iBooks store

[pwalker8]

I bought my first book through the iBook store yesterday. It was a book by Harold Coyle. I normally buy through Amazon and Sony, simply because the DRM on those platforms has been cracked, so I know that I will always be able to read the books I buy there. I decided to take a chance on this one simply because it said up top that it was DRM free. Since the book was not on Amazon or Sony, I went ahead. The book is DRM free and I can read it in other ebook readers, so all is good.

Obviously, buying from the iBookstore on an iPad is nice from the standpoint that you just buy and it appears on your iPad, ready to read, i.e. no having to go out to a web site or run some proprietary software on my mac to buy it. Yes, I know that Amazon use to have to same experience on the kindle app before Apple shut it down and no I don't think it's fair of Apple.

Frankly, I still haven't found an ebook bookstore that I'm satisfied with from the stand point of browsing for books. Most work just fine if you want to buy a specific book or are looking for a specific author. Maybe someday.

[jswinden]

I agree that the eBook stores leave a lot to be desired as far as browsing them goes. I may be in the minority here, but I tend to browse for books using a computer as it is so much easier than doing so on my Kindle or my iPad because I am so much faster with a physical keyboard than with touchscreen keyboards. I don't buy from the iBookstore because of the DRM issue, but with Amazon you can tell it to deliver to which ever device you want it to. Plus it is easy to access the Amazon Archive to download purchased material. I guess with the iBookstore if I found a book I liked using my computer I would go into iTunes on the iPad and type in the first part of the title to quickly locate it.

I love my iPad though I'm not at all a fan of the Apple company. But iTunes is not well designed for browsing or searching for apps or books or anything. I do wish they would improve the browsing capabilities. I suspect they did that on purpose, much like grocery stores periodically rearranging their aisles to force you to search for what you need in the hope that you will buy things that were not on your list!

[sadievan]

Originally Posted by jswinden

I don't buy from the iBookstore because of the DRM issue,

google Requiem v3.3.5

[pwalker8]

It could be, or it just could be the site is designed for the average joe who is looking for best seller type books.

Yes, I very much prefer the web browsing on my computer as well. I actually prefer sony's web site, but you have to buy the books via their proprietary software, or at least you use to. I have heard that you can buy online now, but I haven't tried.

My ideal site would let me see what books have come out since a given date, let me view by specific category, let me sort by various methods (author, title, pub date, etc..) and let me filter out all the drek that clutters up Amazon's ebook lists (i.e. indie and PD books)

Things like notices when favored authors or specific books become available. Sony will actually do the favored authors thing, but it can be a bit spotty.

IMPO, Amazon's big problem is they push all the information update to the publishers, and thus there are a number of people gaming the system.

[jswinden]

I tend to do a lot of Google searching when looking for something to read, especially when I don't know the book title and just want to browse a category. I also compare various book stores and try to read as many reviews as possible to see if the book is worth the money. I too used to buy a lot of books from Sony but got tired of their software store which was slow and clunky.

It is really too bad for us consumers that eReaders tend to be made by and/or for specific book store giants like Sony, Amazon, B&N, etc. It would be much better if all book stores sold books with the same formatting and DRM and eReaders were built by independent companies. I know the eReaders would cost more, but I suspect they would have much better features due to the competition. And I bet book stores would compete more on prices, especially now that the Justice Department is going after Apple and the big publishers for price fixing. But alas, none of this will ever happen....

[pwalker8]

The Justice Department is just grandstanding. They will hurt the ebook industry by moving Amazon back into the monopoly position that it enjoyed before the iBook store opened. Apple wasn't price fixing, they just let the publishers set the price and took a percentage. The publishers might be price fixing, but not Apple, but hey Apple has deep pockets so if the Feds think they can grab some of that cash, they are going to go all out for it.

[kyteflyer]

As long as the monopolies are still trying to control the industry, sites like XXXXX (thought i should X the name out) will continue to flourish. If books were priced reasonably by comparison with their hard copy counterparts, I would buy. But if I am going to pay some of the prices demanded by some publishers, I'd rather have a permanent dead tree copy on my bookshelf (and sometimes, I'd rather do that, anyway, than buy an ebook). I must confess, I still prefer to read that way when I can remain awake.

[pwalker8]

Pirate sites will be around simply because, no matter how cheap something is, someone will want it for free. We see that on this board. I think that most of the pricing issues (i.e. ebooks at hardback prices) are simply because the publishers are still trying to hold on to an old business model (hard back, followed by either trade or paperback a year later).

I think that over time, authors and publishers will realize that the old business model that is predicated on books having a short shelf life don't work in the ebook world, and they will actually make more money over time with ebooks that are always in print and always available for the consumer to buy.

The best price point debate is, IMPO, a situation where both sides will need to compromise. The law of supply and demand works both ways. If you price something more than people will pay, then you don't sale. However, if you will only pay less than the product cost to produce, then there won't be any product. Some think that just because you have an ebook, all the product costs go away. Certainly the printing costs go away, but printing costs is only a few dollars per book. Most of the costs still exists.

Here is an interesting story that goes into detail.

IMPO, the big thing that ebooks will do for publishers is allow them to potentially lower their margin by increasing their volume, though that volume will be stretched out over a longer period of time.