Quote:
Originally Posted by akira28
I don't think Apple will do this for a few reasons:
- I haven't read of Apple disallowing apps that compete with theirs if Apple introduces its app after the fact.
- Apple would alienate users who have already purchased Kindle or B&N books
- Disallowing established apps by major corporations like Amazon could draw addition focus by the FCC
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All good points.
There's another dimension to the question, though - will the other booksellers allow their apps to be used on the iPad?
The obvious question is the Kindle. The iPad is a direct competitor with the DX. The price points are the same. Putting the Kindle app on the iPad turns the iPad into a DX. So...does Amazon maximize its profits by selling books for the iPad, or by restricting books to the iPhone?
As for Apple, I think that it will allow the other reading apps, with or without DRM, onto the iPad. It might not sell books, but it sells iPads. Once you have an iPad, the iBook store is going to be in your face as the all around easiest way to buy an ebook.
I've been thinking about how beautifully Apple has positioned the iPad to grab off portions of a number of other products' business. The iPad presents a challenge to netbooks, larger ereaders, gaming platforms, and portable movie players. The pricing structure lops off the top of the reader & gaming platforms, and the bottom of the netbook & movie platforms.
The business strategy seems to be to absorb the functions of all those other platforms, and to me, that means that they are not so much selling content themselves, as cannibalizing the other platforms' content - including pbook content.
So my bet is that Apple will allow ebook apps onto the iPad, because that furthers the objective of capturing content, and selling iPads.