More signs that your iPad may be the future of print. Online bookseller Amazon announced Thursday e-books are outselling paper versions. While the announcement focused on the Kindle, the news also gives reason for Apple to celebrate its own e-reading plans, including iBookstore.
Since April, the Internet retailer sold 105 e-books for every 100 printed books. Just four months ago, e-book sales overtook paperback sales. “We’ve been selling print books for 15 years and Kindle books for less than four year,” Amazon founder and CEO Jeff Bezos said.
While the announcement was used to trumpet the success of the Kindle reader and the recently-introduced ad-supported device, Kindle books are the most popular e-books on the iPad. The Kindle iPad app is widely downloaded. However, that could change soon when Apple begins enforcing new rules requiring in-app sales go through iTunes, thus ensuring Cupertino receives a 30 percent cut on ebook sales.
Earlier this week we reported more signs Amazon is moving ahead with rumored plans to produce an Android-based tablet. After witnesses the failure of rivals to go head-to-head against the iPad, Amazon reportedly is preparing a “family of tablets” able to better compete. If true, an Android-based tablet would side-step Apple’s 30 percent solution and mesh with Amazon’s early-announce Android-centric App Store.
Ed Sutherland is a veteran technology journalist who first heard of Apple when they grew on trees, Yahoo was run out of a Stanford dorm and Google was an unknown upstart. Since then, Sutherland has covered the whole technology landscape, concentrating on tracking the trends and figuring out the finances of large (and small) technology companies.
21 responses to “With eBooks Outselling Print, Is iPad The Future of Reading?”
Well, if Amazon decides to ditch their iOS apps , they can kiss my money goodbye.
 No.
 God, I hope not.
Amazon wouldn’t ditch their iOS app, it’ll stay ’till Apple kicks them out. They can’t sell books through the Apple App Store because of the agency model Apple helped set up, the publisher gets 70%, the seller 30%. That would mean that Amazon got nothing. Amazon does not do in-app purchase currently, but if the June rules are interpreted in such a way that requires Amazon to sell its books in the Apple App Store, then they would probably rather be kicked out than comply. But it will be Apple that forces the issue.
For the masses, yes, the ebook will eventually win out. But paper books will always be around for those of us that collect them and prefer them. I use ebooks all the time but if it’s a book I really like I buy the hardcover version for my collection.Â
 Not really. The iPad is an adequate ebook reader only until you try a dedicated one such as the kindle. Too heavy, backlit screen causes eyestrain, as does the low pixel count (for reading).
No the Kindle is
I sure hope not. I’m a massive Apple fanboy, but reading long form text on back-lit screens is excruciating. I think eBook are the future, but hoping it will be on eInk screens like the Kindle.
 Is the iPad the future of reading? – Define future: next year?: 5 years?Â
It will be very hard for the iPad to overtake the Amazon Kindle in the near future. The Kindle is definitely a superior device for reading books  (Primarily due to cost, battery life and the advantages of epaper.) Â
Obviously further into the future a lot of things could change with improvements in screen resolution, battery life etc. continue to improve the iPad could dominate the ebook market.
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is it the cheap 99 cent and $3.99 books outselling the traditional $10-$15 top author titles though? If so, that’s hardly something to celebrate. E-Books still only commanding less than 10 % of the marketplace overall.Â
As a reader, I really like to read novellas on my Nook. It just seems a reasonable length for an ereading experience. I’m hoping that ereaders will bring novellas back into popularity.
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