5 ms·

What's interesting is that they have only sold 1.5M books, or 1.5 books per device. Amazon Kindle should be safe.

by vtail 16y ago

mcav 16y ago
That doesn't really say much about Amazon. Those same 1 million people may not have bought any more on the Kindle App than iBooks. We won't know unless Amazon releases the number of books bought from the iPad.
smakz 16y ago
If you ever tried to actually read on an iPad you would understand why. The glossy screen means you can't read in natural light, and the backlit screen causes eye strain. For long stretches of reading, iPad can't replace books the same way the Kindle can. Although I'm personally not surprised that books aren't that popular on iPad, but I was curious if people would overcome the above deficiencies with the form factor. Early reports seem to indicate not yet.
- jacoblyles 16y ago
  For students, the eye strain might be worth it just to get a decent PDF reader. The eInk readers available are universally horrible at rendering PDFs.
  - ugh 16y ago
    The iPhone’s PDF viewer is pretty crappy, though. It’s pretty much the only thing on the iPhone that feels unbearably slow. I don’t know how much the iPad improves that but at least on the iPhone reading (long, i.e. ten or more pages) PDFs is no joy.
    - samps 16y ago
      I have experienced the same frustration on my iPhone 3G. I can vouch that the speed is greatly improved on the iPad. The PDF viewer is now actually pleasant. (It's amazing what a little clock speed will do.)
    - jacoblyles 16y ago
      The iPhone PDF reading experience is actually better than many 6 or 9 inch eInk devices.
    - tzs 16y ago
      Try GoodReader.
- bjelkeman-again 16y ago
  Having read more than two thousand screens (pages?) on an iPad in iBooks so far I don't think there is a major issue. It is highly unlikely that I would replace the iPad with a Kindle. My camera is a lot better than my iPhone as a camera, but the best camera you have is the one you have with you. In the iPad I can carry enough of what I need with me without having to carry multiple devices. I have not bought any books in the iBook store, as the store is not available in my region yet. But I got books from Baen Books, as well as O'Reilly, in ePUB format. The attraction to me with the iPad is that I have a choice. An open format reader and a choice of books stores. I did buy a book from Amazon on the iPad Kindle app, but haven't started reading it yet, so time will tell.
  - krschultz 16y ago
    I think it depends a lot of where you are reading. I'm sure the iPad would work fine for my commute on the subway. I'm sure I'd rather have a Kindle on the beach. (though I probably wouldn't bring either to the beach since they are going to get stolen or damaged)
    - codyrobbins 16y ago
      I’ve read my iPad at the beach for hours, and I have no complaint whatsoever. It’s actually superior to a book, because the pages of a book reflect too much sunlight for me to look at it comfortably.
  - jacquesm 16y ago
    > In the iPad I can carry enough of what I need with me without having to carry multiple devices. You'd still need to bring a phone though, as it can not do voice calls.
    - jgerman 16y ago
      Yes it can. It's not a cell phone, but it is capable of VOIP, even on 3G.
- modoc 16y ago
  I don't have a Kindle for comparison however I've had no issues reading books on my iPad even in direct sun out on my deck. Sure if you angle it JUST wrong, it's useless, but I haven't had a problem finding a comfortable reading angle. I've only bought one book on my iPad (just got the 3g on Friday), but the reason I haven't purchased more is that I'm still reading the first one. Once I finish that, I'll be another, etc... so I wouldn't count the iPad book sales just yet, I'd look at them over a longer time frame.
  - jacquesm 16y ago
    Exactly. Extrapolation from limited data is bound to be useless, give it 6 months and then let's look at it. By then there will probably be a lot more books available too, publishers will look at the number of ipads sold as a big factor in deciding whether or not to release their content on the medium.
- jgerman 16y ago
  I've been reading on the iPad since release. It's not difficult to read on at all and I have yet to suffer any eye strain. You can read just fine in natural light, direct sunlight is the only real issue...sit under a tree. The idea that the iPad is difficult to read on has been spread mostly by.. surprise surprise... people that haven't actually read on it. I'm sure some people may not be able to look at the screen for long. They're the same people that can't look at any computer screen for long. Yes, you can have glare issues on rare occasion. They're usually solved by shifting the iPad slightly. Most of us stare at screen over 8 hours a day. I can understand if you want to go home and look at something else but honestly, it has yet to bother me. The reason so few eBooks have been sold is because the selection is weak. The books I want are almost always in the Kindle store and are rarely in iBooks. However I still use my iPad to read those Kindle books. Additionally, that's 1.5 books a person via iBooks alone, over a 4 week period, that doesn't count the Kindle purchases. That number seems pretty good to me.
  - mike463 16y ago
    I have an iPad, a Kindle 2 and a Kindle DX. I prefer the Kindle DX by a wide margin when reading books. The iPad is not unusable for reading, but the kindle with a bright reading light is much nicer. The Kindle is superior outdoors. I can read without my glasses with the Kindle DX, but I always need glasses for the iPad. The iPad is much better for everything else.
- jsz0 16y ago
