APPLE CLEANUP OF OTHER BOOKSTORE LINKS: WHAT NOW?EBookMagazine in the UK
"Removal of in-app store links prompts anger, complaints and confusion" as a result of the Apple requirement that rival ebooksellers either 1) make a link to purchase at Apple's store, giving Apple 100% of the other bookstore's 30% revenue share of a book sale (the 30% share for a bookseller was Apple's idea in the first place, causing higher book pricing, or 2) remove any and all links to the other bookseller's stores.
One thing I had not expected to see:
' The Kindle app’s iTunes listing now has a majority of ‘one star’ reviews alongside negative reviews lamenting the loss of the store link." [How ironic.]
Users have described the updated, link-less app as “defunct” and “a big step backward”.
Other Kindle app users have made use of the reviews facility to denounce Apple’s policy and to insist that they won’t – as some suggest the iPad maker was hoping – defect to its iBooks store. '
Not surprisingly, though, many regular users were not aware that the link that led to opening the Safari browser to go to the bookstores was just the web-location of the online store. All that's needed is a bookmark on the device that will take the e-reader owner to amazon.com or to bn.com etc.
But the inconvenience of having to close the reading app first is not intuitive and has been annoying. EReader owners wind up irritated at both the app and the suddenly not so magical or revolutionary device.
Tight reins: "Staff employed by Kindle rival Kobo have complained that Apple’s rules even prevented them from explaining why store links have been removed from apps.
That is what happens when you become the richest company around, with $76 billion sitting there and apparently not growing fast enough for comfort.
WallSteetDaily: Is Apple About to Lose its Gatekeeper Status?
Juatin Fritz points out that the Financial Times decided to ignore Apple, withdrew its app and released a [web-based] HTML5 app last month, explaining, "There’s not a single thing we couldn’t do in HTML5 that we could do in our native app [for Apple]."
HTML5 allows coding language developers "to create rich, full-featured webpages" without requiring plug-ins like Adobe Flash.
Apple has been counting on increasing adoption of HTML5 to provide features that Flash currently does, since Apple doesn't recognize Adobe Flash.
But now, HTML5 may be helping other companies grow their extra features outside that walled garden tended by Apple's heavy thumb.
Fritz reminds us that "Mobile developers for the iPhone and iPad can use HTML5 to create applications, too. So instead of storing apps on a mobile device, developers can run them on the web." and adds:
' Tech publisher, VentureBeat, says, the “HTML5 movement has so much momentum that it could defeat the native app — an application that’s designed to run on a single platform — in as little as two years.” 'Developers won't need permission to upload their own apps online, and HTML5 programs can also be used offline, functioning in areas with no connection. They can run on any operating system. "So instead of customizing apps for each platform, developers only need to create one universal application."
The Google Books app doesn't seem to be back in the Apple store, Fritz says, and "starting in August, Google will start supporting all of its web apps, like Gmail and Docs, with HTML5." He adds that Microsoft announced in June that it was going to HTML5 in Windows 8, and Pandora is making the switch also.
So, we see a couple of escape routes, with apps for the fast-growing Android market and with HTML5
Amazon announced in December their coming Kindle for Web, which will allow full text of Kindle books to be read in your web browsers - no download or installation required. This will also allow the usual features - synchronizing of your libraries, last page read, bookmarks, notes & highlights, with your other devices.
And, Amazon adds, "bookstores, authors, retailers, bloggers and other website owners will be able to offer Kindle books from their own sites, let their readers start enjoying the full text of these books instantly, and earn affiliate fees for doing so."
Photo credit: Communicatrix
Kindle 3's (UK: Kindle 3's) K3 Special ($114) K3-3G Special ($139) DX Graphite
Check often: Temporarily-free late-listed non-classics or recently published ones
Guide to finding Free Kindle books and Sources. Top 100 free bestsellers. Liked-books under $1
UK-Only: recently published non-classics, bestsellers, or £5 Max ones
Also, UK customers should see the UK store's Top 100 free bestsellers.
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