I just do not get why are people having this huge melt down over the lack of “in app” eBook purchasing on the iPad. Dear Author is running around telling everyone fish stories about how they have to load their eBooks using USB now or these Dropbox style applications which is just out to lunch.
But then anyone going to Jane for technical advice on anything more complicated than a Kindle deserves what they get.
But lets drop the rhetoric and let me show you in pictures why Jane’s advice is dead wrong.
Here is my iPad with most of the major eBook reading apps I have installed.
Now all you have to do is instead of going into the Kindle app to buy an eBook tap the button at the bottom with the compass on it. That one called Safari.
Now go to the Amazon website and then to the Kindle eBook section and viola! See you can still do the one click shopping and see there below the “buy now” button you can send it to your iPad Kindle App just like you always could in this case iPig. You can do the exact same thing with the Nook app too on the Barnes & Noble website. No USB side loading or any other hinky bullshit and it is all available from your iPad.
Here is my library in All Romance eBooks where you can download to your iPad. All you have to do is use Safari and go to the All Romance eBook website and buy a book in NON-DRM ePub or PDF format. Now select the book from your library for download…
Any NON-DRM PDF file will automatically be displayed on download through Safari but the big thing is there are two buttons provided at the top of the screen. Open In iBooks and Open In Select App. See the picture? You can now send the NON-DRM PDF file to the Bluefire Reader or GoodReader or Kobo.
Now let’s look at NON-DRM ePub…
Here unlike PDF files which are native to iOS the NON-DRM ePub will not display. But it still allows you to send the file to one of the Apps that can present it. iBooks or Bluefire Reader or Stanza or Kobo.
What you will notice from me showing you all of this is the fact that Kindle and Nook and Google Books although they can show some of these industry standard file formats do not bother to associate those files in iOS with their apps so you could select their app to send the eBook. In other words people the application makers are the ones making it hard for you to use your iPad to buy eBooks online and get them into those apps for you to read without having to manipulate files from your computer.
This is why I recommend downloading and using Kobo or iBooks for NON-DRM ePub or PDF eBooks. I like Kobo because they just come across as smart and they have taken the time to integrate their application into the iOS system settings.
Now if you use iBooks for your NON-DRM ePub and PDF files you then have the whole iTunes functionality that makes sure your eBook files are always backed up and safe when you plug your iPad or iPhone into your computer and eventually through whatever wireless iCloud based solutions Apple starts providing.
So there you go.
No USB cables needed I swear and nothing has really changed except the “in app” purchasing that the major eBook sellers did not want to pay Apple a percentage for and no the sky is not falling anytime soon. You can still use your iPad or iPhone and read and buy eBooks totally online without having to jerk things around like the people whining and carrying on are making this whole deal out to be.
Tags: eBook Commentary, iPad
David Niall Wilson wrote,
The problem isn’t that you can’t buy books on the Ipad, the problem is that Apple really believes that their proprietary wars are more important than their users, because while I doubt Kindle sales will drop over this, it’s exactly the kind of crap likely to make iPad sales drop.
It’s the only major platform where you can’t buy from other people’s apps…no thanks.
I don’t think the developers of any of the other platforms have my best interests in mind either, but mos of them aren’t so blatant is showing it.
DNW
Link | August 10th, 2011 at 9:39 am
TeddyPig wrote,
The facts remain it is Apple’s platform and none of it was free for them to create or maintain. So why should it be an open door for Amazon or anyone else to leech off of?
For some reason everyone ignores the fact someone has to pay for all the research and innovation and the easiest people to do that with are the competing retailers using your platform.
And until I see Amazon allowing Apple to sell on their Kindle then whatever price they set is reasonable. I would have made Amazon pay 60% for the fun of watching them get off my lawn. I want to see Amazon get stuck on a piracy driven hole like Google Android where most things are ripped off than paid for.
Link | August 10th, 2011 at 9:55 am
MegaReader | The Naughty Bits wrote,
[...] I will stick to using iBooks and iTunes or even GoogleDocs on occasion to store my non-DRM PDFs in the freaking cloud if you know what I mean. [...]
Link | October 14th, 2011 at 3:35 pm