  By natural light do you mean direct sunlight on the screen? That is a problem but otherwise the iPad is usable outdoors in most situations I've found. I used it in a car the other day (no, not while driving) with lots of sunlight coming in the windows and it was usable. Definitely not up to par with an e-ink display but for someone like me who has no interest in a dedicated e-ink device it's certainly good enough. I don't think there's much doubt e-ink readers will be the choice for heavy readers. Of course we also don't know how many iPad owners bought the device with the intention to read books on it. We know about 99% of Kindle owners bought their device for one specific purpose.
- Shorel 16y ago
  Mi old Sony Ericsson P900 replaced paper books for me four or five years ago. I read the entire robots and foundation Asimov novels in it, and also about 20 of the discworld books. So, for some people it works, YMMV.
- tzs 16y ago
  "The glossy screen means you can't read in natural light, and the backlit screen causes eye strain" This is commonly claimed, but I've never seen a cite to any science to back it. All I've been able to find is scientists saying its a myth.
  - mike463 16y ago
    The science: - dilated pupils make focusing harder. - Higher contrast makes reading easier. So: Reading on a kindle with a bright light closes down your pupils and makes it easier for your eyes to focus on the words without using the muscles in your eyes for focusing. This is especially important for readers over 40 who are starting to get farsighted. An iPad has a glossy screen, which limits the contrast. (comparing signal to noise, well the reflection is all noise) An e-ink screen has very high brightness and contrast, even (epecially) in bright sunlight. I'm not saying it's impossible to read with the iPad or iPhone or a computer. Just realize it may take more unconscious effort for some people. I have both an iPad and a Kindle and love both.
fleaflicker 16y ago
They're not even comparable as e-readers--backlit iPad is not easy on the eyes. The kindle has room to improve on usability but it's far more practical.
- mcav 16y ago
  If, by practical, you're referring to people who are willing to carry a Kindle along with their iPad too. By itself, reading on the Kindle is likely superior, but I've had no problem with eyestrain reading on the iPad.
- GHFigs 16y ago
  They're not even comparable as e-readers Everything is comparable once you own one or the other. The risk to the Kindle is not that people shopping for e-readers will choose the iPad over it for that purpose, but that people who buy iPads for any number of other reasons will be less likely to buy dedicated e-readers.
rimantas 16y ago
Apple does not have a big selection yet. And let's not forget there are other means to get books on iPad. I have Stanza, Classics, Eucalyptus and Kindle on my iPhone…
macrael 16y ago
Has Amazon ever talked about how many books they have sold? I wonder how many they sold the first month of the Kindle being on sale? I don't think that is necessarily a number to make Amazon feel safe. I have an iPad but haven't bought any books, but I don't have a Kindle either. I imagine there are people who are buying iPads instead of Kindles, and they are responsible for a disproportionate number of the 1.5M books. Also, I've read a lot of comments on how it is hard to read on an iPad (and some in the other direction) but for what it's worth, I'm in the latter camp. I've done a lot of reading (hurray Instapaper!) on my iPad and it has been a very good experience.
- MikeCapone 16y ago
  > Has Amazon ever talked about how many books they have sold? I wonder how many they sold the first month of the Kindle being on sale? I don't think that is necessarily a number to make Amazon feel safe. Even if we had that number, I'm not sure it would tell us much because the two devices are very different. On the Kindle, buying books is the primary thing to do. On the iPad, it is just one of many. So while many iPad might be sold to people who will never read e-books, these people probably aren't reading on Kindle or even on paper anyway. The Kindly simply isn't bought by these non-readers, so the average number of books sold per device means something different.
  - macrael 16y ago
    Right, that's why I think that the total number of books sold, not the number per device, would be an interesting number to compare. Are there more books being bought for the Kindle or for the iPad? What does that graph look like?
    - mlongo 16y ago
      Well, right now there better be more books selling for the Kindle then for the iPad. :-) The Kindle is a single purpose device that has been on the market for a couple of years and every single one of them was sold to a person who is a regular reader, otherwise they would not have bothered buying a reading device.
jsolson 16y ago
> Amazon Kindle should be safe. This presupposes that people will be willing to buy (and carry) multiple devices or that they'll prefer a reader over a more general purpose device with a less pleasant reading experience. It's possible that they'll buy an iPad and stick to paperbacks. Another possibility is that they'll simply forego reading altogether. Why read when I can just as easily kill the time playing Harbor Master HD on my shiny new toy? Don't get me wrong, I love my Kindle and still use it for reading around the house or when I go out with that specific purpose in mind, but the iPad is what ends up in my bag on most days. As a side note to those considering both a Kindle and an iPad, I'd go with just a Kindle 2 rather than a DX. The DX's larger screen is only really useful for reading PDFs, and the iPad is (for me anyway) better at this.
