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Tuesday, February 16, 2010

Tech / Books Apple's Disappointing Move in the E-book Race

Posted by Paul Constant on Tue, Feb 16, 2010 at 12:29 PM

The fact of the matter is that I'm going to have to get an ebook reader this year. Too many publishers are starting to not offer print versions of advance copies for review, and I can't read long works on a laptop screen because the experience is not enough like reading a book. So the question is: Which e-reader do I get? Because I'd be getting the device mostly for advance copies I'll be getting for free, I'm not interested in a book-buying experience, I'm only interested in the reading experience. But at the same time, I don't see any point in getting a device that just exists to read books. I want to be able to do some light e-mailing and browse the web on the same device, and I want a device that has full color because comics on a large, full-color backlit screen are motherfucking amazing.

Before they announced it, I was very excited for the iPad, but I've been disappointed at several of Apple's decisions. The page-flip animation in their iBooks app looks cheesy and feels condescending to me—Oh, you want a book, you book-reader, you? I've got your book right here!—and the newest news is that Apple's iBookstore will be releasing many of titles with their Fairplay DRM software to deter piracy. The fact of the matter is that I don't want a book that I can't move from my (non-iPhone) phone to my computer to my e-reader, and I'm just not interested in supporting a device that supports DRM.

So I have a new front-runner in my e-reader search. I'd like to send anyone looking at a tablet, or iPad, or whatever to Anthony's post yesterday, where he wrote about the Notion Ink Adam. (You can read more about it here and here.) If you're one of the many e-ink enthusiasts who are complaining about reading books on an LED screen, the Adam has an elegant solution—it turns monochrome and shuts off the backlight, allowing for an easy reading experience that barely taxes the battery at all (they're claiming over a hundred hours of non-backlit e-reading). And it automatically goes to monochrome in sunlight. The fact that it has a camera is a nice plus, too, now that I've finally taught my family back in Maine how to use Skype. This is currently the e-reader I have my eye on.

Comments (22) RSS

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I also think the Notion Ink Adam pad looks great, but products from new companies you've never heard of like that are nearly always dead on arrival.

Posted by Recook on February 16, 2010 at 12:39 PM

Of course, steal Paul Constant's writings and not pay him, and they'd be shit to pay.

That happened fast.

Posted by Devin on February 16, 2010 at 1:07 PM

Paul, check out the enTourage eDge
http://www.entourageedge.com/

Im looking forward to this one myself.

Posted by Akbar Fazil on February 16, 2010 at 1:12 PM

"I'd be getting the device mostly for advance copies I'll be getting for free"
You can absolutely count on DRM on these advance copies. DRM in practice is proprietary. Because this fragments the market, you need to pick a popular platform or give up on digital advance copies. But if you really want comics, then you don't have a choice, except perhaps to wait for something better. It's not like the iPad is going to be /bad/, it just isn't living up to your expectations.
I'm not super happy about this either, but is it really Apple's fault if all major book publishers want DRM? (Yes, I AM going to let that naked un-researched assertion hang there)

Solution: Pirate the fuck out of eBooks until the industry collapses or capitulates to your DRM demands. Oh, and support authors/publishers who eschew DRM while you are at it.

Honestly, I would almost be willing to support DRM if there was a way to resell items purchased that include it, but that is not going to happen.

Posted by RL is too lazy to log in on February 16, 2010 at 1:12 PM

You can be as techy as you want and glom onto all the features, but the cold hard reality is that Apple already won this war.

Posted by Will in Seattle

on February 16, 2010 at 1:15 PM

There was never a chance that Apple would sell books without DRM turned on. That's not news at all.

I was at the iPad launch, and the page-flip animation is elegant. You can eschew it if you tap instead of dragging. You'll soon be able to examine it firsthand.

The LA Times item you link is also likely misstating the fact that publishers will be able to publish without DRM. All Kindle books, even those published without DRM, have DRM enabled on them when read on the Kindle. You can't take a Kindle format book and convert it into something else even if the publisher allows it. See Cory Doctorow's various comments, including his latest Publisher's Weekly column.

Posted by GlennFleishman

on February 16, 2010 at 1:22 PM

You realize that there are plenty of other e-book readers ALREADY in the App Store, don't you? Look at Eucalyptus, Stanza, and even the Kindle reader for just three. iBook is not going to be the only way to read books on the iPad.

Posted by Sachi

on February 16, 2010 at 1:29 PM

You cannot possibly be surprised that Apple is pushing their DRM on people. They'd still be shoveling their DRM on music if it weren't for competition (primarily from Amazon) that made them give it up. And if you cared about DRM, even if the books weren't going to be protected, you shouldn't buy an iPad because all their apps are locked down as well. Want to buy an app from a source other than Apple? No way, you've got to pay them your tithe.

