iBook and Kindle Questions

[iPadCharlie]

If someone, namely Apple, would be so kind to invent iBooks for PC with Whispersync that be just great. Please.

iBooks does sync to other devices (except your PC of course). Once enough people complain about this lack of functionality, Apple will provide an update. I am sure they don't want to lose too much more money to Amazon!

 

[drwinston001]

that's what I think. As soon as they have a PC version, larger availability and slightly more competitive pricing then for me iBook is the far superior product / app.

 

[The Alternative]

Why even mess with iBooks? Just read Kindle books on the iPad with the Kindle app, and on your PC with Kindle for PC. Kindle books are cheaper than Ibooks as well.......

ibooks is compatible with open epub and pdf so I can keep all my stuff on one app. Kindle app is only compatible with kindle books bought from Amazon. I do have both apps, because I already owned a kindle reader before the iphone app and the ipad even came out. But kindle app alone does not suffice.

The formatting of ebooks is often better on ibooks than kindle, I've compared a lot of them.

I couldn't agree more! Compatibility of open epub on the iPad was one of the main reasons I purchased the iPad and the formatting is far superior than on the Kindle. Plus, it's so tiring to keep hearing about Kindle this and Kindle that. Kindle is nowhere near the best reader on the market.

 

[iPadCharlie]

At the end of the day, a reader is a reader is a reader and once you actually acquire the book you want, they all do pretty much the same thing. What separates one app from another is what I will call the overall "reading experience". The Kindle app still comes out on top for me because of my comfort level with Amazon. Some people don't like them because you can not buy books from within the app itself like you can with iBooks but it makes no difference to me. As has been beaten to death, the main issue with iBooks, for me, is the fact that you can only read their stuff on an iDevice and not a computer.

Except for the freebies, there is nothing I can't get from Barnes & Noble or Borders (Kobo) that I can't get from Amazon. As far as freebies, Stanza is the "shiznit" primarily due to the fact you can download straight from Project Gutenberg (plus some other free content providers and a few pay sites). If I get really bored, I will look for something I haven't read since high school or college where we had to read a lot of that stuff for English lit classes. I just re-read Bram Stoker's "Dracula" and honestly, it was a lot better than I remember it.

To me, its all about how and where to get stuff to read, because once you have it, all the readers do exactly the same thing.

 

[iVan]

At the end of the day, a reader is a reader is a reader and once you actually acquire the book you want, they all do pretty much the same thing. What separates one app from another is what I will call the overall "reading experience". The Kindle app still comes out on top for me because of my comfort level with Amazon. Some people don't like them because you can not buy books from within the app itself like you can with iBooks but it makes no difference to me. As has been beaten to death, the main issue with iBooks, for me, is the fact that you can only read their stuff on an iDevice and not a computer.

Except for the freebies, there is nothing I can't get from Barnes & Noble or Borders (Kobo) that I can't get from Amazon. As far as freebies, Stanza is the "shiznit" primarily due to the fact you can download straight from Project Gutenberg (plus some other free content providers and a few pay sites). If I get really bored, I will look for something I haven't read since high school or college where we had to read a lot of that stuff for English lit classes. I just re-read Bram Stoker's "Dracula" and honestly, it was a lot better than I remember it.

To me, its all about how and where to get stuff to read, because once you have it, all the readers do exactly the same thing.

Exactly, it's all about content.

This is what I also say to all the iPad haters. The iPad is so simple to use out of the box that I can start to appreciate content rather than the toy it comes in...

 

[The Alternative]

At the end of the day, a reader is a reader is a reader and once you actually acquire the book you want, they all do pretty much the same thing.....

To me, its all about how and where to get stuff to read, because once you have it, all the readers do exactly the same thing.

While it is true that all ebook readers ultimately are used to read books they are in no way created equal. That'd be like saying that since all phones make calls they are all the same and anyone that owns an iPhone knows that isn't true. You can visit this site ( MobileRead Wiki - E-book Reader Matrix ) for a good comparison of ebook readers and to see the many different features of each and the myriad of different formats each can read.

 

[iPadCharlie]

While it is true that all ebook readers ultimately are used to read books they are in no way created equal. That'd be like saying that since all phones make calls they are all the same and anyone that owns an iPhone knows that isn't true. You can visit this site ( MobileRead Wiki - E-book Reader Matrix ) for a good comparison of ebook readers and to see the many different features of each and the myriad of different formats each can read.

But that link is for actual stand alone eReding devices and does not include apps for the iPad. The iPad really levels the playing field in that no matter what reading app you use, the presentation platform will always be the same and therefore there is very little difference among the apps. This being the case, the decision is not which app to use, but rather, where I acquire the content that determines which app I will use because they will all look virtually identical once the reading process starts.

 

[The Alternative]

While it is true that all ebook readers ultimately are used to read books they are in no way created equal. That'd be like saying that since all phones make calls they are all the same and anyone that owns an iPhone knows that isn't true. You can visit this site ( MobileRead Wiki - E-book Reader Matrix ) for a good comparison of ebook readers and to see the many different features of each and the myriad of different formats each can read.

But that link is for actual stand alone eReding devices and does not include apps for the iPad. The iPad really levels the playing field in that no matter what reading app you use, the presentation platform will always be the same and therefore there is very little difference among the apps. This being the case, the decision is not which app to use, but rather, where I acquire the content that determines which app I will use because they will all look virtually identical once the reading process starts.

Ahh, a misunderstanding on my part. You were talking about reader apps and not physical readers. Terminology needs to be better defined, I think, as I mistook reader for reader and not as reader. (See what I mean?) Also, since the topic is "iBooks and Kindle Questions" and a Kindle is a stand alone device and not just an app for the iPad you can see my confusion.

 

[iVan]

The reader uses his reader on his reader...

 

[iPadCharlie]

The bottom line is that I am reading more these days thanks to books being published in this format than I have in a very long time.

 

[The Alternative]

The bottom line is that I am reading more these days thanks to books being published in this format than I have in a very long time.

It's funny that you mention that. I was discussing this the other day and learned that since the advent of eReaders (apps or physical machines) people I know that were not big readers before are now reading more than ever. Me, I've always been voracious. All the various tools just make it harder for me to decide my reading list, which kinda sucks!

 

[iPadCharlie]

Yeah, my wife says I am causing us to go broke $7.99 at a time!

 

[drwinston001]

The bottom line is that I am reading more these days thanks to books being published in this format than I have in a very long time.

couldn't agree with this more. I've always read but I wouldn't say I've ever been a big reader, but since getting my iPad I've read so many more books than I normally would.

The great thing about the iPad is it's possibility to turn half the illiterate kids in the world into reading machines without them ever noticing it. It's so easy to not only read a book but to constantly be reading things on the net etc. More people reading can only be a good thing.

 

[iVan]

I used to read a lot as a kid but books that interested me were hard to come buy where I lived. Then they got more and more expensive. And then I got kids...no more time to read.
Four years ago Sony got out their Reader and I found MobileRead.com. I was hooked again. Now I have several thousands of books in varying formats, and I have to reformat them if I want to read them...

 

[iDharma]

Has anyone noticed that the books purchased from the iBooks store seem to have more transcription/conversion errors (e.g. "Tex as" and "Fm" instead of "I'm" than books purchased through Kindle? It's not a fatal flaw but these little boo-boos get in the way of my enjoyment of the book/medium.