Boom in iPhone Books
There has been a massive increase in the number of ebooks available in the app store, according to an article at GigaOm, to the point where books are overtaking games in the App store. Given that both Kindle and Barnes and Noble have reader applications for the iPhone, does this mean that iPhone’s are going to out do e-ink readers?
Probably not. For two major reasons: firstly, as Gizmodo so helpfully points out, a huge number of these apps are just public domain books that are released by dozens of different developers trying to make an easy dime. The second reason is that the iPhone doesn’t have the advantages that an e-ink display does, namely extraordinary battery life, and a low glare screen. Though it wins major points for portability. I’ve only managed to get through one novel on my iPhone (The Princess of Mars), but it ended up playing havoc with my eyes. I just couldn’t handle reading of the screen for that length of time. Any of you readers of books on the iPhone? Thoughts?
Tags: ebooks
I have been using e-books on my various PDAs and smartphones for years. I find it VERY convenient to have everything in one place, and the screen technologies keep getting better and better. I also use my iPhone for RSS feeds and newspapers. It has allowed me to carry a huge library of books, magazines and newspapers in a small compact space. I cannot imagine going back to a printed newspaper!
Love to read on my iPod touch. It’s very convenient, always handy. With the display set to night-time (white or gold print on black background) there is minimum glare. So far I have read a total of 13 full-length books on Amazon, Barnes and Noble and eBook formats. In addition I also have a few reference books in the iPod. I have several books on my wish list, but they are not (yet) available as e-books. So I wait. No more paper books for me - if at all possible.