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Why Apple will produce iBooks/Newsstand for Mac

by Erica Sadun Aug 5th 2011 at 2:30PM

We've been having a big difference of opinion here at TUAW central over this question: will Apple produce iBooks/Newsstand for OS X? I represent the "yay" side of the argument. I believe that not only will Apple produce iBooks for Mac, I think it will do so in a way that is well integrated with Newsstand, the new publishing push for iOS for magazine and newspaper app subscriptions.

The naysayer argument against OS X iBooks boils down to this: "People don't take their MacBooks into the bathroom." When you want to read, you want to curl up with a book: on the sofa, in bed, in the loo. Desktops aren't cuddly, and people don't want to read from a vertical screen.

I disagree and I'm not alone. Monster Costume's CEO Kyle Kinkade, a company dedicated to building rich interactive media, explained it this way. He told TUAW, "We are targeting OS X and Windows because we believe that content should be owned by the users and not by their platforms."

Many people do much more daily reading on their computers then they recognize. From web surfing to e-mail, computer-based reading is a fundamental part of the way we get through our day. And reading isn't just about fiction. Reference books have a place in our lives and on our screens.

Why not have a reference open on one monitor as we do related work on the other? Why not offer access to our favorite magazines and newspapers in a more readable and usable form than simple web sites? Why not provide all this with that special Apple experience?

"Remember this: rich applications are consumed more than their website counterparts," Kinkade told TUAW. "Consider Amazon.com. They have experienced a huge shift in usage from their website to the iPad client. Consider Twitter on the desktop. Most people consume it from rich desktop applications, not from the Twitter website. There's a hunger from consumers for better user experiences than just the web. Consumer digital media wants to be interactive. It doesn't want to be static on a page."

Desktop reading is a scenario that Amazon has long supported. It understands the difference between buying platform and buying content. To accomplish this, Amazon offers Web-based readers and desktop clients for its Kindle store. Amazon has simplified access to purchased material across all kinds of destination platforms. Amazon recognizes that desktop platforms are as valid as mobile ones.

So where's Apple? I personally believe that Apple is likely to launch a desktop solution this Fall, in synchrony with the Newsstand launch and will do so with a suite of tools to better create content beyond what we see today. Think iMovie for books.

Sure you can create a basic ePub from Pages, but Pages is not meant to build interactive experiences. It's a text-and-graphics layout program. iBooks and Newsstand have the potential to be, well, magical. They can expand beyond simple reading to build media experiences that go further than words on a page. Apple, the pioneer of new interactive experiences, is poised to take us there.

Industry is responding to this potential. We're never going to see what Push Pop Press was building, but I'm guessing it was something awesome. Meanwhile there's Monster Costume, which is building interactive media creation tools to design and deploy graphic-heavy content to App Store, and to their own proprietary book store. They plan to target iOS, OS X, Windows, and Android, and are exploring additional platforms.

Kinkade agreed. "It's no coincidence that the two fastest selling devices for Apple are the MacBook Air and the iPad. They are philosophical cousins to each other. They represent the ultraportable experience."

As for me, I rather like reading novels at the desktop. It's not for everyone, but when I own a book, I'd like it to be me who decides how and where I read it, not Apple.

Agree? Disagree? Join in the discussion in the comments.



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We've been having a big difference of opinion here at TUAW central over this question: will Apple produce iBooks/Newsstand for OS X? I...
 

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32 Comments

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Robert Stein

I think that Apple needs to create an iBooks for OSX. There are many people who are buying technical books on the iPad and having them available on your macbook would be great. For example if you buy a book about learning how to write xCode it would be nice to have the book open on your second screen while you are doing the exercises on your main screen. Or with the new textbooks it would be nice to be able to have that book open on your laptop during class and maybe evernote open for taking notes.

Please Apple, soon.

