Apple denying us the free choice of buying books

[jackastor]

PLEASE REFER THE TO LINK AT THE BOTTOM OF THIS POST

https://www.mobileread.com/forums/sho...d.php?t=144028


Although it doesnt deal with my question it does address it therefore there is no need for this thread.


Thank you for sharing the thread link with us PeterT


regards

jack

[PeterT]

Discussion in https://www.mobileread.com/forums/sho...d.php?t=144028

[Lawcheehung]

iOS reading apps begin ditching outside store links in droves

[FJames]

Apple is free to do whatever they want on their own proprietary platform. In this case they're trying a new revenue-generating business model, and that's fine with me. Kobo and others are not forced to cut off the direct sales links in their apps, they just don't want to pay Apple a 30% cut for the convenience of buying within the app. You can still go to the browser and buy via the web interface.

Having said that, Apple is being ridiculously greedy in asking for a 30% cut, and they richly deserve to have this business model fail and cost them in platform popularity.

[TalonNYC]

I've gotta agree with both of FJames' points. They're definitely being short-sighted here, as they want to give everyone the reason to buy the next iPad instead of a Kindle or Nook or Kobo. If you use the device mostly for reading - expensive, but I know ppl who have done it - then the e-ink readers suddenly become more attractive as Apple continues to lock things down.

That being said, I did try to buy books for the Kobo using Safari on the iPad, and had no issues at all. So you don't even have to log onto a PC to do it, you just can't do it in the app itself.

I saw this article this morning saying that Kobo is developing an end around play to stick it to Steve Jobs. It involves creating a HTML5 web app that users can access via iOS Safari and therefore is an end around the Apple App issue. Apparently the Financial Times already developed a similar HTML5 web app.

My hope is that Steve Jobs gets so darn greedy that even his cult followers will begin to turn against him, and that eventually more companies will seek out legal means to thwart his corporate extortion. My question is where the heck is the US Dept. of Justice? Apple's business practices are far worse than anything IBM or Microsoft ever did. It is time they corrected Steve's attitude in a major way.

[ficbot]

Well, I can't really buy much from iBooks anyway, even if I wanted to, since I am not American So Apple is not really going to gain market share from people like me by this move, and is just going to annoy people who shelled out $500 for a physical object and therefore feel like they own it and it should be there business what they do with it

But then again, of the last 10 commercial ebooks I did buy from major publishers, 9 of them had sufficient typo errors that I regretted the purchase. I want to read, not copy-edit. So I am wary of spending *any* money on mainstream ebooks right now. If I can't get it from the library, I'll have to really badly want it before I'd consider shelling out.

[lestatar]

Originally Posted by jswinden

...SNIPPED...

My hope is that Steve Jobs gets so darn greedy that even his cult followers will begin to turn against him, and that eventually more companies will seek out legal means to thwart his corporate extortion. My question is where the heck is the US Dept. of Justice? Apple's business practices are far worse than anything IBM or Microsoft ever did. It is time they corrected Steve's attitude in a major way.

^ This. 100% in agreement.

Cupertino needs to come down a notch or 9 million IMO.

[Nanopr]

There is only one word to describe Apple's request for a 30% cut of any ebook sale from the site of a competitor... GREED! This is a ridiculuous monopolistic attempt at making iBooks competitive.

Write to their customer service site and let them now your opinion.

[Psyke]

Originally Posted by Nanopr

There is only one word to describe Apple's request for a 30% cut of any ebook sale from the site of a competitor... GREED! This is a ridiculuous monopolistic attempt at making iBooks competitive.

Write to their customer service site and let them now your opinion.

While I agree, it's only to a certain extent; I don't care for Apple, and really have no need for their over glorified e-reader/web browser, as that's all it really is.

But the simple facts are this: because of their products and marketing of said products, they have a huge user base which other companies are trying to taking advantage of, and apple does have a right to profit on this, like it or not.

Regardless of what's being said by others and the media, Apple is not locking out competitors to their own e-book offerings. Those offerings are still there to use as e-reader apps, you just have to purchase the books via a website. Personally, this is what I do in most cases anyway, despite having the store on both my e-reader and in the desktop app. It's obviously more convenient to have the option in app, but it's not essential. Are companies like amazon and kobo going to lose business because of this? probably, but it will be minimal if they are able to provide a superior reading experience overall, and if their prices are competitive; people will go through extra steps to save a buck now a days.

I can't blame apple for trying to make a little (more) money, and again, it's justified; give us a little kickback and we'll give you access to our built in user base. Kobo and the others however are also very right, from a business standpoint, to decline and go to an alternative route, while still providing a free reader to use on the ipad/iphone.

The one thing I do find despicable on apples part is having the app developers jump through hoops, get their designs approved, and then be told that rules have changed yet again...

[carld]

I wonder how long before Apple drops the other shoe and reinstates the "All content must be sold through iTunes" rule?