(Image courtesy of AppleInsider and AppAdvice.com)
Although Apple has yet to confirm the rumor, it appears there’s evidence that Cupertino has ensured its virtual iBookstore shelves will be sufficiently stocked come iPad launch day, courtesy of free e-book titles from Project Gutenberg.
AppleInsider is reporting on the new rumor, which comes courtesy of AppAdvice.com. The site claims that Apple has already listed more than 30,00 free books from Project Gutenberg in the iBookstore, ensuring there will be plenty of complimentary stuff for folks to download to their new iPad come launch day on April 3.
Project Gutenberg, you may recall, is a library of free digital books which is supported by volunteers. The vast collection is comprised of well-known literature in the public domain -- books whose copyright has long since expired, such as Lewis Carroll’s Alice in Wonderland.
The move isn’t a totally surprising one, as Amazon’s Kindle also offers such free e-books -- but as AppleInsider notes, it puts the young iPad on nearly “equal footing” with the current reigning champ of e-book readers. The free e-books won’t come preinstalled on the iPad but will be available for free download from the iBookstore.
Apple’s inclusion of Project Gutenberg e-books will also have another plus for end users -- one of the biggest problems in the App Store is third-party developers releasing multiple editions of such public domain books, which mostly only serves to clutter up the virtual shelves. Since Apple is including such e-books right out of the gate, they will likely reject any developer attempts to offer the same books as downloadable apps.
And that can only be a good thing.
