Download the
Tom's Guide App from the AppsStore
News and trends on internet
/ mobile / "sound & picture" / IT
Yes No

30,000 Free eBooks Available at iPad Launch

- By - Source : Tom's Guide US

Titles in the public domain will be integrated into Apple's iBookstore.

Consumers looking to use Apple's upcoming iPad as an eBook reader will have plenty to choose from next month. AppAdvice reports that the Apple iBookstore will be pre-loaded with 30,000 free titles provided by the volunteer-based online library, Gutenberg Project.

Although consumers won't get the latest Stephen King novel or any of the Twilight books for free, the 30,000 eBooks feature authors that are available in the public domain. So what exactly will be available? Lewis Carroll's Alice's Adventures in Wonderland, Jane Austen's Pride and Prejudice, Dracula by Bram Stoker, and Homer's The Illiad are just a few.

Current eBook apps for the iPhone and iPod Touch already offer digital books from the public domain, however it's unclear if they actually include the entire library found in the Gutenberg Project. Earlier reports indicate that the iPad's iBook app will not be pre-installed on the tablet by default, but instead will be an option along with Amazon's Kindle and Barnes & Noble's eReader app in the App Store.

Public domain books remain free because they are not owned or controlled by anyone. Thus, these literary pieces are considered public property and can be used in any way, shape, or from. This could be ideal for institutions purchasing iPads by the bulk for educational purposes.

Share:
23
Comments
X

Comments

HalJordan 03/26/2010 8:25 PM
Hide
-10+

Why would you need to go to the iBookstore when you can download directly from Gutenberg Project?

Minus_i7 03/26/2010 8:30 PM
Hide
-20+

haljordan :
Why would you need to go to the iBookstore when you can download directly from Gutenberg Project?



You don't really think Apple would let people download from anywhere other than their own iBookstore, do you?

Alchemy69 03/26/2010 8:30 PM
Hide
-20+

Apple to give away something already readily available for free. Wow.

Anonymous 03/26/2010 8:32 PM
Show
jon bon wonton 03/26/2010 8:32 PM
Hide
-20+

Quote :30,000 Free eBooks Available at iPad Launch

30,000 free eBooks available now as well.

HalJordan 03/26/2010 8:33 PM
Hide
-13+

Minus_i7 :
You don't really think Apple would let people download from anywhere other than their own iBookstore, do you?



I suppose it was a silly question; I'm just not "Thinking Different" enough lately...

filmman03 03/26/2010 8:35 PM
Hide
-5+

haljordan :
Why would you need to go to the iBookstore when you can download directly from Gutenberg Project?


that would require too much thinking for the iphone OS to do.

Abrahm 03/26/2010 8:38 PM
Hide
-12+

30,000 free books... Still can't access the full content of 75% of websites.

lukeeu 03/26/2010 8:40 PM
Hide
-11+

30,000 wow.. it's like having the Internet on it..

cekasone 03/26/2010 8:42 PM
Show
hellwig 03/26/2010 8:52 PM
Hide
-0+

LoL at Apple. Will the iPad also support my eletronic mail? Will it be able to play my midis and wavs? Will it, I shudder to think, have a solitare app available at release? What else will the wonderful iPad be able to do that most phones(including iPhones)/laptops/kindles/nooks/etc.. haven't already been able to do since release?

gorehound 03/26/2010 9:07 PM
Hide
-3+

300,000 ebooks won't get me to go near any kind of digital drm files.
I love my library and it is up to around 1200 -1300 books.mostly science fiction and world war 2 books and most are 1st editions.
i also own over 150 vintage scifi pulp magazines from the 1930's thru to 1949.
you folks buying digital will kill the real book market and i won't help that process out.
go ahead and buy digital books you can not sell,never are 1st editons, and you really don't even own what you bought.

tayb 03/26/2010 9:15 PM
Hide
-1+

I cannot think of one single reason as to why a school district or university would purchase iPads for "educational purposes." The day my local school district uses my tax dollars to buy a couple hundred iPads is the day I'm leaving this country.

dwave 03/26/2010 9:21 PM
Hide
-6+

Jobs is SO generous!! Giving away what is already free! He is my hero.

Dirtman73 03/26/2010 9:49 PM
Hide
-1+

gorehound :
300,000 ebooks won't get me to go near any kind of digital drm files.I love my library and it is up to around 1200 -1300 books.mostly science fiction and world war 2 books and most are 1st editions.i also own over 150 vintage scifi pulp magazines from the 1930's thru to 1949.you folks buying digital will kill the real book market and i won't help that process out.go ahead and buy digital books you can not sell,never are 1st editons, and you really don't even own what you bought.



No need to be so paranoid man. The demand for physical books will always be there. Do you seriously think that a company like Barnes & Noble would risk releasing an e-reader if it eventually meant closing down all their stores? I plan to buy a Nook when I get the chance, but it will never replace my favorite pastime: the enjoyment of holding a real book in my hands and reading it.

serkol 03/26/2010 9:56 PM
Hide
-1+

haljordan :
Why would you need to go to the iBookstore when you can download directly from Gutenberg Project?



Because iBookstore is the application that "plays" the books, not only sells them.

HalJordan 03/26/2010 10:16 PM
Hide
-0+

serkol :
Because iBookstore is the application that "plays" the books, not only sells them.



Can't just navigate to Gutenberg Project on the iPad then, by pass iBookstore?

Anonymous 03/27/2010 12:23 PM
Hide
--2+

how many time we are to read Alice's Adventures in Wonderland,
that a gif for the low verry low intelectual rate, every one got them 30 years ago, why no put apple2 simulation on its,
that about te same usufulness....

oncall 03/27/2010 1:24 AM
Hide
-2+

HalJordan :
Why would you need to go to the iBookstore when you can download directly from Gutenberg Project?



Why would you go book mining at Gutenberg when your ereader app of choice should do it for you?

Anonymous 03/27/2010 6:28 PM
Hide
-0+

I am going to buy the IPAD but only because some of the books I want to read are no longer avaiable unless I buy used at a very substantial price ~ so downloading it for under $10.00?? Kinda a no brainer..but I love having a book in my hand. When I die my children will have my books and they are book lovers too. This will never take the place of spending the afternoon at Barnes and Noble with your kids*

tonewheelmonster 03/29/2010 5:00 AM
Hide
-0+

books, check em out

rtfm 03/29/2010 9:27 AM
Hide
-0+

temu action for the blind :
how many time we are to read Alice's Adventures in Wonderland,that a gif for the low verry low intelectual rate, every one got them 30 years ago, why no put apple2 simulation on its,that about te same usufulness....



Looks like you could do with more reading....

Anonymous 05/16/2010 3:21 AM
Hide
-0+

Why dont you just use http://padbro.weebly.com/ you pay a one off fee and get unlimited access to ebooks all downloaded to ipad, iphone, or the ipod touch free for life.