Reading iBooks on PC

[danpass]

Can iBooks be read on PC or Mac? (desktop, laptop).

Sure it can be read on a phone or tablet.

I just tried it now on my laptop PC (8.1, iTunes 12114) and it lets me download but not view it.

With Kindle I can view a book on anything.

 

[mobilehaathi]

They are what, epubs? Search for an ePub reader.

 

[webbuzz]

They are what, epubs? Search for an ePub reader.

Only if the iBook doesn't have DRM, most do.

 

[mobilehaathi]

Only if the iBook doesn't have DRM, most do.

Oh, FFS, of course there is DRM.

 

[webbuzz]

Oh, FFS, of course there is DRM.

Are you saying a DRM iBook can be opened in any epub reader?

 

[mobilehaathi]

Are you saying a DRM iBook can be opened in any epub reader?

No, I'm saying I forgot books bought through some sources are locked down.

 

[webbuzz]

No, I'm saying I forgot books bought through some sources are locked down.

Gotcha. I was confused for a second.

 

[danpass]

I might have to buy Kindle stuff more often.

pffffft... less incentive to stay in the iOS universe.

 

[mobilehaathi]

Gotcha. I was confused for a second.

Yeah, I can see how it could be read differently. Oops!

OP, best of luck!

 

[ucfgrad93]

I might have to buy Kindle stuff more often.
pffffft... less incentive to stay in the iOS universe.

The inability of being able to read on anything other than an iOS device is what has kept me from buying iBooks. With Amazon and Kindle I can read on pretty much anything I want to.

 

[Even Longer]

The inability of being able to read on anything other than an iOS device is what has kept me from buying iBooks. With Amazon and Kindle I can read on pretty much anything I want to.

I had different experience with Kindle books. While the app is available everywhere, there are big differences in app quality and functionality (even restrictions) depending on platform.

For example: I bought a comic from the Kindle store for my kid. We could open it easily with Kindle app on an iPad and were able to zoom it to pages etc. Mac and PC desktop Kindle apps refused to open the comic in general, telling us it being not supported on these devices. Surface Kindle app on a SP3 from the Windows Store could open the comic, but we could not even zoom on it, which is ridiculous.

Even general functionality of Kindle apps is not equal on different platforms. All this DRM-based crap turned me off Kindle store for good.

iBooks, on the other hand, do also have DRM, but once you bought a book, you can read it on your Mac, iPad, iPhone without limitations. At least, from my experience.

 

[maflynn]

I might have to buy Kindle stuff more often.

Kindle is more cross platform compatible, go with that.