Revealed: Canadian government was the iBookStore Grinch!
December 16, 2010 1 Comment
When Apple opened its iBookStore in Canada, it came with a big catch: there wasn’t much to buy. That is about to change and it’s not because of what everyone suspected. Apple was typically secretive and didn’t explain why it offered only a handful of paid books, but most people thought it was because Apple hadn’t lined up distribution deals.
The Canadian government has announced that “Apple Canada has been granted approval under the Investment Canada Act to establish iBookstore Canada.” Wow, who knew that it was the Canadian government that was Grinchily blocking our ebooks this holiday season?
In exchange for permission to stock the shelves of the iBookStore with actual ebooks, Apple Canada has committed to promoting Canadian books in the store, amongst other things.
A month ago, I rated the Kindle bookstore better than Kobo and Apple’s iBookStore due to its ebook selection and prices. I found that for the ebooks I had purchased in 2010, Kindle was more likely to offer them and have a better price. Of the 24 books I have purchased so far in 2010, 16 were from Kindle and 8 were from Kobo. It will be interesting to see how the mix changes in 2011 when Apple finally gets in the game.
Check out other blog posts I’ve written about ebook competitiveness.
Pingback: Kindle is 9% cheaper than Kobo but Kobo has the best selection – iBookStore still sucks « mike's life in 8 bits