- mike463 16y ago
  I have both a Kindle 2 and a Kindle DX. I prefer the DX. I know it sounds simplistic, but I can make the words bigger or show more of them.
spazmaster 16y ago
I bought books on the iPad, but used the Kindle app for it. I find the iPad surprisingly good for reading. (I don't own a Kindle)
mos1 16y ago
I have a Kindle and an iPad. The iPad isn't a reader. iPad doesn't work worth a damn in the sun (the finger smudges show up, and the screen washes out), and even in the dark it's just not as nice as reading from paper or kindle. I've found a bunch of use cases where the iPad excels, but there's little to no overlap with the Kindle.
- jacquesm 16y ago
  > I've found a bunch of use cases where the iPad excels What are those ? edit: why would a genuine question out of curiosity be modded down? I'm really weirded out by that. The ipad is a reasonably new form factor and new form factors bring new use cases, and I'd like to know what those are.
  - Timothee 16y ago
    Don't worry, I'm sure the downvotes you saw were from a reading of your comment as snarky. There are a lot of Apple haters out there and "what are those?", can easily become "oh yeah? well, what are those use cases smart guy? paper-weight?" in some people's mind. Your question is totally relevant. The iPad has been presented as being great as many things, but I'd also be curious to know the opinion of people who've used it extensively. During a brief test with one, I just didn't what to do with it. It's the kind of device that you need to really use to see the benefit I think.
    - jacquesm 16y ago
      The one use case that I've seen so far that I really didn't anticipate was the 'toddlers computers', that was totally original. There must be countless others. I'm still in 'wait and see' mode about the ipad, especially with the way Apple has been behaving lately but there is bound to be competition and form factor related applications are likely going to be portable from one platform to another.
  - macrael 16y ago
    I've found that most of the things I do for fun and to "waste" time on the internet are easier and more fun on the iPad. Twitterrific, Instapaper, Net News Wire, checking HN, and several different games are what I have used it for the most so far. I mostly find myself turning to using my traditional computer for coding and watching hulu.
ajg1977 16y ago
It's worth noting that those are books DOWNLOADED, not sold. In addition to all the freely available titles in the Book store, everyone who downloads iBooks is also prompted to download a free Winnie the Pooh title. I expect virtually nobody selects "No" for this. I would be very interested to know how many titles that have actually sold. I expect it's a fraction of 1.5 million.
- mlongo 16y ago
  You might be right but that doesn't count the 50 or 60 books I've read on my iPod and I can transfer to the iPad without purchasing anything or downloading anything. It is to early to estimate how much the iPad will be used for reading based on the number of downloads. Too short a period of time to gather meaningful data.
credo 16y ago
I like reading books, but I don't have a Kindle and I haven't purchased any books on my iPad. imo you're making a mistake in looking at the "average" number across all iPad owners. Many of these people will probably never buy a Kindle anyway. Before you use any "average" numbers to make conclusions about the iPad, you should be looking at the average number of books purchased on an iPad within a more narrow segment of the market - e.g. among iPad owners who have bought more than 3 e-books on any device.
grinich 16y ago
I think it opens up a bunch of new doors for reading. Its perfect for interactive children's books with mixed media. I can see my future child learning how to read by using an iPad.
vtail 16y ago
I estimated number of books sold per Kindle as 27 - discussion is here http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=1315532 http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=1315532
illumin8 16y ago
The numbers on iBooks are cooked. When you download the free app, there is a free download available, Winnie the Pooh, prominently featured. This means they can count 1 download of a book for every free download of iBooks. The fact that there are probably only 500,000 books sold so far does not bode well for the iBooks store. In my anecdotal experience, the selection is very limited in the iBooks store. I found much wider selection using Kindle, and the Kindle app is pretty nice. The only drawback to using the Kindle app is that it uses Safari to do all of your purchasing, but you're still able to purchase a book in Safari and download it immediately in the Kindle App. Books that cost $9.99 in the iBooks store were $5.99-7.99 on Kindle. For now, I'm a happy Kindle customer, since all of my library transferred over to my iPad, but if Apple does manage to increase the selection and lower the prices, I might consider shopping there.
- megablast 16y ago
  You have no proof that this what they did, you are just making stuff up. Not sure how you got modded up. The press release said they have sold 1.5 million books, this would indicate the free book is not included. Also, not everybody has the iBooks applicaiton, since as you say, it is a download, and does not come with the device.
ecq 16y ago
a lot of people download books from the Kindle App.
sshumaker 16y ago
Try reading comics using the Marvel app - that certainly wouldn't translate well to a kindle. I wish there was a better selection (and other comic companies would jump on the bandwagon), but it's pretty fantastic. I ended up buying 40$ worth in the space of two hours.

