ZappTek: Here come the iPhone/iPod Touch eBook Readers

[rmeister0]

ZappTek has announced their entry into the game. From the press release:

Each book displays as an icon on the Home screen. Users will appreciate how books automatically remember where they've left off, particularly when changing songs or even answering the phone. Any page may be easily bookmarked to revisit later, or make notes on any page.

This suggests to me that each book is sold as an individual app through the App store...if so, that seems like a pretty backward way of doing it, though it does solve the 'how do I get it on my device' question. Still, the implied lack of real library management makes this little more than a curious experiment.

[DMcCunney]

Originally Posted by rmeister0

ZappTek has announced their entry into the game. From the press release:

The links don't display as given. Edit the post and take out the leading "http://".
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Dennis

[astrodad]

You can see TUAW's writeup here:

http://www.tuaw.com/2008/07/08/legen...nd-ipod-touch/

[Nate the great]

Originally Posted by DMcCunney

The links don't display as given. Edit the post and take out the leading "http://".
______
Dennis

Fixed.

[HaggisMacJedi]

Okay, here's the thing that phone/palm/iPod readers aren't taking into account: E-ink displays. The reason I hate reading e-books on a computer/phone/palm/iPod is that stupid backlit screen. E-book readers with E-ink displays are easier on the eyes and for me at least, make for a more pleasant reading experience. I have both a Blackberry 8830 and an Ipaq 1910 (I also had a Jornada at one point), and used them as e-readers for as long as I could stand it. In my opinion, the convenience of the small reader made for an inconvenient read, plus the backlit display was tiresome.

I don't think the iPhone will hurt the dedicated E-reader market at all. If anything I think people might catch a book on an iPhone and then later decide to try out an e-reader like the Sony, Kindle, or Iliad. Once they do, I doubt they'd go back. But each to his own.

It's just that every discussion I've seen about E-readers vs iPhones didn't really take into account the e-ink screen, which is what brought me over to the "e-side" from paper books.

[Steven Lyle Jordan]

Sure we take e-ink into account... plenty of others on this forum swear by it. But there are also plenty of us who are perfectly comfortable reading smaller screens and LCD screens, and would be perfectly happy with smaller devices.

Obviously, an iPhone is not the reader for you... and that's cool. But there are still a lot of us who see the value in iPhone readers (or, at least, their potential). Hey, e-ink ain't even got color yet!

[MickeyC]

I like the idea of being able to load books on the iPhone simply because I always have that with me whereas, due to its size, I don't always have my Sony 505 at hand. Anytime I think there is the remotest chance I'll have a reading opportunity, I have my Sony with me. But, you can't always anticipate so having a book on the iPhone would be handy

[DMcCunney]

Originally Posted by HaggisMacJedi

Okay, here's the thing that phone/palm/iPod readers aren't taking into account: E-ink displays. The reason I hate reading e-books on a computer/phone/palm/iPod is that stupid backlit screen. E-book readers with E-ink displays are easier on the eyes and for me at least, make for a more pleasant reading experience.

<...>

It's just that every discussion I've seen about E-readers vs iPhones didn't really take into account the e-ink screen, which is what brought me over to the "e-side" from paper books.

I have taken it into account.

I need color, which eInk doesn't currently support, and a device that does other things besides display ebooks. So my reader of choice is a Palm OS PDA, which will let me turn off the backlight entirely in bright light conditions. I'm quite comfortable reading on it.

And I don't see eBook viewer software for the iPhone hurting dedicated readers sales either. The iPhone is as much fashion accessory as cell phone, and having ebook solutions for it simply increases the potential ebook market. As you mention, once they've gotten accustomed to reading on a handheld, they may well be seduced by the eInk side of the Force.
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Dennis

[Jack B Nimble]

Originally Posted by HaggisMacJedi

Okay, here's the thing that phone/palm/iPod readers aren't taking into account: E-ink displays. ...

I disagree. Not that I don't think eInk displays are nice and useful, but I disagree that they have not been taken into account. There are several threads here where this has been discussed at great length. EInk is a great benefit to lots of people like yourself that do not like reading on an LCD for long sessions. For other people, however, the current crop of ebook readers is limited in some form or function.

For some, they are not portable enough, and that group seems to be looking at the Readius with great hope.

Others are looking for some combination of functionality the current crop of eInk readers has not yet provided, or at least not at a price most people are willing to pay. Many here like the additional functionality of the iRex, for instance, but will not pay what iRex is asking, even with the new lower price version.

Some are looking for a solution that eInk is not intended to fit, at least not yet. The ability to display animations or even video, for instance, which would be useful in some text books. Built-in, on-demand lighting is another feature many would like, but does not seem to be easy to do, from the offerings we have seen. Some people want a converged device, like an iPhone.

Books have come in multiple editions and formats (hard cover, paper back, large print, braille, audio, serialized in magazines, expurgated, even the Reader's Digest editions) for many years. Why is it a surprise that ebook readers would not be a one-size-fits-all solution?

Jack

P.S. Just for the record, I like eInk. I had a Sony Reader. It was not a good fit for my reading habits.

P.P.S. Wow... None of the other responses were there when I started typing. This post seems redundant now.

[Ervserver]

an all in one gadget has its appeal

[badgoodDeb]

I want to be able to load all the SAME books on my (soon to be) iPhone, as I have on my Kindle. That way, if I am somewhere and don't have my Kindle with me, I can pull out the iPhone and continue reading the same book.

So this would require having a mobireader program on the iPhone -- not just some reader that deals with only txt or rtf.

[stanza]

Note that Lexcycle Stanza (http://iphone.lexcycle.com) will also be available on the Apple App Store. It will allow you to choose from a vast online library of free books, or else sync your books from Stanza Desktop, so you can have your books in any of the formats that Stanza Desktop supports (including doc, mobipocket, kindle, etc).

[Ceili]

I think if someone wants to read on their i-device, this will make it a lot easier, and for that I'm happy for them Personally, while I learned to accept reading on my old Axim x50v, I can't compare it to reading on my kindle.

Either way, there's more than enough room for folks to read on whatever device makes them happy.... though I would wish for one format=many/all devices.... just to get past the this book for that reader, that book for the other one, etc.

[HarryT]

Originally Posted by badgoodDeb

I want to be able to load all the SAME books on my (soon to be) iPhone, as I have on my Kindle. That way, if I am somewhere and don't have my Kindle with me, I can pull out the iPhone and continue reading the same book.

So this would require having a mobireader program on the iPhone -- not just some reader that deals with only txt or rtf.

Mobi have announced that they are developing a version of the Mobi Reader for the iPhone/iPod Touch.

[Ebook lover]

What format does it support?