5 ms·

Apple now bans e-books from the App Store

57 points by die_sekte 17y ago

pclark 17y ago
so what about apps already in the app store?
bdfh42 17y ago
The difference between the potential of iTunes being used to access copyrighted material without payment and an eBook reader doing the same thing is that Apple do not sell eBooks. Apple is ensuring that the apps on the iPhone make them money without any potential to cost them money. It's all upside for them.
- derefr 17y ago
  Or, it could just be that the Apple Tablet thing, if it exists (10% probability) will read e-books (100% dependent probability), and therefore introduce a Book Store to complement the App and Music Stores (80% dependent probability, I'd say), and the iPhone and iPod Touch will inherit it (100% d.p.), and they'll want to shut out third-party Book Stores the same way they'd shut out a third-party music store (97% d.p.) and are willing to lie on rejection notices so as not to reveal their plan (20% d.p.).
tallanvor 17y ago
I can't help but wonder if they'll let Amazon's app remain. After all, since you can send files to Amazon that are converted into their format, their app could be infringing on copyright... While I understand the conflicting pressures Apple must be under with regards to various apps, I think it is hurting them quite a bit, but it's their own fault. Because they've made themselves the gatekeepers, it's much easier for other companies to sue them if they allow an app on that violates copyright or other laws.
cesare 17y ago
I think Apple is really going backwards with this move. The platform could have been a great medium to publish (and monetize) any kind of multimedia content (everything that couldn't be considered strictly an application, like interactive fiction, comics, reference books with a customized interface etc). From an author perspective this could have been a great medium to experiment with. Much more interesting that the kindle or simple e-book reader apps with a fixed user interface.
- dtf 17y ago
  I see exactly where they're heading: Apple will create their own reader and Book Store in iTunes, where they'll charge content creators 30%. Perhaps if they're feeling particularly generous, they'll let you share your your DRM'd iBooks between your Tablet and your iPhone. Third-party readers are obviously a massive threat to this potential profit stream.
colinplamondon 17y ago
To be clear- the app rejected here was originally made available on Cydia, and is mainly used for putting your own content onto the device. In other words, the selling point is putting torrents of books onto the device, just like the main selling point of the iPod is storing 32gb of pirated music. This still scares me, but I think it's overstating things to say that all ebooks are banned. "This category of application" could be taken to mean multiple things given the context- applications formerly available via Cydia and applications that allow you to upload your own book content are both plausible alternatives. Once we submit Free Audiobooks in a couple weeks I'll have a more definitive data point for everyone :)
- jamie_ca 17y ago
  > applications that allow you to upload your own book content are both plausible alternatives. I've been doing that with Stanza since day 1. The desktop version of Stanza "shares" any open books with the iTouch, and Calibre will share all your imported books at once. And I've written a cheapo webapp to generate an atom feed I can subscribe to as a regular catalog.
- gojomo 17y ago
  Re: 'Free Audiobooks' I was about to set my mother up with one of the earlier librivox audiobooks apps when they suddenly changed to be streaming-only. Will your planned app cache a whole book at a time? If so, I've got two customers waiting...
  - colinplamondon 17y ago
    Absolutely! By default we'll download two chapters ahead, but there will be a nice big 'Download Entire Audiobook' button available. So, you'll always have three chapters available in full, and you can hit Download All to get the whole thing available offline. No streaming available- I think it just complicates the interface and is totally unnecessary. Downloading will also be done from CloudFront, so they'll be incredibly quick.
chanux 17y ago
Dictionary, e-books .. what's next?
- jrockway 17y ago
  http://www.gnu.org/philosophy/right-to-read.html http://www.gnu.org/philosophy/right-to-read.html
chaosmachine 17y ago
Every day is a bad PR day for Apple lately. And it all seems to stem from the App Store.
jrockway 17y ago
They say that no publicity is bad publicity, but Apple is beginning to prove that wrong. "Think different" indeed.
- axod 17y ago
  The app store whining is limited to a very small online bubble of developer websites. People crowding the Apple stores to buy the latest iPhone/iPod/etc don't know or care. I'd be absolutely amazed if any of the constant appstore whining has any effect on sales.
  - mpk 17y ago
    Yes, developers aren't end-users. However, developers do form an important target for a platform vendor such as Apple. A few years ago you hardly every heard developers complaining about Apple, but with the latest generation iPods, the iPhone and the App Store, this has changed. Over the last year or so there have been consistent and very negative experiences reported by developers across the table. Quite a change.
    - tdavis 17y ago
      I think you mean "across the board".
      - mpk 17y ago
        That works too.
  - deleted 17y ago
    [deleted]
  - orangecat 17y ago
    I'd be absolutely amazed if any of the constant appstore whining has any effect on sales. It won't in the immediate future. But the message Apple is sending loud and clear is that if you have an idea for an interesting app, you're better off developing for Android or Pre, because Apple and/or AT&T will arbitrarily kill it whenever they feel like it. That can easily have a noticeable effect a year or two down the line.
Derrek 17y ago
Good god, when will the madness end? "Another developer who built an e-book reader received a recent rejection along the same lines. The application might be used to read copyright infringing books, so Apple will not let it in App Store." But couldn't OS X also be used to play copyright infringing MP3s, software and videos?
- Shorel 17y ago
  Well, I wanted to buy an iPhone to read copyright infringing books.
- Xichekolas 17y ago
  Cupertino, CA - In a startling turn of events, Apple today announced that it has decided to stop selling the iPhone, effective immediately. When asked for more details, a spokesperson stated: "The iPhone might be used by people who buy it. This use could lead to complaints, and in the age of the Internet, these complaints could lead to bad PR for Apple. Therefore, Apple has decided that selling the iPhone is just too risky."
  - billswift 17y ago
    The problem isn't with selling the iPhone, it's with letting people DO anything with it.
- Estragon 17y ago
  It's frighteningly reminiscent of Stallman's "The Right To Read" dystopia. http://www.gnu.org/philosophy/right-to-read.html http://www.gnu.org/philosophy/right-to-read.html
cstefanovici 17y ago
They are planning to do their own e-book thing with the upcoming tablet. Although for iphone and ipod the apps wouldn't hurt, they probably don't want people getting used to e-books on iphone and ipod before the tablet comes out.... ? The e-books would kill the battery on the iphone/ipod anyway. Don't think it would work. Just some ideas, don't shoot me down.
- gcheong 17y ago
  I just downloaded the free Kindle iphone app. I would think that if this were a competitive thing that they would have killed this one off first. Or maybe they're waiting until after the release of this rumored tablet?
- rfurmani 17y ago
  I use GoodReader on the iPhone to read some math textbooks that I have in pdf form, and it works great (very legible, navigable, and no problem with battery life)

