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do iBooks get backed up in your computer's iTunes?

B

btownguy

macrumors 6502a
Original poster
Jun 18, 2009
545
19
So if you have an iPad and you buy some iBooks, it appears that the only place to buy them is on the iPad itself. I've looked all over iTunes on my Mac and don't see anything but audiobooks. So if you buy iBooks on the iPad, do they get backed up on your Mac anywhere? It seems a little weird.

In my current setup, everything I have in iTunes also gets synced over to my iPhone. iBooks seems like it may be handled a little different. Can anyone clear up how iBooks work for me?
 
I have been curious about that also. With the Kindle Amazon archives all purchases so there is no need to store books on the kindle or on your computer. I don't think the iBook app is going to be a kindle killer
 
Alrescha said:
My purchased and manually-added books are all in a subdirectory called "Books" in my iTunes Library.

A.
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Great - that's what I was hoping for. Wish I could "see" them in iTunes though. BTW, just ordered my 3G 32GB iPad. Excited!
 
btownguy said:
Great - that's what I was hoping for. Wish I could "see" them in iTunes though. BTW, just ordered my 3G 32GB iPad. Excited!
Click to expand...

You can see the books in iTunes - select the Books checkmark under Preferences --> General. You can't actually read them, but you can see which ones are in your library.
 
DunnMaui said:
I have been curious about that also. With the Kindle Amazon archives all purchases so there is no need to store books on the kindle or on your computer. I don't think the iBook app is going to be a kindle killer
Click to expand...

I don't think it is either. Amazon still has a huge lead on Apple in terms of content. I plan on sticking with Kindle books whenever I can get an iPad just because I don't want Apple to turn into the next Microsoft or Google -- too big for its britches. Amazon has done a lot of good work in ebooks, and it's a worthy competitor.

I just hope some solution is engineered so we don't need a different app for every ebook provider. DRM hinders this, but surely these people can figure something out. If you couldn't play MP3 audio in every audio player imaginable, it wouldn't be nearly as popular. This ebook format war will probably hurt ebooks a lot like Blu-ray vs. HD DVD stymied HD discs for a couple of years.
 
Oh cool, just turned that on. Now, here's the last hard question...is there any way to browse (and buy) the iBookstore from iTunes on my Mac? Or does that have to occur strictly on the iPad?
 
Michael CM1 said:
I just hope some solution is engineered so we don't need a different app for every ebook provider. DRM hinders this, but surely these people can figure something out. If you couldn't play MP3 audio in every audio player imaginable, it wouldn't be nearly as popular. This ebook format war will probably hurt ebooks a lot like Blu-ray vs. HD DVD stymied HD discs for a couple of years.
Click to expand...

That's not how corporate America works. You don't just unify everything-companies get ahead by being "the one.". The first, the best, the most popular. you name it. Neither Kindle nor Apple will let up on their DRM, no matter WHAT.

Anyway-
ePub will probably end up winning. There are/will be more iPads in the hands of more people. Sure, people with Kindles probably buy more books than an iPad user, but the sheer volume of iPads out there....Even if a person only buys a couple books here and there...iBooks will catch up. Apple did this with its iTunes store, Apple will do it with iBooks
 
Soulcrux said:
Neither Kindle nor Apple will let up on their DRM, no matter WHAT.
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It's not Apple's DRM. Furthermore, when given the chance, they will remove DRM - music in the iTunes store being the obvious example.

Apple sells iPods, and iPhones, and now iPads. Selling media to go on them is merely a way to sell more devices.

It is likely that the publishers of the books will never let go of DRM.

A.
 
Alrescha said:
It's not Apple's DRM. Furthermore, when given the chance, they will remove DRM - music in the iTunes store being the obvious example.

Apple sells iPods, and iPhones, and now iPads. Selling media to go on them is merely a way to sell more devices.

It is likely that the publishers of the books will never let go of DRM.

A.
Click to expand...

Well, books are different than music. music is played on so many devices. There are so many mp3 players. Also, other computers, and sharing music with your friends.

I don't even think the DRM matters on Apple's side-they don;t have anything new or exclusive in their store. In fact, they have less. It was just a response to the other person's "unified eBooks" prospect. Why would you even want to buy from Apple if you had a Kindle?
 
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