eBook formats: Kindle vs iBooks

DVGuru

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My wife has an iPad. Lately I've been thinking about using it for eBooks. Since there's no unified format, the question of which format to invest in comes up. I'm leaning toward Kindle since Amazon has an app on virtually every device, which kind of future-proofs my library. iBooks is only available on Apple devices and most likely always will be.

Just wondering if anyone has any thoughts. I still think paper is the best investment in terms of longevity, but I find that I read so much quicker on a screen. Being able to press a word and see the definition is also a huge plus.
 

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iBooks uses ePub; it's basically a set of files consisting of HTML/XML/CSS. In terms of long term access, it's a better bet, but the real issue with both Kindle and iBooks from Apple is the DRM.
 
kuwisdelu

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I'd go with iBooks. Athough iBooks itself may only be (currently) available on Apple devices, it uses the open-source .epub format, which can be used by many other readers on other devices. Kindle uses a propriety format that only Kindle readers can use.

So in short, you'll be able to read Kindle-formatted ebooks on many devices, but only on the Kindle application on those devices. iBooks uses a format that you should be able to read on many devices on other readers as well.
 
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You can use Kindle on the iPad so your investment won't go wasted. For the future, though, I'd go with iBooks which uses standard ePub format, which is supported by many e-readers. Also, iBooks now can read PDF files without another PDF reader. That is great.

Now that iBooks is available on the iPhone/iPod Touch (and it's a sweet app), the gap is closing.

Granted, Amazon still has a larger catalog than Apple, so for the time being, I use both. That's the great thing about the iPad. I can use both Kindle and iBooks.
 
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kuwisdelu

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maestrowork said:
You can use Kindle on the iPad so your investment won't go wasted. For the future, though, I'd go with iBooks which uses standard ePub format, which is supported by many e-readers. Also, iBooks now can read PDF files with another PDF reader. That is great.

Now that iBooks is available on the iPhone/iPod Touch (and it's a sweet app), the gap is closing.
Click to expand...

[off-topic]

What generation you have? I'm hoping for an update soon, as it crawls on my iPod Touch 2nd gen.

[/off-topic]

Granted, Amazon still has a larger catalog than Apple, so for the time being, I use both. That's the great thing about the iPad. I can use both Kindle and iBooks.
Click to expand...

Yes. Though I use iBooks and Stanza.
 

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kuwisdelu said:
[off-topic]

What generation you have? I'm hoping for an update soon, as it crawls on my iPod Touch 2nd gen.

[/off-topic]

Apple has told developers that other than bug fixes, this is the end of OS updates for second gen iPod Touch. The iBooks app does do page rendering as a temp file and a threaded process, so you might have a slight increase by clearing some space on the iPod, and by turning off the animations.
Click to expand...
 
DrZoidberg

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Both Kindle and iBook is a "nefarious conspiracy" to lock you in to their formats and shops. They're pretty upfront about what they're doing and why. So they're not exactly operating in the shadows.

As for future proofing, I'd say that, right now, everything is up in the air. Locking in consumers has in every other field so far always backfired, sooner or later, leaving it wide open for those that don't. So the conclusion we can draw from this is that in the future neither Kindle nor iBook will be the no 1 format. Sony is trying to do the same with Waterstones, which seems to be dead already. Considering the lack of titles and deathly silence about it, it's a fair guess.

My money is on that we're at the very start of a revolution, and we ain't seen nothing yet. In a situation like that, future proofing is a wee bit premature. Nobody has a clue what will happen. Everybody who buys an ebook now will all suffer the consequences of being early adapters. On the up-side we get to brag about being one of the first. So just buy something you like and be happy while it lasts, and complain about all its shortcomings on-line :)
 

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DrZoidberg said:
Both Kindle and iBook is a "nefarious conspiracy" to lock you in to their formats and shops.
Click to expand...

ePub is an open source format; it's based on HTML/XML. Other than the DRM--which is a problem (but already cracked) the iBooks/ePub file format is exceedingly portable. Bottom line: It's basically ASCII text with tags.

DrZoidberg said:
My money is on that we're at the very start of a revolution, and we ain't seen nothing yet. In a situation like that, future proofing is a wee bit premature. )
Click to expand...

I note that .pdb books I purchased in 2000 still work fine with Mac, Windows, Palm, iPhone and iPad.

At this point, the main longevity concern I have with ebooks is DRM.
 
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DrZoidberg said:
Both Kindle and iBook is a "nefarious conspiracy" to lock you in to their formats and shops. They're pretty upfront about what they're doing and why. So they're not exactly operating in the shadows.

As for future proofing, I'd say that, right now, everything is up in the air. Locking in consumers has in every other field so far always backfired, sooner or later, leaving it wide open for those that don't. So the conclusion we can draw from this is that in the future neither Kindle nor iBook will be the no 1 format. Sony is trying to do the same with Waterstones, which seems to be dead already. Considering the lack of titles and deathly silence about it, it's a fair guess.
Click to expand...

I've never even heard of Waterstones, but epub books work fine on my Sony Reader.

Like Medievalist said, there's nothing nefarious or proprietary about epub, and while some other format might eventually replace it as the preferred one in the ebook market, I'll be surprised if ebook readers twenty years from now aren't still able to read it.
 
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Medievalist said:
Apple has told developers that other than bug fixes, this is the end of OS updates for second gen iPod Touch. The iBooks app does do page rendering as a temp file and a threaded process, so you might have a slight increase by clearing some space on the iPod, and by turning off the animations.
Click to expand...

Well, hopefully the bus fixes will help. By the time iOS 5 rolls around, probably time for me to get a new one anyway.

I guess there's only so much you can do with 128 MB RAM.... :tongue
 
DrZoidberg

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Medievalist said:
ePub is an open source format; it's based on HTML/XML. Other than the DRM--which is a problem (but already cracked) the iBooks/ePub file format is exceedingly portable. Bottom line: It's basically ASCII text with tags.
Click to expand...

When buying books, its still pretty far from being a standard. The last book I bought for my Sony reader, my only option was PDF. There was a list of possible formats. epub was not one of them.

I'm going to judge this as settled when there's one open and dominant standard (LP, VHS, DVD, Blueray, MP3 etc) every newly produced reader can read it, and there's a healthy competition between sellers in providing books in this format. It could be ePub. It might just as well not be. It could be something completely different.

Medievalist said:
At this point, the main longevity concern I have with ebooks is DRM.
Click to expand...

Which is why I think drm will never work in the long haul. A model where people have to keep their old and then crappy readers simply because its the only way they can read old books they've bought... is not sustainable IMHO.
 
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