Despite launching months ago, its only today that Apple’s iBooks actually becomes a serious offering. Local publishers included in today’s launch include Macmillan Publishers Australia, Hatchette Book Group, Hardie Grant, HarperCollins Publishers, Wiley and Murdoch Books. While its great to finally have some local content, it does sound some Aussie publishers were left out in the cold.
Some of you may remember a post some time ago regarding the Australian iBooks store, in that I complained that iBooks was a dull shade of brown and grey. The covers where from titles in the public domain, titles that basically had cover artwork. Today all that changed, the iBooks store on the iPhone or iPad is now a much more pleasent experience.
While not exactly cheap, I’d suggest you take advantage of the ‘Download a sample’ option. If you decide you like, then you can pony up the cash for the full version. While other book stores (Kindle, Kobo, Amazon etc) are available, I think iBooks will be the place of choice for a majority of users.
I’m not sure that iBooks will be the single feature that will drive someone to buy an iDevice, but it could certainly be an added benefit for existing users. Going forward, it’ll be interesting to see how iOS device sales compare to Amazon’s Kindle, now that Apple have a serious book offering. Hopefull those publishers that missed out today, will be added over time, much like the music collection.
