“From the start, no one bookstore will come with an advantage: No matter which bookstore application iPad owners choose, they will have to download it first. Even the iBookstore, as Apple writes on its Web site, won’t come preloaded on the device. iPad owners will be asked to iDownload the iBooks app free from the App Store,'” Bilton reports. “There will also be a swarm of other booksellers to choose from.”
Bilton reports, “As my colleagues Brad Stone and Jenna Wortham reported on Monday: ‘Amazon.com and Barnes & Noble are working on apps for buying and reading electronic books, even though both companies sell their own e-reading devices and Apple will offer its own iBooks app.’ And there are a variety of other free e-book applications, including Stanza and Eucalyptus, which are currently available for the iPhone and offer thousands of free e-books.”
Full article here.
[Thanks to MacDailyNews Reader “Edward W.” for the heads up.]
A smart move by Apple. Don’t preload the iBookstore app and then the other book sellers have nothing to moan about as the playing field is the same for everyone. Of course you would expect all iPad owners to download the Apple app regardless of which other book sellers apps they download on the basis that it’s their baby so give them the first bite of the cherry. Just my two pennorth from dear old blighty.
NINE more days!!!! I can hardly wait!!
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I disagree with this notion that Apple needs to worry about stepping on Barnes or Amazon’s toes. Look, Apple has every right to pre-load it’s iBookstore app. Good Lord, they created it! I say put it front and center! When I buy a mac, I don’t see a menu asking if I’d like to use windoze OR MacOS.
Good gracious.
The best app will win, and as long as others may compete,
As I said in a prior thread, I think magazines will be bigger winners as the iPad is color. If I can have a subscription without all the paper clutter that’s enough win for me. Books are simply a bonus.
Oh and comic books! How many people will still buy the paper version to collect but read an e-version? Could be huge!
Sarasota: I’ve had Azureus autodownloading DCP comic torrents since the iPad release date was announced…
Unlike Amazon, which sells the device to make money selling ebooks, Apple makes most of its profit from sell the device. So I don’t think Apple really cares which ebook reader is being used by iPad users. More is better… And yet another way the iPad is superior to ebook reading devices that are dedicated to one ebook retailer.
@VAL4Mother
Macduff is right. Apple is smart to avoid the mistakes of Microsoft. With this approach there is no “incumbent” ebook app or retail source for the iPad (other than the iTunes link), and there will be no need for a “ballot” if governments start getting antsy about Apple’s growing power in the mobile computing market. Instead, it will be open and aboveboard multifunction mobile device from the beginning. You can buy ebooks from many sources and easily load them on the iPad.
Not a battle. I’m guessing there will be multiple reader apps loaded on every iPad. Kind of a bad deal, but not a show stopper.
With all the fuss in various markets about “monopolistic practices” it makes perfect sense not to give their critics (read: competition) any edge.