Leaked file might be the first promo list of iPad books

Let's see, the iPad as an ebook reader is only one aspect of its use.With one audience in mind.

The iPad as an email/web browser/game device/movie & tv player/productivity device will probably address the other 95% of potential customers.

Correction: the iPad as a text book replacement device for schools account for more than 5% book readers. But then again those who will use it in school will also be using the other features of the iPad.

I don't think Apple has to worry about competing with ebook readers. They're not its target audience.

I've been buying DRM-free eBooks from Baen for a decade.

They come in every format you want (html, rtf, mobi, epub), and can be re-downloaded any time. This is key, since I don't have a mobipocket palm device anymore, so all my old pdb files are unreadable... but the rtf and html versions are all still readable, and should be forever.

The eBooks from Baen add value:
a) They are published 3 months in advance of release by 1/4s (25% 3 months, 50% 2 months, 75% 1 month prior).
b) No waiting in lines at bookstores the day of release, or waiting for delivery.

They also publish their "advance reader copies" that go to reviewers (who usually sell them on ebay for $50) as ebooks for $15 many months before the release date, if you want to read the books months before the published date dictated by paper.

And they do all this for $3-5 per book.



So if Apple wants to sell me an eBook for $15 per DRM book, it better add even more value.

We're talking advanced reader copy pricing, so they better come out BEFORE the print versions. And for DRM single format eBooks that may not be readable in the long term... there better be a whole lot of added value to make me want to buy an Apple eBook that will probably necessitate an addition paper copy for anything you want to hang on to long term.

Stephen makes a good point. An issue for me will be accessibility. On my iPod I primarily read using Stanza for free content, and if I want to pay for something, I use the Kindle Ap. If I were to pick which one I prefer, it'd probably be Stanza because that's what I'm used to (and because it's easier to get books into Stanza). But with the introduction of the iPad, I could conceivably be reading on multiple devices. If iBooks won't work on the iPod Touch, but Stanza and Kindle will work on both devices... It does make iBooks a hard sell. And if I'm using two devices, then all of the sudden Kindle's syncing becomes very appealing, so much so that it might replace Stanza as my reader of choice. But then I guess the syncing only applies to purchased content, and I don't know if you can even add free content you made from your Gutenberg files available on the Kindle application, so it really all comes down to how iBooks handles its content and whether that content can be made available on multiple devices. Kindle's syncing is great, but the format is locked down an only applies to content bought from Amazon. It's probably not worth it for me to pay Amazon for content that's freely available just the purpose of saving my place across devices. A compromise I could see iBook making is, rather than on-line syncing, your bookmark could be saved when you sync with iTunes, just like it is with audio books and podcasts. Not as useful as instant, on-line syncing, but better than nothing. And if iBook does that with free .epub content as well, then that will give it an edge over Stanza because, as far as I know, there is no way get bookmark information out of the Stanza application and apply to content on other devices. But if iBook doesn't come to the iPod Touch/iPhone, then it's kind of moot. Stanza will remain my go-to reader on the iPod, but iBook will have to have some great usability features (and it may) to get me to use a different application when I read on the iPad.
Basically I /want/ iBook to be the One E-Reader to Rule Them All, but we have seen so little of it, and have so little info, that it remains to be seen. It also remains to be seen how willing Apple is to let other e-book readers run on the iPad in direct competition with their own product. I hope they allow it, but it still remains to be seen.

I don't think Sarah Palin will be too happy that the iPad is pallin' around with us liberal media elites.

I dunno about that; I see the word "sex" in that list... it might get iBanned real quick.

As long as all the books are on the same device I am not too worried about which app I need. At least for fiction.

What I really want to know is will we be able to mark up PDFs as with Preview on the desktop. That, coupled with Pages, will make the iPad a real research tool.

One question I haven't seen answered yet is: will iBooks also be available on the iPhone? The consensus seems no, because Apple wants to sell iPads and not give people an excuse to stick with the iPhone. But if that's the case, I'll stick with the Kindle: one of its best features is the ability to seamlessly pick up reading on a different device. When I'm stuck in line somewhere unexpectedly, I won't have an iPad or Kindle with me in my pocket but I will have the Kindle app on my iPhone. The Kindle app is more portable than an iPad, in other words.....

I'm ready for a website or blog that lists the items available at one store but not the other. Amazon MP3 vs ITMS. Nook Vs Kindle Vs iBook. Who is game?

It is a difficult task, but extremely fruitful. You could link to the stores THAT HAVE THE GOODS. Ads!

For me, I'll probably be sticking to the Kindle app for 99%. I've got too much on that already to just switch completely. Freebies and exclusives (or just plain better editions, if that's to happen) are probably going to be my only reason to switch.