iPad What will iPad do for e-books?

[time4mercy]

The iPad is interesting, and pretty, but I still love my Kindle.

Since it's all about ME and I'm not getting an iPad, here's my question: What do you think the iPad is going to do to e-book pricing and availability?

(Obviously, as a Kindle person I am most interested in how Amazon will react, especially when you consider their sudden rash of announcements coincidentally close to the iPad unveilling. . . I'm hoping this means they will be a little less complacent.)

But let's not limit it to Amazon/Kindle. What are your thoughts?

[John Bailey]

Nothing.

It's a netbook with a slower processor and no keyboard.

[kjk]

Originally Posted by John Bailey

Nothing.

It's a netbook with a slower processor and no keyboard.

You've benchmarked the processor already?

[Moejoe]

First, I believe this will popularize electronic reading like no other device has done (even the Kindle). Second, I think e-ink screens will be obsoleted within a year (unless we get color and then only if it's implemented well). Third, the 'amateur' publishing industry will be crushed as Apple will more than likely have a strict 'vetting' policy in place like it does for the app store - and I'm betting that's how they got the publishers on board in the first place. If you're an independent writer, be prepared to have your work scrutinized and rejected like so many app developers in the past, before it even gets near the iBook level.

Apple have basically cornered the mobile and possibly home multimedia market outright - games, movies, music, and now books. If they offered an x86/64 version of their OS then I'd bet they'd take the lion's share of the PC market also.

I'm not making judgments on any of this, nor do I believe it is right or wrong, I just think this is what is bound to happen now.

[charleski]

A lot will depend on how the DRM works on Apple iBooks store. If you can buy epubs at other stores and use them on the iPad, and buy books from Apple's store to read on a Sony, then we're getting a lot closer to the sort of universality we want. If the iPad uses ePub but with a custom form of DRM, then it's just another fracturing of the market.

[Pardoz]

Originally Posted by time4mercy

What do you think the iPad is going to do to e-book pricing and availability?

I think it will have no major impact on e-book pricing or availability at all.

I suspect the iFap is going to end up being largely irrelevant to e-book publishing (at least for fiction) even as it shakes, rattles, and rolls e-periodical publishing.

I hope, of course, that it leads to more e-books becoming available at lower prices.

I fear we're going to end up with a walled e-book garden locked behind some new, draconian, Apple DRM scheme and/or locked into needing to use the overpriced underfeatured iFap for reading on.

[asjogren]

I like what I see in the iPad. It is priced better than I expected. I think it will put a lot of pressure on NetBook sales.

I don't tend to buy Apple products because they are priced at a significant premium.

I can easily imagine sitting with this in a comfortable chair or in bed. Reading a book. Browsing on the Internet. But, the price is a bit rich for me.

Anything that develops the eBook marketplace is good.

[DD1509]

Originally Posted by John Bailey

Nothing.

It's a netbook with a slower processor and no keyboard.

Are you kidding? It is not about hardware. The question was what will it do for eBook pricing and availability.

It will do a great things. It will add a huge buying force for books in another store. It will open more doors for eBooks, acceptance, standardization and will create more competition!!!

PLUS it will single-handedly bring more users to ebooks than are here now.

This device is going to sell millions!! And will likely sell many millions of ebooks. More authors and publishers will be forced to include their works as eBooks.

As I mentioned in another post you will likely see e-Ink go away. It won't be very fast but unless e-ink and the current eReader manufacturers can drive the prices down to the magic sub-$100 category, the color and backlighting is going to be very hard stay away from.

You should also guess that within 1 year from today there will be at least 6-12 more color tablets hit the market and then the prices will fall. Most of the tablet people will read some books on it even if the main draw is web and other media.

It is so NOT about hardware or feeds-and-speeds.

[Krystian Galaj]

Originally Posted by Moejoe

First, I believe this will popularize electronic reading like no other device has done (even the Kindle).

Yeah, there was next to nothing, then Amazon pushed and it moved. I want to see what happens when Apple pushes.

