I’ve been personally trying out Stanza, Zach’s Bedell’s BookShelf, eReader and BookZ on the iPod Touch—my cheapie iPhone substitute.
So far, in usability, Stanza seems the winner by far even though I may change my mind. Stanza apparently allows the greatest choice of fonts. Also, it changes pages nicely and is iPod-easy to use with Feedbooks’ offerings. And of course, Stanza can read ePub, the new IDPF standard.
Too bad Stanza won’t work with DRM-infested books. Here’s one more reason for the industry to ditch "protection," which makes it harder for newcomers like Lexcyle, Stanza’s developers, to enter the fray.
Even established players could benefit from the competition. The higher the bar for app developers—on e-book matters that really count, such as interface design—then the faster e-books will catch on.
No boldface apparent in iPhone e-book apps, groan
Later today or tomorrow I may share a few other impressions of e-reading software for the iPhone/Touch.
But here’s one more gripe, right off the bat. Why don’t any of the iPhone/Touch e-book apps have a readily apparently way to use boldface? Even on LCD screens, not just E Ink displays, I like bold. At least Stanza offers a nice heavy version of Helvetica.
Hello, Mobipocket. When you finally release your port over to the iPhone, please don’t discard your bolding capability. It’s no small detail for those of us who care about it, especially on a small screen. I hope Steve Pendergrast at Fictionwise will also listen. I know that the current eReader for the iPhone is just the start, and it’ll be great if you can assure us that boldface is on the way. Almost surely, right? You’ve promised to replicate the existing features for other platforms.
On the way, too: My reply to Pan Macmillan e-booker’s thoughtful comments
Also coming today in the TeleBlog will be my thoughts on Sara Lloyd‘s helpful response to my complaints about the book industry not taking full advantage of the iPhone craze.
You’ll notice she also raised some issues about Fictionwise’s terms in dealing with publishers (Steve, any comments on that?).
Sara works for Pan Macmillan and is one of the most open-minded executives in book publishing, on either side of the Atlantic. In her note she even tells how she’s tried to educate publishers and agents on the advantages of a DRMless approach.
I hope TeleBloggers will pay close attention to her comments. (Detail for etiquette-minded Brits: I’m using first-name informality just as a blogging convention. No disrespect intended.)
My One Laptop per Child sacrilege
Meanwhile, as I threatened, I committed sacrilege and sold my One Laptop Per Child laptop, which will be finding a happy home with a book designer/grandma whom I’ll help get going with FBReader.
I’ve already loaded up nine classics for her so she won’t have to bother at first with downloading.
Still supportive despite major XO-1 software negatives that persist
No guilt feelings. I remain supportive of OLPC, but on the library and e-reading-app fronts, the laptop initiative has not moved forward to the extent I would have liked.
With a tight budget, I decided the cash would better be used elsewhere right now, just I just did with the Touch purchase. You bet I’ll be returning to OLPC hardware in the future.
If this sends a message to the OLPC to get hopping, then I’ll be delighted. Go ahead, folks. Show I’m wrong! Make me weep over the sale. Build a child-fit FBReader into the regular suite of apps.
In fact, I will miss the incredible display, but not the lack of decent file management (a feature that could have been toggled off for younger children) or the flaws of the operating system (the latest version may even corrupt SD cards—meaning that I’ve kept the original OS).
Also due for possible sale: My Sony PRS-505 Reader—if Sony won’t release the ePub-capable upgrade soon
Not to pick on OLPC alone. If Sony doesn’t hurry up with its ePub-capable Digital Editions update, then I’ll sell my Sony PRS-505. I wanted to cut Sony some slack. But this is getting ridiculous: the update was to come out in February.
Is Sony deliberately delaying the update until it’s selling a successor to the PRS-505 on the market? I’d hope not. But the longer Sony takes, the more this possibility crosses my mind.
The investment in the Sony just might be better used for a new Kindle, especially if Amazon keeps moving more in the direction of ePub.
It’s probably more Adobe’s fault than Sony’s. Although now with the talk of a Kindle 2.0, you’d think there’d be *some* leaked word of a Reader 2.0 to blunt that threat.
But then, now that the iP/iPT can do ebooks, I don’t much care for anything else.