Take a Stroll Through Apple’s iBookstore

In my latest Macworld article, I take a stroll through the aisles of Apple’s iBookstore, the gateway to buying ebooks on the iPad. It’s ok, but I have some reservations. Check it out if you’re interested in ebooks.

Amazon’s Kindle App for iPad vs Apple’s iBooks

One of the main reasons I wanted to buy Apple’s iPad is to use the device as an ebook reader. I’m a big reader, and have thousands of books, but would like to be able to read some books on a portable device. Aside from any discussion of the merits of this, I thought I would look at the two main apps for reading ebooks, Amazon’s Kindle and Apple’s iBooks. (I’m leaving aside the many other apps that allow you to read free ebooks, or those which offer limited catalogs. I’m just looking at the two that let you read the broadest selection. And I won’t discuss selection here either, because the iPad is too new to have the selection that Amazon offers.)

First, Amazon currently has the edge in device ubiquity, with a Kindle app for the iPhone and iPod touch, as well as for the iPad. Apple’s iBooks will, however, be available for these devices in the fall, when the company releases a new version of their software. Amazon also, however, lets you read ebooks on their own device – the Kindle – or on a Mac or PC, with a program that that works on those platforms. Apple will presumably follow suit, with a Mac version of iBooks in the fall, and perhaps even a Windows version.

But the main question remains that of display. Reading an ebook, you want the broadest range of display options, so you can get the maximum reading pleasure from the books you buy.
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iTunes 9.1 Now Accepts Books in ePub Format

Apple today released iTunes 9.1, which is ready for the iPad due out later this week. One new feature is the “Books” library, which, instead of just holding audiobooks as before, now handles ebooks as well. iTunes – and the iPad – can read the ePub format, which is an open format that can have DRM (as will books sold by Apple, presumably) or not.

One way to get books in ePub format is from Gutenberg.org. For example, I downloaded a copy of Henry James’ The Aspern Papers, and tried to see what would happen if I added it to iTunes. Dragging it on iTunes’ icon did indeed add it, and here’s what iTunes looks like now:

As you can see, there is a section for books, above, and for audiobooks below.

So, I await my iPad to try out its ebook reader features, and hope, as well, that the iPhone and iPod touch will get an ebook reader that syncs with iTunes.