What's interesting is that they have only sold 1.5M books, or 1.5 books per device. Amazon Kindle should be safe.

by vtail 16y ago

What's interesting is that they have only sold 1.5M books, or 1.5 books per device. Amazon Kindle should be safe.

mcav 16y ago

That doesn't really say much about Amazon. Those same 1 million people may not have bought any more on the Kindle App than iBooks. We won't know unless Amazon releases the number of books bought from the iPad.

smakz 16y ago

If you ever tried to actually read on an iPad you would understand why. The glossy screen means you can't read in natural light, and the backlit screen causes eye strain. For long stretches of reading, iPad can't replace books the same way the Kindle can. Although I'm personally not surprised that books aren't that popular on iPad, but I was curious if people would overcome the above deficiencies with the form factor. Early reports seem to indicate not yet.

jacoblyles 16y ago
For students, the eye strain might be worth it just to get a decent PDF reader. The eInk readers available are universally horrible at rendering PDFs.
- ugh 16y ago
  The iPhone’s PDF viewer is pretty crappy, though. It’s pretty much the only thing on the iPhone that feels unbearably slow. I don’t know how much the iPad improves that but at least on the iPhone reading (long, i.e. ten or more pages) PDFs is no joy.
  - samps 16y ago
    I have experienced the same frustration on my iPhone 3G. I can vouch that the speed is greatly improved on the iPad. The PDF viewer is now actually pleasant. (It's amazing what a little clock speed will do.)
  - jacoblyles 16y ago
    The iPhone PDF reading experience is actually better than many 6 or 9 inch eInk devices.
  - tzs 16y ago
    Try GoodReader.
bjelkeman-again 16y ago
Having read more than two thousand screens (pages?) on an iPad in iBooks so far I don't think there is a major issue. It is highly unlikely that I would replace the iPad with a Kindle. My camera is a lot better than my iPhone as a camera, but the best camera you have is the one you have with you. In the iPad I can carry enough of what I need with me without having to carry multiple devices. I have not bought any books in the iBook store, as the store is not available in my region yet. But I got books from Baen Books, as well as O'Reilly, in ePUB format. The attraction to me with the iPad is that I have a choice. An open format reader and a choice of books stores. I did buy a book from Amazon on the iPad Kindle app, but haven't started reading it yet, so time will tell.
- krschultz 16y ago
  I think it depends a lot of where you are reading. I'm sure the iPad would work fine for my commute on the subway. I'm sure I'd rather have a Kindle on the beach. (though I probably wouldn't bring either to the beach since they are going to get stolen or damaged)
  - codyrobbins 16y ago
    I’ve read my iPad at the beach for hours, and I have no complaint whatsoever. It’s actually superior to a book, because the pages of a book reflect too much sunlight for me to look at it comfortably.
- jacquesm 16y ago
  > In the iPad I can carry enough of what I need with me without having to carry multiple devices. You'd still need to bring a phone though, as it can not do voice calls.
  - jgerman 16y ago
    Yes it can. It's not a cell phone, but it is capable of VOIP, even on 3G.
modoc 16y ago
I don't have a Kindle for comparison however I've had no issues reading books on my iPad even in direct sun out on my deck. Sure if you angle it JUST wrong, it's useless, but I haven't had a problem finding a comfortable reading angle. I've only bought one book on my iPad (just got the 3g on Friday), but the reason I haven't purchased more is that I'm still reading the first one. Once I finish that, I'll be another, etc... so I wouldn't count the iPad book sales just yet, I'd look at them over a longer time frame.
