PC World has a good article that compares the Kindle application and the Apple iBook application. The Kindle is not a device, but a platform, that runs on multiple devices such as the Blackberry, iPhone, PC and Mac. That is one advantage that Amazon has over Apple because currently,
Apple’s new iBook application is only limited to the iPad. Amazon recently unveiled plans to provide an application for the Apple iPad, which demonstrates that Amazon’s strives to reach out to the widest audience possible.
Considering that the iPad is a newly launched device, and that the price tag is pretty hefty at $499, Apple’s choice to keep the iBook application exclusive does not appear to be a very smart one. However, eventually, there will most likely be an iBook application available for the iPhone and iPod touch. It will be interesting to see if Apple branches out to allow an iBook application on Blackberry and Android.
Another marketing strategy that Amazon has going for it in terms of the Kindle platform is the amount of e-books available to download. The iBook application only has 60,000 titles currently available. This number will surely increase over time, but Amazon is ahead of the game at the moment with its much larger selection of 450,000 titles available for readers.
According to ReadWriteWeb’s article on comparing the two applications, the Kindle application is simple to use and doesn’t have all of the bells and whistles that the iBook application uses. For example, the user sees one page at a time on the Kindle application, whereas with the iBook application, the user can see two pages at a time and the pages turn in a more “engaging” format. From a user’s standpoint, simplicity is key to create an easy, pleasurable reading experience.
Apple has already announced their app for the iPhone and Touch that allows reading of iBooks on those devices complete with their version of whispersync. It didn’t take them long.
And it would be interesting if Amazon finishes the Mac version to be fully feature parity with the hardware version. It is not uncommon for Mac versions of software to be never fully finished. If the software version allows me to be an effective scholar with their ebooks, I will gladly use it. Apple is on a learning curve right now; and when they learn, they do massive updates/fixes. And yes, eventually ibooks will be on mac desktop.
In my opinion, Kindle’s E Ink technology is what differentiates it from any potential implementation of iBook on other devices.
That’s it??? I came here looking for a good article comparing the toparagraphs few paragraphs of well known information… Seriously, why even write something if you have nothing to write??????
> Considering that the iPad is a newly launched device, and that the price tag is pretty hefty at $499
Last time I checked the price for Kindle DX – $489. $10 less than a full fledged media/web device with an amazing screen and color.