Filed under: Software, iPhone, iPod touch
iPhone the most popular ebook reader
Forbes is reporting that the iPhone has become the country's top eBook reader. The claim is based upon the number of downloads of Stanza [App Store link], an ebook reader for the iPhone and iPod touch (395,000 and counting), versus the number of projected US Kindle sales (380,000). For those unfamiliar with Stanza, it's a free application that lets users download books over the air, as does the Kindle. All of Stanza's offerings are free works in the public domain, and flipping pages is a breeze with the touch screen.
Of course, it's silly to compare an iPhone to a Kindle. The screen is very tiny and I wouldn't want to read anything longer than an email message with it. However, many people will, some of whom do it just because they can. I can remember reading a Stephen King book on my old Palm ///e simply because I thought it was neat.
Still, combine the 395,000 downloads of Stanza with nearly 380,000 Kindles sold (plus the Sony eBook reader figures), and it seems that many people enjoy reading very tiny type.
[Via MacDailyNews]
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Reader Comments (Page 1 of 3)
David said 12:11PM on 10-03-2008
I read on my iPhone all the time. It's probably the most used app on the phone. I use the eReader app from ereader.com. The type isn't really any tinier than a paperback, you just get more line breaks.
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Mario said 12:09PM on 10-03-2008
I actually read eBooks on the iPhone. I have a collection of some text eBooks and Stanza and iPhone work perfect for that. Since I downloded this app I read 6-7 full length books already. Prior to this I was using my old trusty Palm and an app called Isilo and another software that name escapes me. What I find very convenient is that I have my iPhone with me all the time. If I have 5 minutes waiting in line - I just take out my phone and I manage to read a chapter or two. On the other hand I would not want to carry my Kindle with me.
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matthew said 12:09PM on 10-03-2008
Steve Jobs may be changing his mind on there not being a market for eBooks at this rate. He's been wrong before about what people will use tiny screens for and changed his mind and gone on to release excellent products (e.g. iPods with video).
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LuminousNerd said 12:10PM on 10-03-2008
Very tiny type? Have you even used Stanza? You can set your type to be very large, thank you.
And it is VERY readable, thanks to the iPhone's high resolution, the configurable background/text colors, and the unique page-turning mechanism (and not scrolling which causes you to constantly lose your place).
Stanza is a fantastic way to read. You may turn the pages more frequently (that is the one and ONLY downside really), but it's a lot easier to do so than with a real book, the type is larger and clearer than reading a real book.
I also wish they had (a LOT) more books.
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Marc said 12:14PM on 10-03-2008
I've read several books on my iPhone with Stanza: Gone With the Wind and Les Miserables being some of the longer ones. Its no trouble at all to read; especially since the font size can be increased.
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Russell Strine said 12:18PM on 10-03-2008
I use Stanza everyday to read on my commute. I've gone through about 6 or 8 books so far and find the interface perfectly readable and highly customizable. I simply adjust the type size and color to my liking and that's it. Besides it's very handy to be able to read an listen to music at the same time whilst keeping the other hand free to fend off zombies in the NYC subway.
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Dalton said 12:17PM on 10-03-2008
People seem to be missing the fact that you can load whatever content you want into Stanza, you don't have to rely on what is available from their server. You download it into the desktop version of the Stanza app, and then share it with the iPhone over WiFi. I have been reading New Yorker short fiction downloaded from their website for months like this. It's great.
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totoro said 12:19PM on 10-03-2008
Stanza is excellent.
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Daniel said 12:25PM on 10-03-2008
Despite many glowing reviews, I'd bet that the vast majority of Stanza downloaders aren't using it at all. It's a free app - of course a lot of people are going to download it, just to check it out.
Saying that the iPhone as a platform is more "popular" than the Kindle because of the number of downloads that Stanza has managed to rack up is just plain stupid.
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Bakari said 12:46PM on 10-03-2008
Maybe I'm just too old, but I have a hard time believing that people are actually reading entire ebooks on an iPhone. That's too much strain on the eyes.