February 12 2012 at 9:15 PM Report abuse rate up rate down Reply
milmom

Just wanted to agree with everyone. As it is now Dec 31 and no iBooks or Newstand for Mac has appeared, I believe that Apple still doesn't hear their loyal followers. For books and magazines that I buy, I want to be able to read them when and where I wish; depends on what I am doing, at the Mac, iPhone or iPad; I should be able to choose which of those I want to use. Currently, I buy books from B&N and read them on the iPad or Mac or Android (no iPhone yet). I also recommend Calibre on the Mac for book management.

December 31 2011 at 3:46 PM Report abuse rate up rate down Reply
stefan

agree!

October 22 2011 at 7:05 AM Report abuse rate up rate down Reply
ET from NYC

There is no advantage to buying a book for iBooks or a magazine for Newsstand. If I buy a book Amazon or B&N i can read it just about anywhere, including IOS 5 platforms, PC, Macs, Kindle or Nook, etc etc. For mags, i buy from Zenio. Both alternatives give me better selection, choice of reader platform. iBook and Newsstand give me no price advantage in return for the restrictions.

October 21 2011 at 1:41 AM Report abuse rate up rate down Reply
orlovichdavid

I am definitely in favor of a desktop version of newsstand and ibooks. The thing is I really want to subscribe to Linux Format on newsstand, but I definitely don't want to read it on my iPhone. I have just got an 11 inch MB Air, which is perfect for reading mags, books etc. I don't want to buy an iPad just to read a magazine. Like Joy below I also found this article when searching for "newsstand desktop" so its a no brainer for me. Develop it and I will download it!

October 15 2011 at 4:43 AM Report abuse rate up rate down Reply
Kyle

It's the "yea" side of the argument, not "yay".

August 07 2011 at 7:24 PM Report abuse +1 rate up rate down Reply
1 reply to Kyle's comment
AndrewG

yay or nay

September 28 2011 at 2:02 PM Report abuse rate up rate down Reply
Fred

Interesting article. I have been following the electronic media for a few years now. People did not mention Stanza as an ereader, it has both an app and a desktop version for reading. I personally think the distributers of books are trying to lock in readers to one format of reading. I do not like that. I am more of the I bought the book, I want to read it where I want to, and not where you want me to. I think this is very similar to the music argument and if you buy it, you should be able to read it where ever you want to and not have to buy it again for a different format.

Let me give you an example of an author that has ebooks in any format, Scott Sigler. He is the only one I am familiar with, there may be others. He started with podcasts of his books, also published his books and now has ebooks. But that is a business decision, to make the reading material open to all ereaders.

For academic books, I did see an app that let you "rent" the book. Sometimes you want to keep the book and make notes for a long time if it is your career. I am note sure what is best for that, an app that is the book, or an ereader that you can make notes with. Another question is, will the notes be saved?

I think the business plan with ebooks is developing. It will be interesting to see what comes of it. I plan to stick to an open format as possible.

August 07 2011 at 5:15 PM Report abuse rate up rate down Reply
Joy

i definitely see value in the ability to read my ibook while using my laptop. Infact, that's how i came to find this page... by googling to find info on reading my ibook on my OSX laptop. One can only hope that Apple will, as this article expects, soon release software supporting that ability. Can't be soon enough. For now, the iPhone screen must suffice. P.S. i want my laptop software to "see" where my eyes are focused and turn the page when i blink while focusing on a "turnpage" icon.

August 07 2011 at 3:32 PM Report abuse rate up rate down Reply
Russell Goldman

This is why I use kindle and not iBooks at the moment.

August 07 2011 at 2:26 PM Report abuse rate up rate down Reply
herenow

I have to assume (or at least hope) that iBooks will soon end up being accessible in Safari via some login with one's iTunes AppleID. Although GoogleBooks does not appear to be a strong competitor in the marketplace its architecture is sound: give access to anyone, anywhere, in the browser.

August 06 2011 at 6:28 PM Report abuse rate up rate down Reply
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