All E-Books Aren't Created Equal

One of the many advantages of the iPad is the ability to read e-books from many different sources. On the iPad, users can download a number of different book reader apps and decide where (and what to pay) for a book.

The best part: you can use each company's online library without having to buy the actual device! I have books on each of the many e-book reader apps, mainly because I shop around on price and book availability. Increasingly, however, book publishers are releasing different versions of the same book, depending on the reader. For example, Scribner and Simon & Schuster Digital have released an "enhanced" version of Rick Perlstein's Nixonland. This is available via Apple's own iBooks application for $15.99 (compared to $14.99 for the regular version). In addition to the normal book text, the "enhanced" Nixonland includes 27 video clips taken from the CBS news archive about the real-life events discussed in the book. The Kindle's version (also priced at $15.99) also contains the extra features. However, the Barnes & Noble version does not, but is priced at $13.99. Each "enhanced" version comes with a higher price tag and in most cases, the file to download is significantly larger. Keep this in mind when memory space is at a premium on your iPad. Mashable has identified other "enhanced" e-book versions, including:

A few other traditional publishers have produced similar kinds of e-books; Hachette released an “enriched” version of David Baldacci’s latest novel in the spring, and Penguin Group published an “amplified” edition of Ken Follett’s bestseller, The Pillars of the Earth, to coincide with the release of an eight-part miniseries based on the epic by Starz Entertainment. Well-known Japanese author Ryu Murakami is working with a software company to produce a musically enhanced version of his next novel, cutting his publisher of record out of the process altogether.

My advice to readers is twofold: First, download each of the available (and free) e-book apps for the iPad. The top ones are: Apple's iBooks, Amazon's Kindle, Barnes & Noble's eReader, and Borders eBook app. Second, shop around and recognize that e-books are not always the same across apps. Not only can you sometimes save money but you can also find "enhanced" versions of a book for just a few dollars more. One final word: e-book technology is changing every day. All of the mentioned apps have been updated more than once to give readers better tools to enjoy their reading experiences. What an e-reader app offers today, could be very different than what is available in a month or two. Enjoy!