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Dalton said 2:42PM on 10-03-2008
I have read quite a few short stories in Stanza, but never a whole novel.
I read a very long novel on my Palm Pilot years ago, though, there's nothing stopping anybody from doing it.
David S. said 4:16PM on 10-03-2008
Bakari may not believe it but many people are reading whole books on their iPhones and iPod touches. I am and it's a very good experience, the type is crisp and clear (and resizable for those who need it).
I don't use Stanza that much as I prefer eReader (also a free app) which allows you to purchase current release commercial books as well as read free ones from Gutenberg, etc. (there are several free Mac apps to convert plain text docs into Palmdoc eBooks compatible with eReader). eReader for the iPhone/touch is nearly at the point where it'll be replacing eReader on Palm T|X as my primary eBook reader.
Aron T said 12:31PM on 10-03-2008
The Palm IIIe was my first Palm Pilot! Did yours have a clear plastic case!?
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Jason Holliston said 12:44PM on 10-03-2008
Stanza's good, but I also own a Kindle, and it's not really in the same ballpark when it comes to ease and comformt of reading a book. The e-ink tech in the Kindle makes the experience much, much easier on the eyes, and frankly the screen size helps a lot, too. Putting aside reading experience, the store size and ease of buying books is what separates the Kindle from any other eBook reader on the market, at least as of today. Competition is good, though, and I hope that other players keep up with Amazon.
Yeah, I agree with LuminousNerd -- tiny type? Only tiny if you consider a regular dead tree book to by tiny type. I read at the same font size as most books.
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shippster said 12:55AM on 10-04-2008
These numbers may be the best thing available, but they are not very precise. They are comparing how often people download a free app that has spent a good period of time features in the top 25 free list with a device you have to pull out a credit card for. I bet there are a lot more people that have downloaded Stanza just to see what it does than people that have bought a Kindle for the same purpose.
Either way, I like Stanza. I have read some of the short stories out on it and found it really easy. I would read on a long walk into the Apple store from my car or on the long walk out of work at the end of the day.
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Marcos said 12:48PM on 10-03-2008
The fact that there are X downloads doesn't mean people are using it that much.
I suspect people who pay $300+ for an electronic-ink dedicated eBook reader such as the Kindle use it more in average than people who download a free eReader app.
I know I downloaded Stanza to check it out (it's free after all) but haven't read a single book in it.
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EatingPie said 3:26PM on 10-04-2008
Indeed! I read tons of books on my Sony Reader. Use it every day, and night. At night, with a booklight in a dark room while my wife sleeps (not something you want to do with the iPhone).
The iPhone is nice, but it suffers from the eye-fatigueing backlight. And a "page" is tiny, requiring a lot of page turns.
I know people will disagree -- many love to read books on the iPhone -- so this brings up the larger, and MOST IMPORTANT, issue...
What's really needed here is a standard e-book format. Right now, the Sony is locked to the Sony Store, the Kindle is locked to Amazon, and Stanza is locked to their own site. (That's for purchased books, all these support text files you download yourself.)
Content providers need to be just that: content providers. And then allow hardware makers to make their Readers/Kindles/Iliads/iPhones/etc. Sadly, everyone wants to duplicate the iPod/iTunes success, but at this point they've only splintered the market, making no one a winner.
-Pie
Seth Rene Neon said 9:45PM on 5-17-2009
you can change the font size.
you can change the font color.
you can even change the background color.
its very readable
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Kyle Derouen said 12:55PM on 10-03-2008
IDK, I don't think number of downloads is the best indication that it is a popular ebook reader.
I downloaded stanza a while back just to try it out, but find it too hard to read on the tiny screen. I'm guessing a bunch of other people have done the same.
Everyone who buys the Kindle, however, is definitely using it to read ebooks.
Just my 2¢
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Tom said 12:59PM on 10-03-2008
Forbe's comparison is flawed in another way. A download of a free app on an iPhone doesn't suggest active use. On the other hand, the purchase of a $359 kindle with a monthly subscription fee suggests a higher likelihood of use.
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