Does the iPad have book downloading and reading capability?

Well… the ipad isn’t on the market yet… so it’s still up in the air what it’ll have.

Considering that there’s a kindle app for the iphone, I’m sure there will be a kindle app for the ipad (it’s the same environment). As well as other book formats in some native viewer.

According to Jobs’ keynote speech, there will be an iBook section of iTunes where you will be able to purchase ebooks and read them on your iPad.

Here’s an article about it.

Yes, it does.

Thanks, guys. I really prefer the Apple interface to the Kindle but probably cannot convince my boss to wait for it.

Grr. Just to let you know, @janbb, despite the fact that Apple is marketing the IPad as a reader, the Kindle was made to be a reader using a new form a screen, specifically E-Ink. That form of screen is like reading the pages of a book, and unlike any other screen on the market will not cause eye fatigue/strain in the same way a regular screen would. If you want a device for reading books, go with the kindle or nook or another e-ink reader, not the IPad. Your eyes will thank you.

Before you buy, look into book formats.

For me, EPUB and PDF would be important, because they are the most popular formats not tied to a particular store. Google books and Project Gutenberg have millions of free PDFs and EPUBs.

Sony Readers and the iPad read both EPUBs and PDFs.

If you get the right App it can. And for free! Take that kindle

Um, what? The IPad is not free, and the Kindle can already download books from amazon, just the same as the Apple version can download books. What books cost money and which are free are dependent on the copyrights, not the device. And the Kindle is probably more streamlined for it, anyway.

I had thought that they had already began to sell the iPad. 0.o

@BhacSsylan No theres an App in the app store that lets you read ebooks for free. And not the ones who’s copyright has expired.

@Bugabear I’m not quite sure I believe that, seeing as that would be illegal. Anyone else confirm?

@BhacSsylan Yeah I can vouch for that. I downloaded To kill a mockingbird for free so I wouldnt have to worry about losing my school copy. And if that app was illegal why is it in the app store? I thought they banned anything illegal or slightly immoral.

Oh, I meant that I was unsure of the existence. Apple would kill it dead if it was illegal. Okay. How does it work then? Because just being able to download and keep the file would be illegal. I assume there are restrictions of some kind?

@BhacSsylan You can download the file and save it for later reading incase you dont have access to internet. The app is essentially a iPhone optimized version of their website. You can look at it here.

Fascinating. Sorry for doubting you, I just really didn’t expect it to work that way. Oh, well. Give me a second to remove this foot from my mouth…

Anyway, i am still very confused as to how this works, as I can definitely find and read books which I know to be under copyright. I’m so confused! Do you know how their licensing works?

Also, you may be able to access this site with the kindle directly without the app, but I can’t be sure of that

Yeah dont worry about it. It’s not a very well know website and i’d like to keep it that way. I guess it’s like grooveshark. It’s not illegal, it just has illegal content on it’s not popular enough to be a problem.