Exact Editions has a thoughtful discussion of the Apple bookstore and the format of ebooks. The question is whether to continue to deliver ebooks as apps now that the Apple bookstore is about to come on line.
If this conclusion is warranted, it presumably follows that for books that are not ‘straightforward chapter based’ there remains a compelling case for going down the books as apps route. In point of fact, a very large proportion of books are not straightforward and chapter based. ePub is not a happy format for books with lots of illustrations and tables. So that should keep us busy at Exact Editions. But something else follows from his point: publishers and even worse, readers are going to have to make choices. We are going to expect our audience to read books in one way, as eBooks, on the iPad if they are simple books, but in another way, in another format, say digital editions as apps, if they are not so easy. The experience of reading books will become increasingly fragmented.
Gee, the “to be or not to be” picture would work here too, wouldn’t it. Let’s give it a try.
The app approach, sadly, will be the only way for non English speakers to get good books and magazines on their iPads, even despite the Kindle app. The amount of German Kindle publications is a joke, with Gutenberg classics and over-priced erotica making up the bulk.