I'm sick of hearing about iPad! iPad iPad iPad!!

[kindlekitten]

Originally Posted by poohbear_nc

I'm having this mental image of Steve Jobs knocking on your door, screaming, and vanishing in a puff of smoke!

that damn well better happen or there is a shaman whose ass needs to be kicked!!!

[mores]

Originally Posted by Dylrob

Well even without the iPad, future support for Windows Mobile devices is looking rather grim. All because Microsoft has decided to replace it with "Windows Phone 7".

What does that mean? Not supporting ancient software is a bad thing?
That's exactly what Apple did when they launched Os X, which is, in my humble opinion, part of what helped them rise from wherever they were buried to where they are now. Sometimes you have to just draw the line, make a clean break and start fresh. If it's as kick-ass as they say they will definately sell a sh*tload of devices, which will then make it interesting for developers to program for it / port their old software.

What I have seen of windows mobile 7 looks awesome and really did capture the spirit of what made the iPhone interface so revolutionary. It's not the animations, it's the entire feel of the device. Something that all those swish swoosh boing front-ends by HTC have not been able to transmit.

But as cool as windows mobile 7 may be, I will stick with the iPhone OS platform for my mobile devices. Unless Microsoft will make it as easy for me to sync with my macs. Then I might reconsider. Because I find the wm7 interface extremely cool and sleek.

[Steven Lyle Jordan]

Operating systems shouldn't impact whether or not you can read an ebook. Standardized, non-restricted formats and reading apps for all OSs are what we should be striving for, so it won't matter whether you are using OSX, Windows 7 or Ubuntu.

(That, of course, is the point of this thread.)

[kennyc]

Originally Posted by Steve Jordan

Operating systems shouldn't impact whether or not you can read an ebook. Standardized, non-restricted formats and reading apps for all OSs are what we should be striving for, so it won't matter whether you are using OSX, Windows 7 or Ubuntu.

(That, of course, is the point of this thread.)

Exactly and this topic specifically came up in the "Fight Flash Here" thread.

[GeoffC]

Originally Posted by kennyc

Exactly and this topic specifically came up in the "Fight Flash Here" thread.

Gordon ?

[kennyc]

Originally Posted by GeoffC

Gordon ?

Gordon??

[GeoffC]

as in Flash Gordon .... !

[kennyc]

Originally Posted by GeoffC

as in Flash Gordon .... !

Ah! Missed the reference...

no as in Flash Adobe or Flash Fry a Chicken....

[GeoffC]

Flash in the Pan ....

[mores]

Steve, you might like this ...
Android smartphone sales exceed iPhone sales

[Steven Lyle Jordan]

It does support my argument that device popularity comes and goes, and anyone throwing all their eggs in one basket will feel the pinch later.

[kennyc]

Originally Posted by mores

Steve, you might like this ...
Android smartphone sales exceed iPhone sales

I'm about to (at least thinking about it) move to that phone. My son has it and loves it!

Also I'm expecting tablets ala the iPad to be released (Google is rumored to have one in the works) running Android.

[Donnageddon]

Originally Posted by Steve Jordan

It does support my argument that device popularity comes and goes, and anyone throwing all their eggs in one basket will feel the pinch later.

Very true, which is why I would never buy a book with DRM I could not easily remove. It is the same with the iPad. I will not buy from the iBooks store, any more than I would buy from The Sony ebook store (until they went to adobe epub).

The iPad is no more locked down on books than any other device. And I cannot imagine the "book as app" thing ever catching on. It is a non-issue.

I, for one, am sick of the ignorant iPad Bashing, Bashing, Bashing!

I have never seen another device get such gleeful name-calling on MR, not only for the device, but for those who choose to use it.

[Steven Lyle Jordan]

Originally Posted by Donnageddon

I have never seen another device get such gleeful name-calling on MR, not only for the device, but for those who choose to use it.

Ha! There was plenty of Kindle-bashing going on around here before the iPad. (Still is.) I imagine there'll always be something for us to beat up on if we're so inclined.

Anyway... as I've said before, I don't want anyone to misconstrue my comments as iPad-bashing... they are not. If anything, they are bandwagon-bashing. Bandwagon-obsession allows other devices to be under-served, and causes a lot of needless chaos when a new bandwagon comes along.

Further, this bandwagon-bashing is directed at content producers... not at consumers. I don't criticize anyone for choosing a device that works for them, and enjoying it. But I caution against allowing the device to draw users into proprietary products and formats that will be a lot of trouble to replace later. Hopefully books-as-apps won't catch on, but they are out there. DRM-laden ePubs are out there. I sympathize with anyone, in the future, who discovers they cannot move their book to their new InfiniPod (or whatever) that doesn't support that format of DRM scheme. And I hope most people manage to avoid it.

[nikkie]

Originally Posted by Steve Jordan

Unfortunately, developers aren't being that comprehensive. As I mentioned, Win-based devices (outside of full-OS machines like PCs and laptops) are being excluded from almost everyone's development list. I wonder how many of these developers are developing in Linux? Did either of those OSs ever get Stanza, for instance? They may not be the top dogs of the OS world, but they are still out there, being used by a lot of people, and being left out.

Yeah, Wimo is definitely somewhat underrepresented. Also, you don't typically find non-corporate developers porting to multiple platforms. So the good free readers (e.g., stanza, readMe) will probably only be available on the iPhone OS.

As far as support for Wimo:
B&N is coming
Freda, Zulu for non-DRM
eReader Pro

I was more concerned about purchasing an iPad ebook app--not the reading app, so much as the ebook itself--then wanting to shift it to a non-Apple device later on. Reading apps are cheap, but who wants to replace their library?

I see what you're worried about now. I can't imagine buying "appbooks" for exactly that reason. The fact that books exist in this fashion seems unfortunate to me. I think most mobileread members are aware that you will NEVER be able to move appbooks to another platform.

I did exactly that, too: The LG Dare. Nice phone... completely locked down by Verizon. And that's why the phone I just replaced it with is an open platform... in my case, Windows-based, to allow me to shift most of the apps and files from my PDA.

I know it's a little late now, but I'd stay away from Wimo as a persistent platform if I were you. Many developers are not touching it with a ten-foot pole at this point. There's a lot of action happening in re the new version, and it seems like Wimo itself may end up getting caught in the crossfire. At the very least, developers are wary about doing anything with the platform at this point. The new Kin phones (Project Pink) that Microsoft just put out don't even allow apps.

Something to think about, anyway.