My assessment of the iPhone since I got mine a few months ago is that in most things, it does an OK job, not a great one. It just excels at doing so many things adequately.
One of the functions in which the iPhone has been just adequate (in my opinion) is in the realm of e-books. Apple doesn’t care about the medium, and the third party e-reading apps available are tolerable, but somewhat klunky for those of us who accumulated large libraries for older PDA’s. Personally, I have been using Stanza, but getting my old e-books onto my iPhone was an annoying hassle.
Anyway, through several sources, I note that Amazon has released Kindle for iPhone. Quoting the New York Times:
Starting Wednesday, owners of these Apple devices can download a free application, Kindle for iPhone and iPod Touch, from Apple’s App Store. The software will give them full access to the 240,000 e-books for sale on Amazon.com, which include a majority of best sellers.
The move comes a week after Amazon started shipping the updated version of its Kindle reading device. It signals that the company may be more interested in becoming the pre-eminent retailer of e-books than in being the top manufacturer of reading devices.
But Amazon said that it sees its Kindle reader and devices like the iPhone as complementary, and that people will use their mobile phones to read books only for short periods, such as while waiting in grocery store lines.
One of my seatmates on my flight home Monday had a Kindle, and I do have to admit that it probably would be nicer to read a book on such a gadget than on the iPhone. However, even with having now met a Kindle in person, I’m still put off by the expense and a desire to carry as few gadgets around as possible.
But Kindle for iPhone – in particular the ability to sync reading among multiple devices (e.g. my iPhone and the iPod Touch I use on the exercise bike and treadmill), and access to Amazon’s e-book store – I am potentially a very happy camper.
Care to guess what I’m going to be playing with this evening?