Posted by jjb on February 16, 2010 at 1:31 PM

What format do publishers release their electronic ARCs in? It's not worth getting something that you won't be able to use for that. You might just have to play ball with whatever they're going to use.

Posted by Wicked Virgin

on February 16, 2010 at 1:32 PM

"I'm just not interested in supporting a device that supports DRM"

Please stand by this claim and toss all devices you own that support DRM into the Goodwill pile. Your computer qualifies, as does your TV, DVD or BRD player, playstation, and probably your non iphone phone. You'll have to quit watching youtube, even most VHS is contaminated. The list goes on.

Posted by skiplogic on February 16, 2010 at 1:41 PM

The point is not that you really want an ebook reader. The point is that you need one because you need to be able to review advance copies and they aren't available in print.

But you won't want one that uses DRM, among other peeves. But doesn't that mean that you will be unable to read many of these advance copies? Which is the point of the whole exercise?

Seems like you're going to need two or three different ebook readers if you want access to all the advance copies, unless the publishers all jump on one platform. Or they decide to publish DRM copies here and non-DRM copies there, which would make no sense but whatever I guess.

Also, if a book is available only on certain platforms, then the experience of reading it on that platform is part of the book, and should be part of the review, even if that platform sucks.

Posted by elenchos on February 16, 2010 at 2:17 PM

"could run for 2-3x longer than the iPad manages. "
"are apparently considering two versions of Adam "
"one of which could measure 12.9mm"

Operative words from the above being 'could', 'apparently', and 'considering'.

Vaporware.

The iPad is built, and works.

Posted by Gregus on February 16, 2010 at 3:12 PM

it does seem that if you're getting one of these for advance copies, the smartest move is to get a reader that supports whatever format publishers are using for advance copies. '

honestly, it's not as if publishers have wanted you to be able to sell or give away those galleys that you've been getting. so, as tedious as some DRM schemes are, they must be pretty pleased that digital distribution will allow them to keep up with hollywood's watermarked screeners.

Posted by josh

on February 16, 2010 at 3:51 PM

granted it doesn't have a color screen for comics, but i've been really impressed by the nook. the software update made downloading a book very very fast, and turning a page is instantaneous now. with the lcd and e-ink screen being so flexible, software updates make the future very promising.

Posted by konstantConsumer

on February 16, 2010 at 4:27 PM

@15 - that's 2012. We're about five to eight years behind China and Japan.

Posted by Will in Seattle

on February 16, 2010 at 4:40 PM

@11 Yeah. No. You can move a DVD/Bluray from player to player and you can move a DVD/Bluray player from TV to TV. You can also watch a program on any TV. What he is saying is that he can't move content from his iPad to his iPhone that he paid for. Your comparison is not valid.

Posted by whatever99 on February 16, 2010 at 5:53 PM

@13

Ummm the Atom is built. And works:
http://bit.ly/9VP7jn

That's all you can say of the iPad since it won't be shipping till like May either...

Posted by jvm on February 17, 2010 at 12:04 AM

The people who are against DRM just want to steal digital media. Apple gives you options to move your digital files from one device to another - which you would know if you actually bought anything thing instead of stealing it off bittorrent. "I buy all of my books". yeah, right.

Posted by montex on February 17, 2010 at 5:10 AM

@17
The iPad isn't available to anybody right now, so how can you make the claim that a book can't be moved from an iPad to an iPhone? Did you get an advanced prototype?

Posted by montex on February 17, 2010 at 5:12 AM

There are going to be lots and lots of iPad immatators. And they will do just as well as the other mp3 players and iPhone look-alikes. Weren't we all supposed to dump our iPhones by now for the Palm Pre or the BlackBerry Storm? Wasn't Android supposed to be taking over the world?

Don't bet against Apple. Just ask Michael Dell.

Posted by montex on February 17, 2010 at 5:16 AM

@21 Actually better check your numbers. The iPhone is popular, but not that popular.
http://comscore.com/Press_Events/Press_R…

Also... Apple invented the tablet now? So anyone that comes out with a mobile device with a 9 inch touch screen is an 'immatator' [sic]? That's rich.

Apple makes good stuff but they're not gods. Their products have been good so far, we'll see if that continues. From the looks of it though, I'd say the Atom seems to be the good version of the iPad (though of course the proof is in the pudding).

Posted by jvm on February 17, 2010 at 8:17 AM