Apple can’t be Amazon on book sales, just as Amazon can’t be Apple on awesomeness. The news that Apple is going to finally do something with their iBooks platform is in my opinion, too little too late and probably too lame.
I’ve got one question for you. Are you going to buy your books through iTunes or an iBook app, or just as you regularly do at Amazon?
I don’t see any significant amount of people wanting to use iTunes more than they already do. It’s clunky and hard to navigate and heavy in size. As far as a potential app goes, again, I don’t see people shopping for books going through that process to find the book they want. It’s just easier at Amazon, and that’s why they’ll win.
Not to mention, Amazon is just too far ahead at this point. Apple should stick to what they’re good at. I’d rather have one big player in the game to sell my books and for now I’m betting on Amazon keeping that role.
I think that Amazon needs some solid competition, so this is a good first step. Will Apple immediately kick booty? No, probably not. But if they're flexible and willing to adapt, they will be a threat.
Amazon has essentially put self-publishing on the map as a lucrative option, which has given them amazing first-entry leverage to the market (which Apple certainly knows all about in a different context, thanks to the iPod). Still, since they're so keen on exclusivity of their content (see the plethora of discussions on their lending library), I'm not as much of a fan as I would be otherwise.
The other readers' support systems need something equally as impressive as what Amazon has, and they don't. They weren't really even trying until now, so Apple's movement is a good start. I just hope Barnes & Noble follows suit or they won't stand much more of a chance with their Nooks.
-S.M. Boyce
Author of The Grimoire: Lichgates
“Once you open the Grimoire, there is no going back. The adventure will be worth every hardship…if you survive.
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I love competition as well and we need it here, but unless you're going to do it right, it's meaningless. BN is just another example of how to do it poorly. Long submission queues, bad searching, etc… You name it. Amazon just does it better. I have zero confidence that the makers of iTunes are going to revolutionize how people buy books.
iBooks is in 32 countries. Compare to Amazon's Kindle Store at six. I'm selling about 50% more books at Amazon than iTunes, but I can't help but think the iPad has only just gotten into the race with the Kindle. http://itunes.apple.com/us/artist/william-olson/i…
How hard was it to get all those books approved in iTunes? I have never bought a book in iTunes. Never met a person who has either.