57 points by die_sekte 17y ago

so what about apps already in the app store?

The difference between the potential of iTunes being used to access copyrighted material without payment and an eBook reader doing the same thing is that Apple do not sell eBooks. Apple is ensuring that the apps on the iPhone make them money without any potential to cost them money. It's all upside for them.

derefr 17y ago
Or, it could just be that the Apple Tablet thing, if it exists (10% probability) will read e-books (100% dependent probability), and therefore introduce a Book Store to complement the App and Music Stores (80% dependent probability, I'd say), and the iPhone and iPod Touch will inherit it (100% d.p.), and they'll want to shut out third-party Book Stores the same way they'd shut out a third-party music store (97% d.p.) and are willing to lie on rejection notices so as not to reveal their plan (20% d.p.).

tallanvor 17y ago

I can't help but wonder if they'll let Amazon's app remain. After all, since you can send files to Amazon that are converted into their format, their app could be infringing on copyright... While I understand the conflicting pressures Apple must be under with regards to various apps, I think it is hurting them quite a bit, but it's their own fault. Because they've made themselves the gatekeepers, it's much easier for other companies to sue them if they allow an app on that violates copyright or other laws.

cesare 17y ago

I think Apple is really going backwards with this move. The platform could have been a great medium to publish (and monetize) any kind of multimedia content (everything that couldn't be considered strictly an application, like interactive fiction, comics, reference books with a customized interface etc). From an author perspective this could have been a great medium to experiment with. Much more interesting that the kindle or simple e-book reader apps with a fixed user interface.

dtf 17y ago
I see exactly where they're heading: Apple will create their own reader and Book Store in iTunes, where they'll charge content creators 30%. Perhaps if they're feeling particularly generous, they'll let you share your your DRM'd iBooks between your Tablet and your iPhone. Third-party readers are obviously a massive threat to this potential profit stream.

