iBook v Kindle v printed book

There have been a couple threads on the different electronic book distributors in the past month or two that discuss the prices and policies that are behind them...so I won't go into that here.

I have the Apple supplied iBook reader, Nook, B&N, and Kindle, though have never used the Kindle. I much prefer the iBook reader because of the way it responds to vertical (single page) and horizontal (two page) orientation. Also, the iBook reader from my experience handles graphics and figures embeddd in the text where the Nook/B&N does not...unless they have changed that.

The type face of the iBook is clearer to me than that of the B&N, but may be due to the B&N being designed for the iPhone and have to run in the 2x mode on the iPad...scaling issue there.

Try each, the readers are free, and see what looks best to you. Having all of them makes life easier if a book is only available on one supplier's site. Some books are available in from multiple sites, e.e., multiple formates. So you can shop around.

One thing I dislike about the Kindle App is you cannot customize the color scheme of the page or the font. You are stuck with their default font and 3 color choices.

I haven't actually bought any books in the three years I've been using ereaders. I'm still working through all the free books I've accumulated via sites like Manybooks and Smashwords.

Ralph Landry1 wrote:
I have the Apple supplied iBook reader, Nook, B&N, and Kindle, though have never used the Kindle. I much prefer the iBook reader because of the way it responds to vertical (single page) and horizontal (two page) orientation.

FYI, the Kindle app gives you a choice of one or two pages in landscape.

Although, in some ways, the iBook app is nicer, I find that I tend to use the Kindle app more for one reason. I have the Kindle app on my iPad, my Touch, my Android phone, my MacBook and my PC Netbook and they all sync. I can be at home reading on my iPad, leave the house and get on the trolley, pull out my phone and pick up reading right were I left off. Also, you can browse the Amazon store from a computer. I've never had any reason to want to change the color scheme in any book reader.

I do tend to shop around though, and will purchase from whichever store has a lower price if the difference is great.

I have found that I generally prefer eBooks over the printed. I can carry more of them. I can buy them and start reading them from where ever I am immediately. No more fussing with book marks. I still only take print books to the beach and then only cheap paperbacks at that.

I haven't bought a dead tree book since I got a Sony Reader as a gift three years ago.

It's up to you about whether you prefer a printed or ebook. Personally, for most uses I'd rather have a printed book, but ebooks are handy when traveling or when you need something right away. Different people have different feelings about this: there's no right or wrong answer.

Hi Jim,

Here is one thread:

http://discussions.apple.com/message.jspa?messageID=12438862#12438862

and another:

http://discussions.apple.com/message.jspa?messageID=12390665#12390665

You can see the dates go back a couple months, and the actual discussion of pricing etc., is embedded in the threads so you have to read all the posts, enlightening or not 🙂

Hope this helps.

Ralph

I agree, Barbara, there is just something about holding a real live book 🙂

But each year, actually twice a year, I fill the trunk of the car with books to take to the public library for their book sale, and since a large percentage are hardbacks, and only read once, they end up on the shelves at the library.

The iPad, though, is getting heavy use as a reader because it is so much more compact to handle with a lot of travel. The books are lower in cost. But there are certain authors I buy in treware form becasue I will on occassion go back and reread a book. And all technical books and computer books I only buy in real live paper.

When one reads one-two books a week (except for the Ken Follett 900 pager currently reading on the iPad) the quantity of paper in the house can become daunting.

Thanks, Jim for the stars...glad that got you to the information you wanted.

I am feeling quite disgruntled about pricing right now. A lot of ebooks on amazon kindle have gone up in price over the past few weeks, often by 100% or more. Apparantly, this is due to Apple taking measures to get publishers to agree not to allow other retailers to sell for less than Ibooks intend to sell for! Now I love my iPad, iPhone, iPod as much as the next person, but the way Apple seeks to tie up it's users, and now the market p **s me off! This illustrates my point http://www.osnews.com/story/23030/PriceWar_in_ebooks_Amazon_vsApple
And while I'm on my soapbox, I have recently bought a top of the range Ipad and an Iphone 4. £1200 worth of kit. Yet if I want to sync calendars etc, I must pay £10 per month for mobile me I know the last point is off topic, but related to the matter on books, because it's all about squeezing every possible £ out of the customer. What happened to Steve? Didn't he used to be anti such practice?

In one of the threads I posted above, a comment was made about the Amazon pricing and how it was artificially low. And other comments were made about the very low royalties paid to the authors.

The "was" between on-line sources is simply the free market at work...and there is nothing "free" about the price for the product. On-line publishing and distribution is a relatively new enterprise. We should not be surprised by competitors coming in and pricing becoming unstable compared to the original pricing. That will eventually shake out.

In some cases you can find (at least in the US) electronic books available in multiple formats, i.e., iBook, Nook, Kindle. When you find that, shopping around is a viable option. When only one format is available, no choice other than to buy or not buy.

It sure is nice having options in the market place now.

Apparantly, this is due to Apple taking measures to get publishers to agree not to allow other retailers to sell for less than Ibooks intend to sell for!

On the contrary, it's due to apple breaking the amazon headlock on publishers where they forced them to offer e-books at unsustainable prices. Now that there are more options, publishers were able to negotiate with amazon. If you like books and want to see them continue to get published, you should be glad to think that the book industry may be able to stay in business a little while longer. The cost of publishing an ebook is not substantially less than that of producing a paper book. Paper, ink, and distribution are a very small percentage of the actual cost of publishing a book.

Stella2 wrote:
I know the last point is off topic, but related to the matter on books, because it's all about squeezing every possible £ out of the customer. What happened to Steve? Didn't he used to be anti such practice?

Why would you say that? Jobs runs a multi-billion dollar company. He didn't make it a multi-billion dollar company by not caring about profit. Apple has never competed on price.

There are numerous eBook vendors at this point: Apple, Amazon, B&N, Borders, and other, smaller vendors. Do exactly what you would with anything else. Shop around. Find the best deal. Patronize the seller you like the best. Don't buy things you think are overpriced. And, when all else fails, the public library is still out there.