- jacquesm 16y ago
  Exactly. Extrapolation from limited data is bound to be useless, give it 6 months and then let's look at it. By then there will probably be a lot more books available too, publishers will look at the number of ipads sold as a big factor in deciding whether or not to release their content on the medium.
jgerman 16y ago
I've been reading on the iPad since release. It's not difficult to read on at all and I have yet to suffer any eye strain. You can read just fine in natural light, direct sunlight is the only real issue...sit under a tree. The idea that the iPad is difficult to read on has been spread mostly by.. surprise surprise... people that haven't actually read on it. I'm sure some people may not be able to look at the screen for long. They're the same people that can't look at any computer screen for long. Yes, you can have glare issues on rare occasion. They're usually solved by shifting the iPad slightly. Most of us stare at screen over 8 hours a day. I can understand if you want to go home and look at something else but honestly, it has yet to bother me. The reason so few eBooks have been sold is because the selection is weak. The books I want are almost always in the Kindle store and are rarely in iBooks. However I still use my iPad to read those Kindle books. Additionally, that's 1.5 books a person via iBooks alone, over a 4 week period, that doesn't count the Kindle purchases. That number seems pretty good to me.
- mike463 16y ago
  I have an iPad, a Kindle 2 and a Kindle DX. I prefer the Kindle DX by a wide margin when reading books. The iPad is not unusable for reading, but the kindle with a bright reading light is much nicer. The Kindle is superior outdoors. I can read without my glasses with the Kindle DX, but I always need glasses for the iPad. The iPad is much better for everything else.
jsz0 16y ago
By natural light do you mean direct sunlight on the screen? That is a problem but otherwise the iPad is usable outdoors in most situations I've found. I used it in a car the other day (no, not while driving) with lots of sunlight coming in the windows and it was usable. Definitely not up to par with an e-ink display but for someone like me who has no interest in a dedicated e-ink device it's certainly good enough. I don't think there's much doubt e-ink readers will be the choice for heavy readers. Of course we also don't know how many iPad owners bought the device with the intention to read books on it. We know about 99% of Kindle owners bought their device for one specific purpose.
Shorel 16y ago
Mi old Sony Ericsson P900 replaced paper books for me four or five years ago. I read the entire robots and foundation Asimov novels in it, and also about 20 of the discworld books. So, for some people it works, YMMV.
tzs 16y ago
"The glossy screen means you can't read in natural light, and the backlit screen causes eye strain" This is commonly claimed, but I've never seen a cite to any science to back it. All I've been able to find is scientists saying its a myth.
- mike463 16y ago
  The science: - dilated pupils make focusing harder. - Higher contrast makes reading easier. So: Reading on a kindle with a bright light closes down your pupils and makes it easier for your eyes to focus on the words without using the muscles in your eyes for focusing. This is especially important for readers over 40 who are starting to get farsighted. An iPad has a glossy screen, which limits the contrast. (comparing signal to noise, well the reflection is all noise) An e-ink screen has very high brightness and contrast, even (epecially) in bright sunlight. I'm not saying it's impossible to read with the iPad or iPhone or a computer. Just realize it may take more unconscious effort for some people. I have both an iPad and a Kindle and love both.

