Mobipocket for the iPhone/iTouch: Why not? It’s good enough on my Blackberry
By Joe Wikert, a VP in the Professional/Trade division of John Wiley & Sons
A Mobipocket app for the iPhone will appear later this year, as Kevin Tofel noted in a blog post. He then went on to question what sort of impact this will have on the Kindle. A couple of readers commented that the reading experience on a Kindle is much better than an iPhone/iTouch, and the readers also noted that Amazon owns Mobipocket, so they’re not likely to kill their own device.
True and true, but now that I’ve been using Mobipocket on my Blackberry for a bit, I have to admit there are many other factors that come into play. The first one is price. If you just spent several hundred dollars on an iPhone/iTouch, are you likely to spend another $399 on a Kindle? Sure, some people are gadget freaks and don’t mind spending this much, but I don’t think that’s true for the majority of us.
"Good enough" and convenient
Secondly, there are the "good enough" and convenience factors. Do I want to read from a computer screen or other non-E Ink display for hours at a time? No way, but what I’m finding with Mobi on the Blackberry is that I’m reading more at unusual times simply because my Blackberry is handy. I wouldn’t think of taking a book or a Kindle to the grocery store, but I’ve read a good chunk of The Last Lecture on my Blackberry there. Ditto for my daughter’s dance recital last night—what else are you supposed to do when your child is in one 2-minute segment of a 2-hour show?!
The Mobi experience on my Blackberry is plenty "good enough" for me and I suspect that will be the case for quite a few iPhone/iTouch owners. Plus, just like the Kindle, as long as I have a cellular signal I’m only a couple of clicks away from quickly downloading my next Mobi book.
Moderator: The Blackberry model in the photo may or may not be the one Joe uses. - D.R.
May 21st, 2008 at 11:10 am
From Amazon’s perspective, the key is to control distribution. Amazon has got to be worried about disintermediation–i.e., publishers selling directly. Sure they’d love to make a fortune from selling Kindles, but if customers have to come to them to buy eBooks, even if that means going through the Mobipocket store rather than the Kindle store, they still end up ahead. I’m really curious why Amazon hasn’t included Mobipocket in the “other editions” section of its own Amazon store. Perhaps the people who manage the Amazon store haven’t gotten the word that Mobipocket is an Amazon company.
Rob Preece
Publisher, http://www.booksforabuck.com
(P.S., like most ePublishers, BooksForABuck.com sells both directly and through distribution (including mobipocket and the kindle store). On a per-book basis, our margins are MUCH higher on direct sales than sales through distribution because distributors tend to charge about 50% as their commission.)
May 22nd, 2008 at 8:04 am
“Secondly, there are the “good enough” and convenience factors. Do I want to read from a computer screen or other non-E Ink display for hours at a time? No way, but what I’m finding with Mobi on the Blackberry is that I’m reading more at unusual times simply because my Blackberry is handy. I wouldn’t think of taking a book or a Kindle to the grocery store, but I’ve read a good chunk of The Last Lecture on my Blackberry there. Ditto for my daughter’s dance recital last night—what else are you supposed to do when your child is in one 2-minute segment of a 2-hour show?!”
Absolutely. I find I do a lot more reading in Mobi on my Bberry simply because I have it with me 24/7.