colinplamondon 17y ago

To be clear- the app rejected here was originally made available on Cydia, and is mainly used for putting your own content onto the device. In other words, the selling point is putting torrents of books onto the device, just like the main selling point of the iPod is storing 32gb of pirated music. This still scares me, but I think it's overstating things to say that all ebooks are banned. "This category of application" could be taken to mean multiple things given the context- applications formerly available via Cydia and applications that allow you to upload your own book content are both plausible alternatives. Once we submit Free Audiobooks in a couple weeks I'll have a more definitive data point for everyone :)

jamie_ca 17y ago
> applications that allow you to upload your own book content are both plausible alternatives. I've been doing that with Stanza since day 1. The desktop version of Stanza "shares" any open books with the iTouch, and Calibre will share all your imported books at once. And I've written a cheapo webapp to generate an atom feed I can subscribe to as a regular catalog.
gojomo 17y ago
Re: 'Free Audiobooks' I was about to set my mother up with one of the earlier librivox audiobooks apps when they suddenly changed to be streaming-only. Will your planned app cache a whole book at a time? If so, I've got two customers waiting...
- colinplamondon 17y ago
  Absolutely! By default we'll download two chapters ahead, but there will be a nice big 'Download Entire Audiobook' button available. So, you'll always have three chapters available in full, and you can hit Download All to get the whole thing available offline. No streaming available- I think it just complicates the interface and is totally unnecessary. Downloading will also be done from CloudFront, so they'll be incredibly quick.

chanux 17y ago

Dictionary, e-books .. what's next?

jrockway 17y ago
http://www.gnu.org/philosophy/right-to-read.html http://www.gnu.org/philosophy/right-to-read.html

chaosmachine 17y ago

Every day is a bad PR day for Apple lately. And it all seems to stem from the App Store.

jrockway 17y ago

They say that no publicity is bad publicity, but Apple is beginning to prove that wrong. "Think different" indeed.

axod 17y ago
The app store whining is limited to a very small online bubble of developer websites. People crowding the Apple stores to buy the latest iPhone/iPod/etc don't know or care. I'd be absolutely amazed if any of the constant appstore whining has any effect on sales.
- mpk 17y ago
  Yes, developers aren't end-users. However, developers do form an important target for a platform vendor such as Apple. A few years ago you hardly every heard developers complaining about Apple, but with the latest generation iPods, the iPhone and the App Store, this has changed. Over the last year or so there have been consistent and very negative experiences reported by developers across the table. Quite a change.
  - tdavis 17y ago
    I think you mean "across the board".
    - mpk 17y ago
      That works too.
- deleted 17y ago
  [deleted]
- orangecat 17y ago
  I'd be absolutely amazed if any of the constant appstore whining has any effect on sales. It won't in the immediate future. But the message Apple is sending loud and clear is that if you have an idea for an interesting app, you're better off developing for Android or Pre, because Apple and/or AT&T will arbitrarily kill it whenever they feel like it. That can easily have a noticeable effect a year or two down the line.

Derrek 17y ago

Good god, when will the madness end? "Another developer who built an e-book reader received a recent rejection along the same lines. The application might be used to read copyright infringing books, so Apple will not let it in App Store." But couldn't OS X also be used to play copyright infringing MP3s, software and videos?

Shorel 17y ago
Well, I wanted to buy an iPhone to read copyright infringing books.
Xichekolas 17y ago
Cupertino, CA - In a startling turn of events, Apple today announced that it has decided to stop selling the iPhone, effective immediately. When asked for more details, a spokesperson stated: "The iPhone might be used by people who buy it. This use could lead to complaints, and in the age of the Internet, these complaints could lead to bad PR for Apple. Therefore, Apple has decided that selling the iPhone is just too risky."
- billswift 17y ago
  The problem isn't with selling the iPhone, it's with letting people DO anything with it.
Estragon 17y ago
It's frighteningly reminiscent of Stallman's "The Right To Read" dystopia. http://www.gnu.org/philosophy/right-to-read.html http://www.gnu.org/philosophy/right-to-read.html

cstefanovici 17y ago

They are planning to do their own e-book thing with the upcoming tablet. Although for iphone and ipod the apps wouldn't hurt, they probably don't want people getting used to e-books on iphone and ipod before the tablet comes out.... ? The e-books would kill the battery on the iphone/ipod anyway. Don't think it would work. Just some ideas, don't shoot me down.

gcheong 17y ago
I just downloaded the free Kindle iphone app. I would think that if this were a competitive thing that they would have killed this one off first. Or maybe they're waiting until after the release of this rumored tablet?
rfurmani 17y ago
I use GoodReader on the iPhone to read some math textbooks that I have in pdf form, and it works great (very legible, navigable, and no problem with battery life)