fleaflicker 16y ago

They're not even comparable as e-readers--backlit iPad is not easy on the eyes. The kindle has room to improve on usability but it's far more practical.

mcav 16y ago
If, by practical, you're referring to people who are willing to carry a Kindle along with their iPad too. By itself, reading on the Kindle is likely superior, but I've had no problem with eyestrain reading on the iPad.
GHFigs 16y ago
They're not even comparable as e-readers Everything is comparable once you own one or the other. The risk to the Kindle is not that people shopping for e-readers will choose the iPad over it for that purpose, but that people who buy iPads for any number of other reasons will be less likely to buy dedicated e-readers.

rimantas 16y ago

Apple does not have a big selection yet. And let's not forget there are other means to get books on iPad. I have Stanza, Classics, Eucalyptus and Kindle on my iPhone…

macrael 16y ago

Has Amazon ever talked about how many books they have sold? I wonder how many they sold the first month of the Kindle being on sale? I don't think that is necessarily a number to make Amazon feel safe. I have an iPad but haven't bought any books, but I don't have a Kindle either. I imagine there are people who are buying iPads instead of Kindles, and they are responsible for a disproportionate number of the 1.5M books. Also, I've read a lot of comments on how it is hard to read on an iPad (and some in the other direction) but for what it's worth, I'm in the latter camp. I've done a lot of reading (hurray Instapaper!) on my iPad and it has been a very good experience.

MikeCapone 16y ago
> Has Amazon ever talked about how many books they have sold? I wonder how many they sold the first month of the Kindle being on sale? I don't think that is necessarily a number to make Amazon feel safe. Even if we had that number, I'm not sure it would tell us much because the two devices are very different. On the Kindle, buying books is the primary thing to do. On the iPad, it is just one of many. So while many iPad might be sold to people who will never read e-books, these people probably aren't reading on Kindle or even on paper anyway. The Kindly simply isn't bought by these non-readers, so the average number of books sold per device means something different.
- macrael 16y ago
  Right, that's why I think that the total number of books sold, not the number per device, would be an interesting number to compare. Are there more books being bought for the Kindle or for the iPad? What does that graph look like?
  - mlongo 16y ago
    Well, right now there better be more books selling for the Kindle then for the iPad. :-) The Kindle is a single purpose device that has been on the market for a couple of years and every single one of them was sold to a person who is a regular reader, otherwise they would not have bothered buying a reading device.

jsolson 16y ago

> Amazon Kindle should be safe. This presupposes that people will be willing to buy (and carry) multiple devices or that they'll prefer a reader over a more general purpose device with a less pleasant reading experience. It's possible that they'll buy an iPad and stick to paperbacks. Another possibility is that they'll simply forego reading altogether. Why read when I can just as easily kill the time playing Harbor Master HD on my shiny new toy? Don't get me wrong, I love my Kindle and still use it for reading around the house or when I go out with that specific purpose in mind, but the iPad is what ends up in my bag on most days. As a side note to those considering both a Kindle and an iPad, I'd go with just a Kindle 2 rather than a DX. The DX's larger screen is only really useful for reading PDFs, and the iPad is (for me anyway) better at this.

mike463 16y ago
I have both a Kindle 2 and a Kindle DX. I prefer the DX. I know it sounds simplistic, but I can make the words bigger or show more of them.

spazmaster 16y ago

I bought books on the iPad, but used the Kindle app for it. I find the iPad surprisingly good for reading. (I don't own a Kindle)

mos1 16y ago

I have a Kindle and an iPad. The iPad isn't a reader. iPad doesn't work worth a damn in the sun (the finger smudges show up, and the screen washes out), and even in the dark it's just not as nice as reading from paper or kindle. I've found a bunch of use cases where the iPad excels, but there's little to no overlap with the Kindle.

