VitalSource Bookshelf - iTunes for eBooks

Mike Clark and James Duncan Davidson have released a project they’ve been working on using rails. It’s an itunes music store like app for vital source. It’s a nicely done directory, easy to browse, download, navigate, select and ‘buy’ ebooks. The login / sign up process is done correctly, i can get the free stuff easily and use the app as long as i want without having to upfront give my credit card. Sure maybe i’ll switch to subscriptions or buying books, but for now it’s a great tool to get at the free stuff.

The one downside is there aren’t really very many books in their directory, they’ve got 1100 books, most of which are in the larger totally free 16,000 book project gutenburg site.

As far as I’m concerned this is one of the huge mistakes of Yahoo Media Engine, iTunes, Audible, etc… They all let their biz types control things and destroy the user experience.

What’s amazing to me is how the vital bookshelf is a slick mix of a web / desktop application. It uses html, javascript, and css, but it also uses native windows and interface elements. It’s very nicely done. I’d love to have a more indepth article written about what technologies they used. If somebody then included something like trimpath and / or a local webrick server so the site / directory works when the user is offline.

That would be cool.