UnBound Medicine and Inkling are companies that provide access to download ebooks to institutional users. This is somewhat related to ebook format and platform problems but like all things bought at an institutional level, the problems are different. Institutional subscriptions to ebooks, specifically medical, may not be device dependent but they aren’t the answer either.
Equally frustrating is that the “all in one” ebook reader services such as Overdrive and ebrary are confusing from the design side of things and confusing from the download side of things because they are dealing with ALL ebook types and devices. If you buy direct from Amazon, Barnes and Noble or Apple, you run the risk that the book won’t work on your “different” device despite having the app.
I guarantee you that there will be a time when the title you want is only available in a format different from your device. See where I am going here? I don’t care if you have a Kindle, Nook, iPad, etc. I don’t know how easy it is to download the ebooks to your device because we never made it that far. It doesn’t matter what titles they have if they are difficult to find. However their platform is confusing and clunky, it is difficult to even find the title you want to download. If you aren’t a public library, you might consider Mathews ebrary to offer downloadable ebooks. I am a librarian for God’s sake and I find it confusing at times. All I have to say about the Overdrive app is that it is still confusing to the average user. Supposedly this app makes it easier for people to download and read an ebook regardless of the ebook format and their device. They have an app for downloading and reading books. Overdrive, a “leading full-service digital distributor of eBooks, audiobooks, and other digital content,” enables libraries and schools to provide downloadable books to their clients. If you get ebooks through your local public library the process can still be confusing. But it isn’t always a simple to download and read the book as the cool television commercials or the apps claim.
Gee thanks, for making it a pain to get it on my iPad.Īll (with the exception of iBook) ebook platforms have free apps for reading their books on your “different” device. I have the Kindle app on my iPad and there have been several times where I have wanted to read a Kindle book only to learn that certain Kindle book requires me to download it first to a USB or to my Kindle device. Don’t tell me that you can get a Kindle book on an iPad so Kindle books aren’t device dependent. While that may be frustrating, at least most people should know that going in, which isn’t always the case with Kindle or Nook books.įirst off… Downloadable ebooks are device dependent. You can’t download an iBook to an Android, Kindle, or Nook. What makes iBooks unique is that it doesn’t have an app that pretends to allow it to be read on another device. I mean really, is it a shocker that you can’t get your iBook somewhere other than your Apple device? Does music and iTunes ring a bell to anyone? This problem really isn’t unique to Apple and iBooks.
My major criticism about the post is that it isn’t news. The article “ Why you should avoid iBooks for your medical ebooks” on iMedicalApps is just another example of the frustration having to do with ebooks. (I’d bang it against my iPad but that cost too much to replace from repeated bangings.) Yeah the home loan has a ton of paperwork and dives into your private financial life, but the hoops you have jump through for ebooks makes me want to repeatedly bang my head on my desk. Dealing with ebooks is worse than refinancing your home loan.