jacquesm 16y ago
> I've found a bunch of use cases where the iPad excels What are those ? edit: why would a genuine question out of curiosity be modded down? I'm really weirded out by that. The ipad is a reasonably new form factor and new form factors bring new use cases, and I'd like to know what those are.
- Timothee 16y ago
  Don't worry, I'm sure the downvotes you saw were from a reading of your comment as snarky. There are a lot of Apple haters out there and "what are those?", can easily become "oh yeah? well, what are those use cases smart guy? paper-weight?" in some people's mind. Your question is totally relevant. The iPad has been presented as being great as many things, but I'd also be curious to know the opinion of people who've used it extensively. During a brief test with one, I just didn't what to do with it. It's the kind of device that you need to really use to see the benefit I think.
  - jacquesm 16y ago
    The one use case that I've seen so far that I really didn't anticipate was the 'toddlers computers', that was totally original. There must be countless others. I'm still in 'wait and see' mode about the ipad, especially with the way Apple has been behaving lately but there is bound to be competition and form factor related applications are likely going to be portable from one platform to another.
- macrael 16y ago
  I've found that most of the things I do for fun and to "waste" time on the internet are easier and more fun on the iPad. Twitterrific, Instapaper, Net News Wire, checking HN, and several different games are what I have used it for the most so far. I mostly find myself turning to using my traditional computer for coding and watching hulu.

ajg1977 16y ago

It's worth noting that those are books DOWNLOADED, not sold. In addition to all the freely available titles in the Book store, everyone who downloads iBooks is also prompted to download a free Winnie the Pooh title. I expect virtually nobody selects "No" for this. I would be very interested to know how many titles that have actually sold. I expect it's a fraction of 1.5 million.

mlongo 16y ago
You might be right but that doesn't count the 50 or 60 books I've read on my iPod and I can transfer to the iPad without purchasing anything or downloading anything. It is to early to estimate how much the iPad will be used for reading based on the number of downloads. Too short a period of time to gather meaningful data.

credo 16y ago

I like reading books, but I don't have a Kindle and I haven't purchased any books on my iPad. imo you're making a mistake in looking at the "average" number across all iPad owners. Many of these people will probably never buy a Kindle anyway. Before you use any "average" numbers to make conclusions about the iPad, you should be looking at the average number of books purchased on an iPad within a more narrow segment of the market - e.g. among iPad owners who have bought more than 3 e-books on any device.

grinich 16y ago

I think it opens up a bunch of new doors for reading. Its perfect for interactive children's books with mixed media. I can see my future child learning how to read by using an iPad.

vtail 16y ago

I estimated number of books sold per Kindle as 27 - discussion is here http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=1315532 http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=1315532

illumin8 16y ago

The numbers on iBooks are cooked. When you download the free app, there is a free download available, Winnie the Pooh, prominently featured. This means they can count 1 download of a book for every free download of iBooks. The fact that there are probably only 500,000 books sold so far does not bode well for the iBooks store. In my anecdotal experience, the selection is very limited in the iBooks store. I found much wider selection using Kindle, and the Kindle app is pretty nice. The only drawback to using the Kindle app is that it uses Safari to do all of your purchasing, but you're still able to purchase a book in Safari and download it immediately in the Kindle App. Books that cost $9.99 in the iBooks store were $5.99-7.99 on Kindle. For now, I'm a happy Kindle customer, since all of my library transferred over to my iPad, but if Apple does manage to increase the selection and lower the prices, I might consider shopping there.

megablast 16y ago
You have no proof that this what they did, you are just making stuff up. Not sure how you got modded up. The press release said they have sold 1.5 million books, this would indicate the free book is not included. Also, not everybody has the iBooks applicaiton, since as you say, it is a download, and does not come with the device.

ecq 16y ago

a lot of people download books from the Kindle App.

sshumaker 16y ago

Try reading comics using the Marvel app - that certainly wouldn't translate well to a kindle. I wish there was a better selection (and other comic companies would jump on the bandwagon), but it's pretty fantastic. I ended up buying 40$ worth in the space of two hours.