September 1, 2012

How To Read Books on your iPad

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Charis Tsevis
Artwork Credit: Charis Tsevis
For the new iPad user, the myriad options for reading books, magazines & newspapers can be daunting: Kindle, Kobo, iBooks, Newsstand, Zinio, free ebooks, library ebooks, Project Gutenberg…

Here's a Reading 101 Primer you may find useful in navigating these options.

Apps for reading on the iPad (and the iPhone/iPod Touch) can be categorized based on the type of content, their use of DRM and other attributes:

Bookstore-
related		Book content is copy-protected
e.g. Amazon Kindle

Library-
related		Book content is both copy-protected and time-limited e.g. Overdrive app

Open source
-related		Book content is not copy-protected
e.g. Stanza app

Standalone 
books and newspapers 		Book or Newspaper is presented as a standalone app e.g. Wonders of the Universe app



Magazines

Magazines are presented as content within an app e.g. Zinio
                      or 
Magazines are presented as apps but within a container app e.g. Newsstand


Bookstore-related Apps
These apps can be thought of as front-end apps for specific e-bookstores. While these apps can also read some types of non copy-protected content, the content from their bookstore, even the free books, is normally copy-protected and readable only by bookstore-specific apps. This constraint is mitigated somewhat in that each app is available on multiple platforms (e.g iOS, Android...), or as a web app, or on dedicated ebook readers. Still if you buy an ebook from Amazon, in general you won't be able to read it using the iBooks app, and vice-versa.

Kindle app,
Amazon

iBooks app,
Apple

Nook app,
Barnes & Noble

Kobo app,
Indigo Books & Music

Audible app,
Audible, Inc.

Library-related Apps
Most public libraries leverage one of a small number of 3rd-party apps to loan ebooks that are both copy-protected and time-limited. After the borrowing period has expired the ebook files on the library patron's computer become inaccessible.
OverDrive                     

Open-source related Apps
Open Source related Apps focus on content that is not copy-protected, usually older books whose copyright has expired. These apps may include direct connections to non-DRM book repositories such as the famous Project Gutenberg at gutenberg.org.

BookZ
NB: iPhone, iPad ver.

Stanza app
acquired by Amazon  
Bluefire Reader
mixed ratings on iTunes
MegaReader
TIP: Another source of non-DRM books is Oreilly.com who sell their new books in a wide variety of non copy-protected formats.

 Stand-alone Apps
Books or magazines may be sold as standalone apps. In books this is often driven by a desire to include multimedia elements not (currently) supported by the more common ebook formats. Science books may include video segments. Many children's books are also sold as stand-alone apps and may include audio narration, highlighting of individual words as spoken, music, interactive graphics, and games.

Wonders of the Universe
HarperCollins
Guardian Article

A Charlie Brown Chrstimas

Globe2Go by 
newspaperdirect.com

NYTimes

 Magazine Apps
Two popular venues for the distribution of e-magazine subscriptions are Zino and Newsstand. Zinio predates the latter, and provides access to e-magazines in any web browser as well. 

 Apple's Newsstand functions as an iOS folder/meta-app. You still buy individual magazine apps (usually free) through the App Store, but if they are Newsstand-aware (most are), they will appear within the Newsstand app. And it's from within each individual magazine app that you buy issues or subscriptions.
Zinio
Newsstand
TIP: You can also manage/cancel Newsstand subscriptions via:
iOS Settings  → Store  → Click on iTunes accountname → Subscriptions Manage

Bibliography