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'The Da Vinci Code' and Other Random House Titles Appearing in iBookstore
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iBooks can use any standard reader on desktop
Have you tried reading anything from iBooks on another device? I have over 100 books from the iBooks store - some PDFs, some in ePub format, and all the ones I've opened on my Windows 7 laptop worked fine with existing ePub and PDF readers. The books I've gotten were all in open formats and had no DRM issues.
I also got about 30 books from the Borders app on iOS. I was able to transfer those items to iTunes and onto my phone via iBooks, so they now look like I got them via iBooks, work fine on my iPhone.
I like the iBooks interface for storing my books, you can easily select which ones you want to sync with your portable devices. With the Borders app, you had to sync all of them every time.
Try doing that with Kindle! With Kindle, you can only read your purchases with a Kindle Reader client.
Sweet. I can pay more for a text file version of DaVinci Code than the hardcover version I bought years ago.
And I get to only read it on iOS devices.
Heaven is here I tell you.
Have you tried reading anything from iBooks on another device? I have over 100 books from the iBooks store - some PDFs, some in ePub format, and all the ones I've opened on my Windows 7 laptop worked fine with existing ePub and PDF readers. The books I've gotten were all in open formats and had no DRM issues.
I also got about 30 books from the Borders app on iOS. I was able to transfer those items to iTunes and onto my phone via iBooks, so they now look like I got them via iBooks, work fine on my iPhone.
I like the iBooks interface for storing my books, you can easily select which ones you want to sync with your portable devices. With the Borders app, you had to sync all of them every time.
Try doing that with Kindle! With Kindle, you can only read your purchases with a Kindle Reader client.
Interesting thought. But I think it's more economics... right now they sell $$$$$'s in physical books and $'s in digital. So they're not going to abandon their primary source of revenue until the dollar signs rise on the digital side.
BTW... many publishers do not print their own books. Many outsource their printing so they don't have the capital investment. But, many do too.
This does not seem accurate to me. New hardcover books cost $25-30. Those same titles are usually sold for about $12-$15 as e-books, even when publishers set the price.
Paperbacks may be a different story, but to get a book in paperback you have to wait at least a year.
What you seem to be missing is that it was Apple that was fundamental to bringing about these changes....
Like you I also miss thumbing through shelves and crates of albums and books ... but masses of people made the choice to move to Apples model
What about overseas availability?
I'd be a lot more impressed if there were news about Apple actually caring to expand the iBookstore internationally. In most countries, other than the US and UK, it's simply non-existent. Meanwhile, everybody does all their eBook shopping through Amazon/Kindle, so by the time it happens (if it ever does), it's already a lost battle...
Same thing with iTunes Movies/TV Series... it's hopeless.
I'd be a lot more impressed if there were news about Apple actually caring to expand the iBookstore internationally. In most countries, other than the US and UK, it's simply non-existent. Meanwhile, everybody does all their eBook shopping through Amazon/Kindle, so by the time it happens (if it ever does), it's already a lost battle...
Same thing with iTunes Movies/TV Series... it's hopeless.
Perhaps they'd make more money from the digital stuff if it was a reasonable price!
A major gripe of mine is that, in the UK at least, you pay sales tax on digital books and magazines but you don't pay it on the print versions.
Yeah - but that's a skewed vision.
You are paying for the content - regardless of delivery method.
The fact that you can lend a book or give it to the library is "after market".
YOU don't get less for your money. You get the same. You get the content.. That is what you're buying.
Well, there is that.
And there's also the fact that since eBooks (generally) can't be loaned out/forwarded on to "new" readers via library donations/charity shops/friends &etc and some of those now deprived readers will, in turn, will buy eBooks. From that pov, eBooks are good for publishers and they need to get their heads round this technology and reduce eBook prices to reflect whatever the saving is for them in not having to produce physical output.
I don't expect anyone in the supply chain to not make a profit, but there should be something in it for eBook consumers too. Space/weight saving convenience is, so far, the only attraction of eBooks for me and I'm in the fortunate position of not really caring about the price of eBooks (or real ones) and since I've never given a book away it doesn't bother me too much that I can't easily gibve an eBook away.
What would be incredibly useful, and pretty much a must have for the future e-reading model IMO, is the ability to buy a eBook and load it on a certain number of devices so that they can be shared, just like a real book. Prior to the iPad when we went on holiday my partner frequently borrowed and read books I had taken with me and finished - this is no longer posssible and I won't lend her my iPad to read the book since I still need it to read the next book.
I really do not understand the ibooks system. I do not like that I must purchase from an iOS device. I should be able to do so from my computer. It is also a problem that I cannot get ibooks for OS X.
I think I will stick with the kindle software. Besides the kindle device, I like how the books can be read on the computer and on other devices too. I'm probably going to get a kindle for myself. We have on in our household and it is great.
Don't get me wrong, ibooks is great on the iOS devices. I like it enough that I almost switched to it. But some of the decisions Apple has made with that software just baffle me. So I will stick with the other service.
I think I will stick with the kindle software. Besides the kindle device, I like how the books can be read on the computer and on other devices too. I'm probably going to get a kindle for myself. We have on in our household and it is great.
Don't get me wrong, ibooks is great on the iOS devices. I like it enough that I almost switched to it. But some of the decisions Apple has made with that software just baffle me. So I will stick with the other service.
Perhaps they'd make more money from the digital stuff if it was a reasonable price!
A major gripe of mine is that, in the UK at least, you pay sales tax on digital books and magazines but you don't pay it on the print versions.
Wow... knowing UK taxes that stinks!Hopefully the price will find it's new digital level. Like music, it will take some time.
Sorry this maybe Off-Topic, but will Apple stream the iPad media event live tonight
I'm sure there will be another article on MR's soon about the live streams that will be available. Check back before the event and I'm sure you will find one for you.
Whoo Hoo! An 8 year old book is available for reading!
Man walks on moon!
Slow news day? Erm ... isn't there a media event today? No leaks???
Exactly, it's ridiculously too expensive now, especially with DRM so we never know if we might lose our books someday. I'm fine with just renting them, but charge accordingly.
Kindle was supposedly going to allow sharing of ebooks in their model, does anyone now if they did?
I didn't miss that fact at all. In fact, I think what a lot of people miss about Apple is that they are masters at commercializing technology for the masses. Yes, they have not invented every idea (but have many), nor are they on-target the first time out the shoot. But they adjust, they learn, they look so closely at the user experience and then release something like the iPad that succeeds where others have failed before and sets the new standard.
They did, albeit in a very limited way. Oh, and US-only (again!
).http://www.amazon.com/gp/help/custo...e=UTF8&nodeId=200549320&qid=1299078699&sr=1-1
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Printing+ distribution+shipping entail a significant percentage of the cost of publishing a book, so I'm not sure about that. Even if thats the case, digital downloads should at the very least still be cheaper, even if not by a lot. They ARE saving money and significant logistical overhead by skipping the entire process. And unlike movies/music/videogames/any other media, bandwidth costs are basically non-existant, and file sizes are ridiculously small. Whatever is being said, it's only logical thats its costing everyone less money.