[Nate the great]

Originally Posted by Moejoe

First, I believe this will popularize electronic reading like no other device has done (even the Kindle). Second, I think e-ink screens will be obsoleted within a year (unless we get color and then only if it's implemented well). Third, the 'amateur' publishing industry will be crushed as Apple will more than likely have a strict 'vetting' policy in place like it does for the app store - and I'm betting that's how they got the publishers on board in the first place. If you're an independent writer, be prepared to have your work scrutinized and rejected like so many app developers in the past, before it even gets near the iBook level.

Apple have basically cornered the mobile and possibly home multimedia market outright - games, movies, music, and now books. If they offered an x86/64 version of their OS then I'd bet they'd take the lion's share of the PC market also.

I'm not making judgments on any of this, nor do I believe it is right or wrong, I just think this is what is bound to happen now.

1, maybe (but only because people fall for the hype)
2, No way in Hades could the iPad do this. It's simply not possible for the iPad to affect 6" readers because it's not in the same market. It weighs too much, it's too big, and it cost too much. Now, I do think the iPad will kill off most of the large screen readers, just not the smaller ones.

But I agree that Amazon probably cornered the media market.

[Shaggy]

Originally Posted by Nate the great

Now, I do think the iPad will kill off most of the large screen readers, just not the smaller ones.

I'm not so sure about that. Most people who are in the market for an epaper device specifically aren't interested in LCD. There are already notebook/laptop alternatives to a larger eReader. They chose the eReader because of the display technology. The iPad doesn't change any of that.

[Connallmac]

Originally Posted by Nate the great

Now, I do think the iPad will kill off most of the large screen readers, just not the smaller ones.

Originally Posted by Shaggy

I'm not so sure about that. Most people who are in the market for an epaper device specifically aren't interested in LCD. There are already notebook/laptop alternatives to a larger eReader. They chose the eReader because of the display technology. The iPad doesn't change any of that.

Don't forget the battery life issue. We all know that the listed spec of 10 hours is at best an optimistic stretch.

[hidari]

Originally Posted by Moejoe

First, I believe this will popularize electronic reading like no other device has done (even the Kindle). Second, I think e-ink screens will be obsoleted within a year (unless we get color and then only if it's implemented well). Third, the 'amateur' publishing industry will be crushed as Apple will more than likely have a strict 'vetting' policy in place like it does for the app store - and I'm betting that's how they got the publishers on board in the first place. If you're an independent writer, be prepared to have your work scrutinized and rejected like so many app developers in the past, before it even gets near the iBook level.

Apple have basically cornered the mobile and possibly home multimedia market outright - games, movies, music, and now books. If they offered an x86/64 version of their OS then I'd bet they'd take the lion's share of the PC market also.

I'm not making judgments on any of this, nor do I believe it is right or wrong, I just think this is what is bound to happen now.

Bold statements. However, most people who really read ebooks (except comics) need a nice black and white screen. I for one don't need to read Charles Dickens in orange and green. It seems like you believe the Apple hype before it is even out the door. Maybe it will do well but mostly in Amerika where Apple does have a strong grasp of the media market. However, if you ever venture out of that market, one can see that there are a few companies doing quite well in other countries.

[kjk]

Originally Posted by hidari

I predict that Mr. Jobs will sell lots of tablets to people who won't use them much but they will have "a cool' device by Crapple, thus they will be cool and cutting edge. Mr. Jobs and associates will laugh all the way to the bank. Capitalism in action. As usual Apple (and the Kindle) will continue their closed systems.....enuf said.

'

Do you think it is possible for you to actually post something without being so insulting to others? I mean, seriously, is it even possible?

[woodworthjohnca]

Originally Posted by Connallmac

Don't forget the battery life issue. We all know that the listed spec of 10 hours is at best an optimistic stretch.

The battery will be a big issue for me mainly because I would like to use such a device while traveling. For cross country trips it will be okay. For intercontinental trips with 24 hrs or more of non-stop travel, it would not make it.

I also wonder how it will do for PDF's. My next ereader purchase will be PDF reader for my consulting business and, in the absence a review, the Apple iPad is under consideration.

I am hoping that, since it can use iPhone programs, that it will be able to absorb Kindle books under the iPhone Kindle emulator.