Hasta La Gadget!

Yesterday, the international iBooks stores were almost empty. In Spain, there was a single, dusty volume on the shelf: “Les vies encloses” by Georges Rodenbach. It was in French.

Today, the shelves are groaning under the weight of dull, beige-covered tomes from Project Gutenberg, all of which are available free. To see and download these e-books, you’ll need a copy of Apple’s iBooks application for the iPad, only available from the US, and then you’ll have to switch your iTunes Store account to the country of your choice. Hardly worth the bother right now, as these titles are all available free in the US store, too.

The difference, of course, is that the international stores are carrying foreign-language versions of these public-domain books. If you’re reading this post, though, then you probably have good English skills. Add to that the fact that most of these titles are translated from the original languages and it seems pointless right now.

It’s nice, though, to see the rumblings as Apple starts to turn the cogs for the international rollout of the iPad, especially as it has managed to sign up publishers from so many countries in such a short time.

See Also:

• iBooks Store Loaded with Project Gutenberg Titles at Launch …
• How to Transfer Your Stanza E-Book Library to iBooks for iPad …