Okay, the savvy authors issue. I’m not in any way denigrating writers here, but just because an author misunderstands or hasn’t a deep understanding of online distribution surely doesn’t make them ‘feebleminded’ it just makes them mistaken. This is a whole new technological ballgame here, and sadly not everybody is going to have kept up with it in detail. It is very very easy to equate ‘online music store’ with ‘iTunes’ and by extension ‘online book store’ with ‘iBookstore’. Less progressive (or more lazy) publishers may also think the same. Let’s hope you are more right than I am.

And I’m not looking for a fight – just opinions. Mine don’t 100% tally with yours. Your basic sentiments I agree with of course, but online stores are fraught with complexity at the moment. It’s early days I guess, but I’m no fan of iTunes and I suspect that iBookStore will follow a similar model.

“…suggestion that truly groundbreaking fiction will be accomplished via apps certainly doesn’t trumpet Apple’s platform as the sole marketplace”

Unfortunately the app marketplaces don’t play nicely together. They partition capability across different platforms, something that the web has managed to erode over the last ten years. In the future, well hopefully we will have proper cross-platform app stores, but right now we don’t. In the meantime I still believe there are nicer, more platform-agnostic ways to achieve enhanced content. And Apple’s current sort-of-dominance means that those who do want to try something inventive with an ‘app’ are likely to lean in their direction, and that is at the moment likely to cause a big divide. I hope that doesn’t happen.

Ultimately, the iPad and iBookStore has the chance to create an impact in a way that Amazon failed to with the kindle – what happens as a result is going to be largely in Apple’s hands. Unfortunately, like it or not, Apple do like to exert a lot of control over their stores and their products. I just hope it doesn’t lead to a world dominated by one platform and that choice remains.

Just a side note about book pricing and IPad that several people mentioned today – Penguin this week appears to have gone the opposite route and is charging less on IPad than on Kindle for some books, clearly a dig at the “difficult” negotiations they had with Amazon. We are still in the muscle-flexing phase of the whole ebooks thing.

But at first glance, it looks as though publishers are demanding premium prices. The Big Short by Michael Lewis costs £15.99 on the iPad – I have just bought this excellent book about the few people who spotted the credit crunch coming from Amazon’s Kindle store for $11.99.

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Source: http://www.bbc.co.uk/blogs/thereporters/rorycellanjones/2010/05/reading_the_ipad.html

Checked with recent exchange rates, and I make that book’s iPad price to be a grotesque 93% mark-up on the Kindle version.

See also J.A. Konrath’s comments on ebooks’ price sensitivity.

Further, my suggestion that truly groundbreaking fiction will be accomplished via apps — while absolutely prescient in my opinion — certainly doesn’t trumpet Apple’s platform as the sole marketplace to publish those apps. Again, developers (and content creators) have gobs of choice in how to create and distribute those applications: the iTunes marketplace, the Google mobile OS marketplace, online (as web-based apps), etc.

You’re looking for a fight where there is none, particularly since I mention my full and sincere support of open software and marketplaces in my opening paragraphs of this review.

Not sure I agree on this point. As it’s an Apple thing, what are the chances we’ll end up with a world where people rush to publish books into the Apple-space which are then only readable by those with Apple devices? And what chances that publishers will ignore or only pay lip service to any other services offering online book stores?

Sadly I just can’t see all this being a good thing – Apple getting into the publishing world is potentially just going to cause division between those who have and those who haven’t got Apple products, and to me this would be a horrible scenario.

Let’s hope that the iBookStore is open to all and doesn’t ban non-Apple devices from synching to it.

“The secret to differentiation and success isn’t getting your stuff in the iBookstore. It’s in apps”

Proves my point entirely – it is NOT in ‘apps’. This is the same as saying ‘the secret to differentiation is making your stuff EXCLUSIVELY available to Apple users, who will at best be 30% of the market”. This is completely wrong – especially if Steve Jobs succeeds in making it impossible to write cross-platform programs as he seems hell-bent on doing. Why should I waste my time creating content or enhancing content for one segment of the market?

