Kindle + iPhone = Opportunities?

Anyone figure out where the Kindle book files are stored on the iPhone?

The problem with a Kindle is you have one more device to keep track of and carry with you. I love using my iPhone to read books. It is always with me. I've read about 75 books on it. I have used Stanza. It is ok. But I prefer the ereader software for my iPhone from ereader.com. I can purchase books on the go and download them directly to my iPhone.

The Kindle is great for convenience (although I still think a lot of the downloadable media is overpriced), but I'm surprised more people aren't talking about the potential security/free speech implications of the digitization of books.

http://urbzen.com/2009/02/09/amazon-kindle-privacy-fail/

I love Stanza. Since I got my first iPod, between the availability of podcasts, audio books, and, of course, all of my music, I had taken a break from reading actual print books unless I was planted at home or on vacation for a good amount of time. The iPod provided me with enough entertainment that I let go of my habit of always taking at least one book with me out of the house. Thanks to Stanza and my iPod touch, I can have it all. I don't read for long periods of time on my iPod, but I do dip into Stanza for a couple of hours a week generally. I've tweaked the display settings to make them more comfortable to read and also dark enough to not add too much light to the bedroom when I'm reading after my wife has gone to sleep.
But.
I've played with a Kindle. I've read on it and poked around the interface, and while it's not perfect, I like it a lot, and the reading experience beats the iPod hands down (and, as Cory says, has a leg up on an actual book, as well). I want to buy one, especially now that 2.0 is almost here, but one of my issues is that the Kindle is still not something I'm likely to leave the house with regularly. It's just as portable as a book, but much more fragile, and the financial consequences of breaking it are much more severe than those of tearing a page from my paperback. I could see taking it along when I intended to read, but, unlike my iPod, I don't see it as being always present for those occasions when I happen to find myself with a few minutes to read. That is why Kindle books on the iPhone sound so exciting. I could easily see reading a book on the Kindle at home, reading a chapter or two at lunch or on the bus using my iPod, and then picking up on the Kindle later on. The new design of the Kindle had me about convinced that it's time to start saving my pennies for one. If I can sync books between the Kindle and the iPod, that's pretty much all the convincing I need.

I have a Sony reader and an iPhone. For long train/plane travel, you can not beat the Sony (yes, I cheat and recharge it off my PSP AC adapter, but that's for another blog) for reading pleasure. But I have to know and plan in advance to have it around; it is hardly easy to carry as an afterthought.

I always have my phone on me however, and in my opinion the free Stanza software in the App store was my best find of the month. I already use Fictionwise.com as my main book supplier, and when I installed the software on my phone and those books from my Fictionwise bookshelf popped up, with color covers, I am sure i looked my like 8 year old on Christmas.

Which platform you use is a balance of time and convenience, like everything in life, but I strongly agree that multiple platforms is a necessity with any purchase. These guys have a bad habit of trying to protect themselves into the poor house.

I'm really hoping this is more than just FUD. I've been reading ebooks on my palm/treo for years, and now use Stanza on my iphone. It might not be for everyone, but the convenience of being able to carry a library in my pocket, and have my books on a device I always have with me....no dedicated ebook reader is going to work as well for me personally. It'd be really nice to have access to all the books Amazon has made available for the Kindle...

I read books on my Palm Treo and on my Blackberry Pearl. I think if the screens on those devices can support it, then so can the iPhone.

With that said, I own a Kindle and have preordered a Kindle 2 (I have no willpower). I love the current Kindle. Given the choice between reading on a Kindle and reading on anything with an LCD-type screen, I'll take the Kindle every time. I actually prefer to read anything but technical books on the Kindle over the paper variety. The Kindle made reading on a gadget the PREFERRED way of reading rather than just an option for when I don't have a paper book on hand.

I am very much hoping that Amazon will release a Kindle app for the iPhone. I'll still read on my Kindle when I can, but I don't have the Kindle with me 100% of the time. I do have my iPhone nearly 100% of the time. And if they can sync the current reading location, then being able to read my Kindle books even when I don't have my Kindle will be awesome. In fact, I could easily see that becoming one of my favorite 3rd party iPhone apps.

iPhone, Android, or Blackberry? Forgetting someone? I'll put money down now that it's coming to Windows Mobile first. Just easier to program for, especially companies that make a lot of Windows software already. Plus, I'll love reading books on my Diamond (640x480, which of those phones above had that high of a resolution again?).

TUAW and Engadget may hate WM phones, but they really do more. In the past they haven't been as sexy, and that's the only reason they got a bad rap now.

/rant off

It doesn't take a rocket scientist to find PDFs of your favorite non-free books online (That's just how the world is now), so I won't get into online book sales.

The problem is displaying them on an iPhone. PDFs and LITs look butt-ugly on Stanza, even if you convert them to epub format. Stanza likes to ignore carriage returns, ALL CAPS, indented passages, and other structures. Of course the books in the Stanza store look great.

When viewing a PDF via Air Sharing, the PDF is displayed with all the original structure, but it is microscopic and zooming the text means you can read like 3 sentences before needing to scroll.

To me, the iPhone biggest problem for eBook reading is its screen.

Keep an eye on those "Book" Apps in the App store -- the ones where its just one book encapsulated in an App. If those sell well, I expect a real book store to be opening within iTunes, selling each book as an App, or better, incorporating that reader into a future iPhone/Touch OS with a larger screen (or a tablet Mac!).

I think you need to give Stanza another try. A lot has happened since its initial release and by adjusting the colors, you can create quite a nice reader. It's not like epaper but a kindle can't play music, make calls and play wurdle... For me it's all about one device that does things well and I, personally think Stanza is amazing.