The Apple digital book reader

The Apple digital book reader, also known as the iPhone has beaten the Kindle in sales in just three months. I remember having this conversation with a good friend some months ago. Why would anyone want to buy a kindle when you can buy a handheld computer that can do a host of other things as well, like watching a DVD, send emails, listen to music and (for some people) make a phone call, I said? I remember the time when they introduced these wordprocessors and how it was all the rage. Then the PC came in and wiped the market clean.

The iPhone was never meant to be only a phone. It is a fully-fledged computer that happens to make phone calls. (Apple is pretty subversive. I wonder if AT&T has caught on yet or they are just in it for the ride.)

Stanza, by Lexcycle, is the book reading software available for the iPhone and the iPod touch, and it is a free download from the Apple store. Reports say that there have already been 395,000 downloads in the first three months (it was launched in July this year) thereby outselling the Kindle which is estimated to sell 380,000 units in the whole of 2008. Stanza is reportedly being downloaded 5000 copies a day and there are already more than10 million iPhones our there. Talk about eating dirt!

Currently, though, only a few thousand of public domain books are available for the Stanza. But wheels are reportedly in motion to make available copyrighted material at a fee. Amazon has 180,000 books for the Kindle at USD10.00 each, that is, after buying the Kindle for USD399.00. The iPod touch starts at USD229.00 for 8-gigs, it is way prettier and does a whole bunch of other things.

Lexcycle