Comments on: Is Amazon sitting on the Mobipocket iPhone client after all?

By: Claude Martin

Claude Martin — Fri, 13 Nov 2009 19:44:14 +0000

Je viens de remplacer mon vieux Palm TX qui est en fin de vie par un iPodTouch. Dans le passé, j’ai lu beaucoup de livres sur mon Palm avec le Reader de MobiPocket. Or vous ne semblez pas offrir aucun eBook pour lecture avec, par exemple, le Reader Stanza sur iPodTouch. Comment puis-je lire des eBooks de Numilog (ou de MobiPocket)avec mon nouvel appareil??? Merci!

By: Chris Meadows

Chris Meadows — Mon, 09 Mar 2009 15:56:06 +0000

Erik: I see you missed the post I made last week on that very subject.

By: Erik

Erik — Mon, 09 Mar 2009 11:27:12 +0000

Hi Chris Meadows,
Isn’t it time for an update on this article since the news last week on Kindle Iphone App?

By: Harvey

Harvey — Thu, 01 Jan 2009 07:21:19 +0000

I recently published my neurology book “Neurology for the Non-neurologist on Kindle. The next item will be to create a mobi-pocket e-book. I think apple will create a large Ipod touch device that will be a like the kindle device. will be interesting to see.

By: Clytie Siddall

Clytie Siddall — Sun, 21 Dec 2008 07:53:23 +0000

Evidently I’m insufficiently paranoid, but it didn’t occur to me, when I bought my iPhone recently, that the major ebook reader Mobipocket wouldn’t be available for iPhone. How many books are published in Mobipocket format? How successful is the iPhone (and iPod Touch)? There’s a lot of money to be made here, and Mobipocket aren’t making it. If Amazon is making it at the expense of their subsidiary, it’s still a loss in one form, which makes it far from a splendid business decision. Mobipocket is actually my favourite ebook reader, and I have a _lot_ of ebooks in Mobipocket format. This makes me an officially disgruntled customer, now swapping completely to eReader.

By: gyffes

gyffes — Fri, 05 Dec 2008 15:31:54 +0000

All I know is I loathe DRM-encrypted books and do my best to avoid buying them. I certainly don’t wish to buy again (in secure eReader format) the same books (though I’d consider re-purchasing a book if it’d be in an unsecure format).

I do have some Secure Mobipocket books I wish to read on my iPhone so now I will be forced to investigate cracking the encryption. On something I already own. Just to read it.

Yep, there’s logic.

Repeat after me: Just Say No to DRM!

By: rjh

rjh — Thu, 04 Dec 2008 21:22:39 +0000

I think this has nothing to do with Kindle vs iPhone dominance, and is all about who becomes the gatekeeper for ebooks.

Amazon needs to pursue a long-term strategy that keeps ebooks out of iTunes (and also keeps Apple out of ebooks) and makes iPhone users come direct to Amazon. Selling a few books now onto the mobipocket client may not fit that strategy and could undermine it.

Amazon have demonstrated with the Kindle that getting content onto the device is paramount and that this is the way forward.

Kindle is unlikely to ever be the dominant ebook device (in the way that iPod has become the dominant PMP) so Amazon need their own client on iPhone. They don’t need a Mobipocket client.

By: Bill McHale

Bill McHale — Thu, 04 Dec 2008 15:25:22 +0000

I am not at all sure that notebooks will ever be the best way to read ebooks. A notebook is fine for doing a lot of what is done on the web, but for reading a book, a dedicated ebook reader with a 5-7″ screen (for novels, larger for other sorts of books) is close to the ideal.

As for the question at hand….

I think Amazon is showing signs of making the same sorts of mistakes that other companies have made (including Apple) when they are in the business of providing both the hardware and the software/content. Amazon seems most interested in protecting the Kindle when in fact, it is the books that will make them the real money!

If amazon really wanted to make money, they would open up the Kindle/mobi platform and try to do for ebooks what itunes did for music.

By: Korpil

Korpil — Thu, 04 Dec 2008 15:22:21 +0000

The important news for eReader is that they licensed the technology for Stanza (the other iPhone app) so they are able to read eReader protected e-books!

http://www.tuaw.com/2008/12/03/stanza-adds-licensed-ereader-content-for-iphone-booklovers/

This may be another nail on Mobipocket’s coffin…

By: Frank Lee

Frank Lee — Thu, 04 Dec 2008 15:12:21 +0000

You are very right that “a Mobi reader for the iPhone is becoming less important day by day”. There is another reason: Samsung is expected to commercialize OLED notebooks in 2010. With large screen, superior display and powerful functionalities, the OLED notebooks will be used by most people to read ebooks.

By: Paul

Paul — Thu, 04 Dec 2008 14:32:49 +0000

The news that Fictionwise was working on releasing more of its Mobi-only selections in an ereader format is great news to me. I like the ereader application. I have lots of ereader formatted books. I don’t mind (very much) the ereader DRM.

What I don’t want is yet another program to have to use to read my books, and have to remember “was that book in mobi or ereader (or epub or PDF) format?”.

The very few books I have in mobi are from a series where 1 out of 5 or 6 is only available in mobi instead of ereader. I have to convert it to epub to read in Stanza, and I much prefer the ereader program.

Give me all my books in ereader and I’ll be happy.