I think the iBooks experiment is fairly fascinating. This is one case where Apple has gone somewhat outside of their typical comfort zone. Rather than being an innovator and bringing something new and fresh to the market, Apple is trying to play catch-up. The problem here however is that Apple is going head to head with another much beloved consumer brand in
Amazon.
I believe that the more players there are in the market can only benefit the consumer, but Apple has a considerable task in front of them in trying to compete with an established player the size of
Amazon, especially considering the fact that
Amazon's content is also available on the same devices. I have been on the e-reading bandwagon since I owned a crappy Palm Pilot. I have been burned by too many formats dying out to trust another player at this point (Palm docs, Rocket Ebook, .lit formatted books for PocketPC, etc.). Once I am convinced this is more than just an experiment for Apple perhaps I will change my mind, but until then
Amazon will be getting my money for ebooks because they have gone "all in" and I feel Apple is just testing the waters.