that Apple obviously wants to take hold of the eBook market, why would they intentionally prevent iBooks from being read in OS X? Beyond that, why are iBooks limited to the iBooks store for purchasing? Wouldn't it make more sense to put it into iTunes? The only possiblity would be to drive their iDevices sales, but quite frankly I don't think iBooks is a reason alone to drive an over-priced E-reader.

 

[chrismacguy]

I doubt its a mistake, its probably just taking Apple a little while to create iBooks for Mac OS X - Id expect it to appear within the next 12 months. Also remember that iBooks is only a really major selling point for the iPad, and for the other iDevices its more of a supplementary feature, so it may never come - all depends what Apple do.

 

[Dwalls90]

I doubt its a mistake, its probably just taking Apple a little while to create iBooks for Mac OS X - Id expect it to appear within the next 12 months. Also remember that iBooks is only a really major selling point for the iPad, and for the other iDevices its more of a supplementary feature, so it may never come - all depends what Apple do.

It's the ONLY selling point of the Kindle - yet they have support for multiple platforms including the iPhone ans OS X.

I don't know of anyone that would blow hundreds of dollars on an iPad ONLY to read books - otherwise they would buy a kindle.

 

[chrismacguy]

I don't know of anyone that would blow hundreds of dollars on an iPad ONLY to read books - otherwise they would buy a kindle.

Didnt say it was the only selling point, its just one of the major ones "want to be able to take a library, a record store and blockbuster on an international flight - take iPad"

 

[MisterMe]

Amazon allows kindle eBooks to be read in OS X ... given that Apple obviously wants to take hold of the eBook market, why would they intentionally prevent eBooks from being read in OS X? Beyond that, why are eBooks limited to iBooks for purchasing? Wouldn't it make more sense to put it into iTunes. The only possiblity would be to drive their iDevices, but quite frankly I don't think iBooks is a reason alone to drive an over-priced E-reader.

Chill. Your hair is not on fire. If you take time to examine your alarmist rant, then you would see that you are not making sense. Apple does not prevent ebooks from being read on the Mac. There is currently no Mac version of iBooks. So what? The other big name electronic bookstores are well-represented. Amazon's Kindle application is available. So too is Barnes and Noble's nook application. Before anyone ever heard of Kindle or nook, there were smaller-named ereader applications for the Mac.

Although iBooks is available for both the iPad and iPhone, it does not come preinstalled on either device. The app is a user-installable option. I am confident that Apple will have a Mac version of iBooks available in due time. In the meantime, you have access to the literary inventory of Amazon.com, Barnes and Noble, and lesser named book-sellers. I don't see how this limits you. If it does, then please enlighten me.

 

[Dwalls90]

Chill. Your hair is not on fire. If you take time to examine your alarmist rant, then you would see that you are not making sense. Apple does not prevent ebooks from being read on the Mac. There is currently no Mac version of iBooks. So what? The other big name electronic bookstores are well-represented. Amazon's Kindle application is available. So too is Barnes and Noble's nook application. Before anyone ever heard of Kindle or nook, there were smaller-named ereader applications for the Mac.

Let me rephrase that, Apple does not permit the viewing of any iBooks to be read on OS X. There ARE other eBook readers, but you can NOT use them to read iBooks. I acknowledge there are other eReader applications for OS X, but don't use them expecting to read your iBooks.

Although iBooks is available for both the iPad and iPhone, it does not come preinstalled on either device. The app is a user-installable option. I am confident that Apple will have a Mac version of iBooks available in due time. In the meantime, you have access to the literary inventory of Amazon.com, Barnes and Noble, and lesser named book-sellers. I don't see how this limits you. If it does, then please enlighten me.

You really are missing the core of my argument "Reading iBooks in OSX". Yes, one can read eBooks that are not DRM-locked or are purchased through B&N or Amazon, NO, you cannot read iBooks on OS X right now.

Gosh, for someone that is so condescending, you clearly missed the argument at hand (as clearly depicted by the topic name)

 

[pilotError]

Let me rephrase that, Apple does not permit the viewing of any iBooks to be read on OS X. There ARE other eBook readers, but you can NOT use them to read iBooks. I acknowledge there are other eReader applications for OS X, but don't use them expecting to read your iBooks.



You really are missing the core of my argument "Reading iBooks in OSX". Yes, one can read eBooks that are not DRM-locked or are purchased through B&N or Amazon, NO, you cannot read iBooks on OS X right now.

Gosh, for someone that is so condescending, you clearly missed the argument at hand (as clearly depicted by the topic name)

Apple also does this with HD Movies on iTunes. You can only view them on the Apple TV. This is completely intentional on their part. They would rather have you buy an iPad than to give you access to it on the laptop you already own.

Given that, the new Mac's are due in September. Maybe we'll see some more interesting things come from that.

 

[miles01110]

It's the ONLY selling point of the Kindle

Yeah. the larger library has nothing to do with it. 🙄

I don't know of anyone that would blow hundreds of dollars on an iPad ONLY to read books - otherwise they would buy a kindle.

iBooks is clearly just one feature out of many that the iPad offers. It's not being touted as an eReader like the Kindle- it's touted as a unique entertainment device with a touch interface.

