With several apps to choose from and each with their own e-Bookstores with similar prices, how does one differentiate? What do each have to offer? In this roundup/review series we take a look at the four main reading apps available on the iPad and highlight some of the pros and cons of each. In this part 1, we will take a look at the purchasing experience. In part 2 we will look at the reading experience.
To prepare for this post, we read at least one book using each app. While using each app extensively we noticed that they have many things in common, like prices, the ability to sample, and tap to the next page, but they do differ in some other significant ways. Two of the critical ways in which the apps differ is in how you purchase a book and in the reading experience itself. In this post we will discuss the difference in the purchasing experience, stay tuned next week for a post on the reading experience.
Sadly, the only apps with high marks for the least intrusive purchasing systems are Apple iBooks and Borders eBooks. iBooks and eBooks are the only apps in which purchasing is seamless and is all able to be done in app, without pushing you to Safari. These apps are the only one in which the book begins downloading immediately after the purchase while you continue shopping. This functionality has been built into iBooks since day one, but Borders added this in a recent update. Prior to the update Borders pushed purchases into Safari just like B&N and Kindle. iBooks has a slight advantage to Borders in that it also makes buying a samples book easy, as it picks up exactly where you left off in the sample.
For the other apps, purchasing pushes you to Safari and forces you to re-open the app once the purchase is complete. This is annoying to say the least especially when you are trying to load up with titles in one sitting.
B&N makes getting the book after the app purchase fairly easy as they automatically sync once you re-open the app. The Kindle app will also do this as long as you remember to set the book to go to your iPad during the purchase. We hope that they will improve this with an app update.
What app do you use to read on your iPad?
(Image: Flickr user Svet Ivantchev under license from Creative Commons.)
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And real books burn in fires just as easily as e-book devices will. Except then the e-books will still be stored in the cloud (at least with the kindle, not totally sure about other services). How many corporeal books have fallen by the wayside throughout history? I man, you're pointing out all these flaws with e-books, while completely ignoring the fact that paper books are not indestructible (nor are they forever accessible).
I am currently using ibook but only because I am too lazy to use dl another app for reading books. However, if one of the other options is much better than I will change. Thanks for this post. Also,would you consider comparing prices between a wide range of books? Cost is a big thing too. I hear amazon is cheaper?
As for digital vs paper...they both have their uses. I prefer looking at fashion magazines on paper but the lightness of the ipad makes it significantly better than hard covers or even paperbacks.
And I got a big laugh about the potential electro-magnetic pulse that will wipe out all digital books...if such an event happens, we will have to worry about many others things first. Also, pdf/epub/mobi are not exactly secret government algorithms that future computer scientists and software engineers won't be able to crack/reverse engineer so not sure how a company like Adobe or mobipocket is remotely like shadowy secret police organizations.
"Real books don't ned batteries, software upgrades, can't be made to disappear at the whim of some bean counter or corrupt judge, and will still be redable hundreds of years for now."
Its hard to argue that paper books don't need batteries, but I will argue about the readable hundreds of years from now. Its true we have plenty of old books today in readable formats, but todays books are not being published in the same way - I am no expert and you may know more on the topic - but my understanding is todays books will last much shorter for various reasons then books hundreds of years ago, we do have digital technologies with estimated lifespans much longer than that (although you'd be right to say the old books are still here, we are only guessing at the digital).
One other thing is I thought I'd say never to e-books myself and just now I am slowly being converted over to e-books, just ordered a new kindle after borrowing my girlfriends for a while. Its not the same as a nice paper book, but when traveling its nice to have a few with you without thinking.
Don't forget one time paper was a new technology, as was the printing press and likely upset some people just the same.
"Case in point - how many Mac users still have their Syquest drives or even know what they are?"
I think most of us older Mac users, at least the ones who continue using them professionally, took those files off those Syquest drives long ago and transferred them afterward to a now-outdated Zip/Jaz drive storage, then later moved them again to CD-R storage, and later again transferred them to a Flash drive or an external drive. Perhaps now they live in cloud storage online, alongside backed up physically. The beauty is information can be duplicated/protected on a personal level that printing could and would never allow.
The digital medium isn't always the best solution, and in my opinion not the most elegant/beautiful compared to its printed precursor. But to dismiss its strengths and importance simply as a "vacation" triviality seems as inaccurate as calling the development of internet just the pale comparison of an underlined/annotated book. In my world, books and eBooks will live together in beautiful harmony!
Ease of buying books isn't the only thing to consider. One thing I do like about the Kindle app is that is uses whispersync, so it's easy to stay on the same page even when you're reading a book on your ipad at home, your kindle on the train, or your phone when you suddenly find yourself bored and stuck in a long grocery line.
I guess other apps might have similar tech, but I haven't messed around with them enough to find out. Anyone know?
Try reading on your iPad during a long boring meeting. You can't do it.
The Kindle App for Blackberry is a lifesaver. :)
I most often use the Kindle app, as the Kindle store has more books that are useful to me. However, I also use iBooks, mainly for my own PDFs and for O'Reilly book downloads. I am stuck using a proprietary textbook eReader for one of my textbooks as well. I think iBooks has the best interface overall, but I like Kindle whispersync.
@Niche I mentioned in the post that the prices are similar... for the most part they are either the exact same price or less than a dollar difference.
When iBooks was first introduced they were the least expensive ($9.99 vs Kindle/B&N $12.99), but now prices are similar across aps.
@ elvdeon That is one of the reasons I find myself usually buying new eBooks in either iBooks or Kindle, since I can also read them on my iPhone (and Kindle:).
@ darkapplelabs I agree about the interface, the only thing that I don't like about the way Kindle syncs is needing to choose which device to send the purchase to. It is annoying to have to "sync" and have nothing appear on my iPad or iPhone because I accidentally had the purchase sent to the Kindle, or another device. I wish it worked like iBooks does across multiple devices.
@ kaete That is something I will be covering in my next post! Each app handles saving your page differently, and it is an important thing to consider when choosing where to buy your book. I read in multiple locations and on multiple devices and knowing I can pick up right where I left off is crucial.