iPhone: Classics, A New eBook Reading App
Things are beginning to get wild and woolly in the eBook reading area of the iPhone.
How many programs are there now?
Well there’s one more to come: Classics (animated QuickTime demo at that link).
This is the main interface:
This is what it’s like to use — there is page turn animation:
What’s apparently being done here: public-domain classics are being redesigned to make them more like period printed books, complete with contemporaneous illustrations (or verisimilitudes thereof).
I don’t know what’s going on here. Is animation a function of the reading program or is it built into each eBook?
Here’s a posting by someone who participated in the app’s design.
Classics is projected to cost, at introduction, $2.99. I don’t know if that’s for a collection of eBooks, the reading program alone, or what.
This space is beginning to get crowded. Are people going to get confused or just fed up with having to use a specific program to read a desired book? And if someone has many books, how will they easily remember which book is stored in which reading program’s library?
— via Twitter from raminf
Explore posts in the same categories: Books - Other, eBooks, Tech - Apple
Mike Cane 2008 
October 23, 2008 at 6:38 pm
Now this is more like it. A decent reader that gives a richer experience than just text in shades of grey. I have an I-touch and this will integrate nicely. These $400 plus single function E-readers that are being pimped to us just don’t make economic sense especially when we are going into a Depression. If I’m gonna e-read I want it to work on technology I have already invested in or else I’m just going to go to the library and get a free book.
October 23, 2008 at 6:41 pm
Well, the dedicated eBook devices have larger and more paper-like screens. Stanza at least supports ePub, which is turning into the standard for professional eBook publishing.
October 23, 2008 at 7:10 pm
Oh I can’t wait for this one to come out. Thats how it should be done.
October 23, 2008 at 9:22 pm
I am wondering why they are selling this in the first place? Stanza is wonderful and free. I am really hoping that the ePub file type will be the standard, once and for all.
My only hope is that Stanza or at least one of these becomes completely standard so that I can actually start buying novels without worrying about filetypes.
2.99 for a beta product from the App store seems a little too much to ask at this time. Additionally, if most of the books are public access, is this not just a re-wrap of old material, something that is inherently disdained by most web officianados?
October 24, 2008 at 6:04 am
If Apple ever comes out with a larger tablet as an itouch replacement then I woulld be all over that as yes a bigger but not too big screen would be great. Other than that size point though the whole ebook device concept continues to leave me with a desire to keep my money in my pockets despite the hype.
October 24, 2008 at 8:23 am
@lifedrivedoc: The market will ultimately decide. But, yes, ePub is the future so any new eBook format is foolish.
@Bill:
— looks like January MacWorld now.
November 2, 2008 at 6:16 pm
Mike,
Do you really think they will release this in January? Given June is iPhone month, where would they put this one in? Does that mean that they will fade something else out, ie. The Mac Mini?
@Bill: You really should see Stanza on the iPhone. It is really quite remarkable.
November 2, 2008 at 6:36 pm
@lifedrivedoc: Yes, I do think January will bring it. There’s already been sightings of an “unknown” Apple device on the Net with a higher-res screen. I don’t think a VGA screen on an iPhone would be anything but irritating. Full-screen web pages would have lines of type that look like lines: —–. Right now, the text looks like text. Now, a higher-res and *larger screen* would make sense. Remember that Steve Jobs loves to steal the thunder from CES. A VGA screen on an iPhone wouldn’t do it. A device that bridges the gap between iPhone/iPod Touch and a Mac notebook makes perfect sense.
I don’t know why Apple hangs onto the Mac Mini, frankly. Unless it’s to split some manufacturing costs between it and Apple TV (which is almost the same). It makes no sense to buy a Mac Mini when a Mac notebook isn’t that much more ($999 now for the white plastic one).
I’ve seen vids of Stanza, so it’s not like I haven’t seen it. Just haven’t *experienced* it.
Oh, and as for our dear Palm? I’d be surprised if a Nova device *ever* shows up. And even if it does, would anybody care?! I don’t think I would.