In my opinion, the best and fairest approach is to embrace the web (you know, the publishing medium that ALL devices can work with) and get stories and books online in nice html/javascript/css wrappers if an enhanced experience is absolutely necessary and then maybe find a way to monetise that. Online stores could still carry pdfs and ePubs for those with e-book readers as long as they are available to all devices equally. Apps, as far I’m concerned, have become a hideous, segregating blot on the open internet – the online world was a lot simpler and more open three years ago than it is now.

I’ll be interested to see how others feel about this – I realise this is probably a very pro-Apple forum, but putting that aside, do those who read this blog really think Apple getting into publishing is a good thing? Do you really think ‘apps’ are the way to go? Do you agree their could be potential downsides to their sudden interest in publishing?

When Apple first announced the iPad I was a bit “meh – just give me a new iPhone” however, with 10 days to the UK launch I’m looking again at it.

Your review seems spot on, in that it is a content consumer’s device, and I can see it having a use in my day to day life. Take today, for example, the only reason I have my Macbook Pro with me is that I am using it to check my email, use “Things” and read reviews about the iPad… I do use the laptop for proper development work, but I know my schedule for today means that I won’t use it.

That’s not the case for every day, and I can see myself having to carry the MBP, iPhone and iPad with me, which seems like overkill. I’ll still use my iPhone if I have an iPad as it has the dual purpose of being able to make phone calls, and also being small enough to carry in my pocket and use as an MP3 player. I can’t see myself carrying the iPad and listening to music on it as I walk.

Likewise, I store things like shopping lists on my iPhone, which is pretty discreet to pull out in the supermarket, whereas the iPad is a different beast.

I know I’m currently suffering from applelust, but I’m keen to hear your thoughts now you’ve had the iPad for a couple of weeks. Do you still use it as much? has it replaced your laptop any more, or now that the shiney has worn off, are you using your laptop and iPhone more again?

Keen to hear your thoughts on how it has integrated into your life.

I imagine I’ll break down and get one sometime in the next year, maybe once multi-tasking is available (I just can’t see doing without that!). I was a late adopter for the IPod, and AT&T has such bad coverage where I spend most of my time that the IPhone was never an option, but I do think the IPad is the direction things are headed, and as both an author and a back-end web developer, it’s something I want to be familiar with. It’s no shock that amazon announced an API for the kindle a few weeks after the IPad was announced.

The form factor of the iPad is delightful, and the experience is dazzling. I’m finding that the iPad is replacing my laptop — even at home — for watching videos and surfing the web. However, the lack of multi-tasking and robust content creation tools will be a bummer for those craving a laptop experience. By my reckoning, the iPad represents a new product category. Manage expectations accordingly.

As somebody who currently uses a 17″ MacBook Pro and is more than happy to carry it everywhere, where does the iPad fit in to my life, if at all?

I’ve no doubt that the device is gorgeous, but I’m struggling to work out what I’d do with it that I don’t/can’t do on my laptop.

Thanks JC

Echo previous comment that it would be really interesting to see how you feel about your iPad in a few months, once the novelty aspect has worn off slightly.

If you want to try a game, I recommend zen bound 2. There are more “traditional” games available that I like better, but if you’re not a gamer this feels more like a relaxing way to kill time than a game. The objective is to wrap wooden figurines in rope, with scoring based on the amount of the figure you have managed to cover. Brilliantly multi-touch and gorgeous (I’m a big fan of the original iPhone version too).

@Jonathan: Precisely. Consumers vastly outnumber creators, so the iPad is a great device for them. Creators must manage their expectations.

@Chris: Brother, I do appreciate the drum beat, and the kind words. I wanted to address the community’s concerns, and glad you took it in the constructive spirit in which it was intended. I’ll absolutely write up another post about the iPad in the weeks ahead.

Now, that being said, I’m glad you like the purchase! If anyone will be able to get the best use out of it, it’s you. I look forward to your thoughts in about six month, just to see how your overall device strategy has changes.

While I do not approve of Apple’s tactics in regards to software, I can see how such a device you be useful. I look forward to what’s coming in a year or two from other players in the space.

I want to write stories, record podcasts, and futz around with graphics and images. The iPad doesn’t help me do those things.

My wife has no desire to create content; she just wants to read her email, visit her websites, check our finances, and then watch the weather on any of the six apps she has for that. The iPad is perfect for her.

Thanks for the review! Look forward to hearing your take when (and if) the “shiny” wears off.