Apple's own approach to iPad e-books could confuse - Page 2

scottjl · 02-04-2010, 12:39 PM

This article is just a bunch of smoke. Ok, we know Apple doesn't use Adobe's DRM for eBooks in Apple's store. And why should they? Why pay out licensing fees to Adobe who has nothing to do with Apple's investment in creating the iPad or running the iTunes store? Would any of you suddenly be willing to share part of your paycheck with a complete stranger every week? Apple has a perfectly good DRM system already developed in-house that worked just fine protecting music and still protects video content. Faulting Apple for not adopting Adobe's system for any reason is just plain silly, remember first and foremost Apple is a company and like all companies it is out to make a profit for itself, not give it away freely to anyone else.

The second major point, is no one has said that Apple won't allow someone else to create an application that will allow you to browse and buy eBooks from someone else's store that might use a different DRM scheme. Infact evidence (Kobo Books) already points to 3rd party reader applications on the iPad and as we know there is an iPhone version of the Kindle reader. Apple pulling the plug on it running on the iPad would create a huge amount of negative press and feeling and certainly put a larger chill on sales than what they stand to lose on just the eBook market. Remember the iPad is for more than just eBook reading and Apple makes a hefty chunk selling music, video and application content.

In any case, the iPad isn't released to the public yet and the Apple Book store isn't open yet, so until these conditions change articles like this don't do much more than spread FUD (and quite successfully to, just look at the various threads on here).

paulckennedy · 02-04-2010, 01:34 PM

Their DRM scheme is important for those of us who don't have an iPad or better yet have multiple eReaders in the house all of which are NOT iPads. I would be very disheartened to find out that I bought a book from iBooks on my iPad and I couldn't open it up on my Edge. Now they both will use the same ePub book format but since I do not have a way to utilize the Fairplay DRM scheme outside of the iPad, I can't open it.

I also now have to keep a list of which of my eBooks that I buy which can be opened with iBooks on the iPad. If I buy a book which uses Adobe DRm from another store, I have to use a seperate app to read it on the iPad. It becomes a hassle for the reader and has the only objective of forcing a user to buy only from iBooks if they want to really enjoy their eBooks.

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02-04-2010, 12:39 PM	#16
scottjl Reader of Books Posts: 1,632 Karma: 2697 Join Date: Oct 2009 Device: none	This article is just a bunch of smoke. Ok, we know Apple doesn't use Adobe's DRM for eBooks in Apple's store. And why should they? Why pay out licensing fees to Adobe who has nothing to do with Apple's investment in creating the iPad or running the iTunes store? Would any of you suddenly be willing to share part of your paycheck with a complete stranger every week? Apple has a perfectly good DRM system already developed in-house that worked just fine protecting music and still protects video content. Faulting Apple for not adopting Adobe's system for any reason is just plain silly, remember first and foremost Apple is a company and like all companies it is out to make a profit for itself, not give it away freely to anyone else. The second major point, is no one has said that Apple won't allow someone else to create an application that will allow you to browse and buy eBooks from someone else's store that might use a different DRM scheme. Infact evidence (Kobo Books) already points to 3rd party reader applications on the iPad and as we know there is an iPhone version of the Kindle reader. Apple pulling the plug on it running on the iPad would create a huge amount of negative press and feeling and certainly put a larger chill on sales than what they stand to lose on just the eBook market. Remember the iPad is for more than just eBook reading and Apple makes a hefty chunk selling music, video and application content. In any case, the iPad isn't released to the public yet and the Apple Book store isn't open yet, so until these conditions change articles like this don't do much more than spread FUD (and quite successfully to, just look at the various threads on here).

02-04-2010, 01:34 PM	#17
paulckennedy Addict Posts: 205 Karma: 824 Join Date: Jun 2009 Location: Carthage, Texas Device: Apple iPad	Their DRM scheme is important for those of us who don't have an iPad or better yet have multiple eReaders in the house all of which are NOT iPads. I would be very disheartened to find out that I bought a book from iBooks on my iPad and I couldn't open it up on my Edge. Now they both will use the same ePub book format but since I do not have a way to utilize the Fairplay DRM scheme outside of the iPad, I can't open it. I also now have to keep a list of which of my eBooks that I buy which can be opened with iBooks on the iPad. If I buy a book which uses Adobe DRm from another store, I have to use a seperate app to read it on the iPad. It becomes a hassle for the reader and has the only objective of forcing a user to buy only from iBooks if they want to really enjoy their eBooks.