In one of my first posts, I talked about how it’s great that textbooks are moving to digital formats, but Kindle-ized textbooks still don’t work for me right now. One of my main gripes was that Kindle ebooks couldn’t be read on a computer. Well, Amazon has started to fix that problem by introducing the Kindle for PC application, letting Kindle ebook owners read their material on their computers.

My reaction is still … really? You’re only just now rolling out this technology? It feels like it should have been an obvious piece of software from the beginning. It’s not as though reading an ebook on a computer is a novel idea. Amazon even used to sell a variety of digital books which could be read using either Adobe or Microsoft reader apps. I remember buying a couple books this way in high school, but the files I purchased no longer appear in my “digital locker” on amazon.com. Now, almost digital books for sale on the website are branded for the Kindle. (You can still find some books for sale as PDF’s, but not on nearly as many as you could have a few years ago.) Maybe Amazon hoped that delaying the ability to read its ebooks without a Kindle would encourage more hardware sales. It is, after all, losing money from the sale of most ebooks. However, the Kindle iPhone App has been freely available since March 2009. Make up your mind, Amazon!

It sounds like Amazon wants to restrict its reading platforms as much as possible, but not to the point where it stops them from being competitive. When Barnes & Noble announced its Nook last month, it advertised that both PC and Mac software will be available to read your Nook-branded ebooks on, and I think Amazon saw a need to match this feature. It’s a smart move; I’ll gladly pick the ereader that will let me read my books (which they insist on putting DRM on) on more devices.

While Kindle for PC is free and available to download now, Amazon.com currently lists Kindle for Mac as “coming soon.” For their sake, I hope they finish it before Christmas, or else there will probably be a few more Mac-users opting for the Nook, instead.

I’ve always said I would love to have digital textbooks, reasons being that I would greatly appreciate the flexibility to read on either my computer or iPod Touch or to print pages I need in hard copy. Annotating wouldn’t be a problem for me because I rarely find myself writing in books anyway. When reading textbooks, I usually find myself wishing I could just do a ctrl+F, and I would really appreciate not having to lug heavy books around. Most importantly, cheaper books are always a plus for me, and a win for people without access to libraries who want access to more cheap reading material.

Today I found out that a couple of the books I need for classes this semester are available as Kindle downloads. I don’t own a Kindle, but I have the Amazon.com app for my iPod Touch that would let me read Kindle downloads. However, I decided not to go with the Kindle downloads. Here’s how my options stack up for Kindle download vs. actual books:

Flexibility: I would normally appreciate a digital textbook for the flexibility of reading it on more than one device. As far as I can tell with the Kindle, its downloads are only readable on the Kindle or iPod Touch. The iPod is great for reading between classes and on the go, but to just sit and read, I would want to use my computer, for sure. The book wins this battle.

Searchability: The download wins this round. I’ll buy way more books when they figure out how to add control and F keys to them.

Price: For this semester, I looked at two books available as digital downloads. One was a paperback book with a $16 list price, $11 Amazon price, and a $9.99 Kindle price. Not much savings there. The difference in prices on the larger textbook was greater, but not particularly significant: Amazon shows a $153 list price, a $120 Amazon price, and a $99 Kindle price. The download sounds like a good deal there, but these prices are only for new copies. Used copies sold in the Amazon marketplace for this book started at $65. For the books I need, at least, Kindle downloads offered no significant price savings.

Portability: Considering one of the books I looked at was a substantial text book, I will give the win to the download, but only by a bit. I look forward to the day when I will only have to bring one device with me to hold my textbooks, as opposed to the armfuls one can find herself hauling when a research paper is in the works.

Annotation: Despite the fact that I rarely annotate books (I usually take notes separately with reference to page numbers if I must), the win still goes to the books here. Kindle downloads can be annotated using an actual Kindle device, but not through the iPhone app (the app can be used to read existing notes, though).

Testability: In my computer science department, the majority of tests are open book/open note. Not only would I not be able to use an electronic device to view the book, but with Kindle downloads I wouldn’t even be able to print out crucial pages to bring to the test. The win clearly goes to non-electronic books.

I think Amazon is missing an obvious market: computer users. If I were only able to read Kindle downloads on my computer, that would solve the flexibility problem, and would ideally solve the annotation problem. Until I can purchase my textbooks as PDFs that I can annotate and use with all my devices, I think I’ll just have to stick to good old fashioned paper and ink.