Gosh, for someone that is so condescending, you clearly missed the argument at hand (as clearly depicted by the topic name)

Gosh, for someone so arrogant, you sure don't make very many salient points in your "argument."

 

[netdog]

Mistake or not, it really is annoying that you can't read iBooks on the Mac. I think that I probably won't buy another iBook and instead settle on Kindle for Mac, iPad and iPhone.

 

[waynep]

Mistake or not, it really is annoying that you can't read iBooks on the Mac. I think that I probably won't buy another iBook and instead settle on Kindle for Mac, iPad and iPhone.

Exactly . . . Amazon did it well, with a very large selection of ebooks and apps for about everything. Even if I had an iPad, I would put the Kindle app on it. I have had a Kindle for a while and love it. With 100 or so Amazon ebooks, I am committed I think . . . Most of them were free though, I have only bought 15-20 ebooks.

 

[Flynnstone]

asinine

I think that the word for Apple for not being able to read an Book on a mac!
How stupid!

 

[Yumunum]

I doubt its a mistake, its probably just taking Apple a little while to create iBooks for Mac OS X - Id expect it to appear within the next 12 months. Also remember that iBooks is only a really major selling point for the iPad, and for the other iDevices its more of a supplementary feature, so it may never come - all depends what Apple do.

That's probably what people said last year...

I think there's a good chance they're losing sales because of this. I know I'd use Kindle. iOS + Android + Windows + OS X support.

 

[old-wiz]

I've given lots of thought to ebooks and ibooks, but I haven't found anything to really sway me. Reading a book on a MBP sounds awkward at best.

I'm sure there's no technical reason why the iBooks application couldn't work on OSx; it would probably be very easy to do anyway. I wonder if it has something to do with marketing - they want to drive sales of iPads.

 

[klaxamazoo]

It might have something to do with either licensing or with keeping the formatting simple for the users of iTextbook so that they only have to worry about laying out one view. In other words, people would expect an iTextbook on their Mac to go full screen, but the font would be huge and the relative data density low.

A good textbook for osx might be nice because it could have higher data density and you could have the book open on your screen but your desk space clear etc. But they would have to really make the formatting transparent to the iTextbook users.

 

[old-wiz]

Maybe they worry about people breaking the DRM or copy/pasting lots of data?

 

[r0k]

I think Apple is trying to figure out if they are a content provider or a hardware company. A content provider wants you reading their stuff on any piece of hardware you can get your hands on. A hardware company wants you to buy their hardware first.

I am disappointed that iBooks are not already on OS X. Kindle has gotten me used to the idea that if I pay for the book once, I can read it anywhere, even if it's on a competitor's device. This is because Amazon isn't ambivalent about being a content company. Apple might come around. Someday. Maybe.

 

[thekb]

I doubt its a mistake, its probably just taking Apple a little while to create iBooks for Mac OS X - Id expect it to appear within the next 12 months. Also remember that iBooks is only a really major selling point for the iPad, and for the other iDevices its more of a supplementary feature, so it may never come - all depends what Apple do.

That's probably what people said last year...

I think there's a good chance they're losing sales because of this. I know I'd use Kindle. iOS + Android + Windows + OS X support.

Well, that IS what they said last year. Actually, he said it year before last (June 2010)! I'm not going to be holding my breath for ibooks on OS X anytime soon.

 

[robo9999]

It's just going to get worse.

Now that Apple is pushing for proprietary content to be created which by definition will only work within iBooks (and must be distributed through Apple), there will probably be an increasing amount of content that is 'exclusive' to iBooks and therefore can only be read on an iPad. This makes it even more frustrating that it can't be opened on a Mac because you won't even have the option to buy that content somewhere else. I already have a rather complex cookbook that is only available on iBooks, and frankly it's a complete pain to scroll through it on the iPad when you're just trying to find something....VERY FRUSTRATING...my own speculation is that Apple thinks that DRM is fundamentally less secure on a Mac platform than on the iPad and therefore doesn't want to allow us to read the DRM'ed content on the Mac.

Overall, Apple's completely closed policies around this stuff are terrible. I hope that iBooks is a complete failure until Apple changes its policies.

 

[srgz]

...my own speculation is that Apple thinks that DRM is fundamentally less secure on a Mac platform than on the iPad and therefore doesn't want to allow us to read the DRM'ed content on the Mac.

That's EXACTLY why there is not now and never will be iBooks for OS X.

 

[Bear]

That's EXACTLY why there is not now and never will be iBooks for OS X.

Actually having an iBooks application for the Mac will not really affect how easy or difficult it is to break the DRM. As a matter of fact, hasn't someone already broken the drm on books from the iBooks store?

 

[srgz]

Actually having an iBooks application for the Mac will not really affect how easy or difficult it is to break the DRM. As a matter of fact, hasn't someone already broken the drm on books from the iBooks store?

Only just recently; the latest version of Requiem does iBooks content (as of Feb 2012).
The strange thing is Requiem has been around for a long time...but only recently did they make it so it would remove DRM from iBooks content 🙂