iBookstore? More like DIYBookstore, Am I Right?

For reasons unknown to me, the majority of the public is suddenly interested in books again, and Apple has finally revealed a way for emo kids the world over to publish their crappy poetry, ripe for the crying over, on the iPad. It’s totally cool that the iBookstore finally does for books what iTunes has always done for musicians, and the App Store for developers, but the process seems a little cumbersome. Simply register a valid US tax ID, convert your Word and InDesign files into ePub format, verify said ePub format files, and apply for an ISBN. If all that checks out, you’re on your way! Golly! Naturally, of course, this is an awful lot of work. You don’t like work, do you? I don’t. Knowing this, Apple has wisely suggested that folks like us simply publish through one of their approved aggregators, who will take care of all the fancy footwork. It’ll be interesting to see how the approval process pans out for books. Books take a little more investment if you’re going to discover unacceptable content – you pretty much have to read the whole thing. Then again, the App Store’s always been pretty arbitrary, too. Who knows. In any case, fire up WordPerfect and take your fingers for a walk. Everyone still uses WordPerfect, right? [Via MacLife]