Using Ebooks with iPhone

I did it: After holding out a little more than 2 weeks, I went to my local Apple Retail Store and bought an iPhone. My existing cell phone was not easy to use so I took advantage of only a few of its highly touted features. I also was intrigued by the idea of having email and the Web, the real Web, available on my phone so that I could leave my laptop at home when traveling. I am not a workaholic who spends hours online when on vacation, but I will admit that I like being able to check on things and respond to an email message on a problem while it is still a small one.rnI am very happy with my iPhone, especially after I got my aluminum iphone 4 case, and I did actually go on a trip without my laptop. The wireless worked great in the hotel, and I was able to look up directions in the car through the slower, but still usable, Edge network from AT&T. I also had access to my email, my calendar, nay address book, my music, my podcasts, my pictures, and a few videos. The iPhone and its steep price tag may not be for everyone, but it is a piece of technology that fits beautifully into both my personal and professional lives.rnWhen writing my column for the September 2012 issue of Computers in Libraries, which was devoted to serving remote and mobile users, I mentioned an article that appeared in Reading Research Quarterly titled "Instant Messaging, Literacies, and Social Identities." The article discussed how teens view technology differently than their parents, looking at it as something ordinary that they use to do what they want to do. They don't focus on the specific technology (such as instant messaging), taking that for granted, but rather on what they want to do, which is to communicate with friends. While I am far from being a teen, I view my iPhone in much the same way. I don't quite take its capabilities for granted yet since it still seems a bit of a marvel, but I have noticed how quickly I have come to count on it to do the things I want to do, concentrating on the task itself instead of the technology used to accomplish it.rnRevisiting Sony's Portable Reader 1 Year LaterrnIn last year's column on Hip High-Tech, I discussed the Sony Portable Reader System, an ebook reader that used E Ink. I had a prototype of the Sony Reader to try for a few weeks, and while I enjoyed using it, I didn't miss it after I sent it back, and I didn't consider purchasing it when it became available. Apparently, I was not the only one to find it interesting but not compelling enough to buy. An article in BusinessWeek for Sept. 3, 2012, called "Making Digital Books Into Page Turners," discussed the device's less-than-stellar sales. According to the author, Sony has planned some changes to the device in an attempt to improve sales. One change is to adopt ebook software from Adobe Systems so users are not locked into using only Sony's Connect service to obtain books. Other changes include broader distribution through CompUSA and Best Buy, a $50 price reduction, and credit for 100 classic titles through the Connect store. The article also notes that Sony's Reader is likely to face increased competition if rumors of Amazon's plans to develop its own reader prove to be true.rnReading Ebooks on the iPhone Through the WebrnI would prefer, however, to read ebooks on my iPhone, so that just as I am seldom without music or podcasts to listen to or video to watch, I would no longer be without something to read. Currently, the iPhone does not include an ebook reader among its built-in applications. I hope that will change as software updates are released, but there are some iPhone-specific ebook initiatives beginning to appear. HarperCollins is planning to make its Browse Inside service, similar to Amazon's Search Inside! and Google's Book Search, available in a format customized for the iPhone. According to the Web site, "Browse Inside digitally replicates the experience of browsing the pages of a book prior to purchasing." The pilot project currently offers 14 titles formatted for the iPhone, but there may be more by the time you read this. For those who do not have an iPhone but are curious, there were sample iPhone screen shots as well as a link to the regular Browse Inside home page. I sampled the service and while it worked well on the iPhone, it is only a sample of the book to encourage purchase. Also, even though I was connected through a broadband wireless connection, there was a delay between pages as the new page loaded. It did serve to show me, however, that reading could be comfortable on the iPhone.rnRight now, developers can only create Web-based applications for the iPhone through the Safari Web browser that is included in the iPhone's installed software. BooksoniPhone is a Web site created to offer ebooks. The site, which can only be used on an iPhone, claims to offer more than 20,000 books, novels, and articles specially formatted for the device. Registered users can browse through the available files to create a reading list or to upload their own files. Browsing through the titles to make selections is currently a bit awkward (which is acknowledged by the site's authors in the FAQ), but a search feature is available. Each title is listed with a page count that can seem overly high--the Bible had more than 9,000 pages--but a page is actually 600 bytes, which accounts for those large numbers. Navigation is simple: You can use onscreen buttons for Previous and Next pages or simply tap the screen to move forward to the next page. It is possible to jump through the text by page number, but without a table of contents, you have to guess what page number you need. I found that the design worked best when reading straight through a book or other document, and I found reading to be quite comfortable. Users can also upload text files to their Readlists by pasting them into an empty text box. The uploaded files displayed well on the iPhone, using a font in a comfortable viewing size. Another site that allows you to upload files to view on the iPhone is Readdle. Users must register in order to upload files from their computers. Supported file formats are .doc, GIF, HTML, JPEG, PDF, .rtf, .txt, or .xls, with a maximum file size of 5 MB. Free storage space of 50 MB, referred to as the Bookshelf, is available to registered users. In addition to a personal Bookshelf, you also have access to titles in Readdle's Public Library. When I checked, that included selections by Charles Dickens, H. P. Lovecraft, O. Henry, Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, and William Shakespeare. Once again I found reading to be comfortable and navigation quite easy, although the titles in the Readdle Public Library, which had been specially formatted for the iPhone, were easier to read than my uploaded text files, which were displayed in a tiny font. I could use the iPhone's touch screen gestures to enlarge the text, but then I had to scroll horizontally to read each line. While it wasn't hard, it was a bit awkward. I did appreciate the ability to view files as PDFs since I receive several electronic newsletters in that format. Both BooksoniPhone and Readdle are Web-based services, so you need an Internet connection (either wireless or through AT&T's Edge service) to read the ebooks, which are stored on a server. An application to permit iPhone users to store and read ebooks on the iPhone has been developed, but it is not supported by Apple since no authorized method of installing third-party applications has been released for the iPhone. Books.app is the unauthorized ebook reader maintained by Zach Brewster-Geisz and described on Google Code. People can use it to read HTML and text files, including Project Gutenberg titles and Creative Commons licensed texts. There are screen shots to show how this could work on an iPhone. Even though I would like to have an ebook reader on my iPhone, I am not about to try any unauthorized software on it but will wait instead for an authorized version and hope it comes soon. While I have found that the iPhone fits well into my life, I would not attempt to predict if it will have any effect on library services. As popular as the iPod is, it is not supported by vendors who offer electronic audio and video download services for libraries. According to Michael Casey and Michael Stephens in an article titled "Ask for What You Want" in Library Journal, librarians should shoulder some of the blame for this. They made their point thusly: "When audiobook vendors gave us downloadable material that was incompatible with iPods, why did we roll over and buy it (at exorbitant prices) instead of declining the service and explaining to our taxpaying customers that we could not ethically spend that much money on a technology that only a very small fraction of our customer base even owned." Even if the iPhone should become a popular ebook reader, there is no guarantee that ebook vendors would develop ebook services for libraries unless librarians demand them. Still Waiting for Ebooks Ebooks seem to be constantly on the horizon, but they haven't arrived just yet. No ebook reader has given readers all the advantages of print while also offering digital enhancements and portability. John Dvorak of ZDNet makes the case for the continued importance of print media in an article called, "Don't Give Up on Old Media" in which he explains how newspapers and magazines can compete with electronic media by offering content that is more dense and detailed. While I want an ebook reader for my iPhone and hope it might possibly advance the adoption of ebooks, I don't want it to replace print media but complement it. I still want to curl up with a printed book, but I also want to be able to read in spare moments when I don't have a book with me but do have my iPhone.