Even more confusingly and anomalously, it IS available on the island of Ireland, from the Apple Store in Belfast and some Apple fans from the Republic of Ireland have been heading over the border to buy units.

UK, German and French book publishers have all provided content for the ipad and while there remain some grumbles about legality, the agency model for bookselling now seems to have passed it’s first challenge, actually existing.

The Bookseller, the UK book industry magazine, has pointed out that ebooks sold through the iBookstore and under agency pricing are available cheaper in print on Amazon.co.uk and in digital form on the Kindle. They also seem to indicate that the Agency Model doesn’t apply to other ebooksellers!

I still find it strange that this new model has burst onto the scene in the UK with relatively little discussion from the industry or the wider public. It is almost as if the US has exported a model and we just have to live with it. Of course, there’s a chance the model is illegal in the US and I have my suspicions about how the degree of co-ordination and collaboration required and the EU’s competition rules will play together!

Of course, there is much more to the iPad than just the agency model and in encouraging news for publishers of all types PaidContent highlights the impressive sales The Times (which is beginning a crazy/brilliant experiment in paywalls this month) had for its iPad news app selling 5,000 copies in the first few days of the iPad’s availability.

There is so much more to figure out about how the iPad will impact on the European book publishing scene that it feels a little premature to make a prediction. One thing is clear though, this year’s Frankfurt Book Fair will be abuzz with information, statistics and details about digital book sales.

Roll on July when Ireland, along with Belgium, Luxembourg, Austria, Hong Kong, Mexico, Netherlands, New Zealand and Singapore will see their own real live units of the iPad.

Bio: Eoin Purcell (@eoinpurcell) lives and works in Dublin, Ireland. He is a publishing industry analyst and commentator. He runs Green Lamp Media, a publishing and publishing services company. He also edits Irish Publishing News.

It can be hard to envision the impact a device will have when you have only demo videos and second hand reports of it. When it comes to the iPad, Europe is operating in something of a vacuum. A smattering of tweets about sightings in the wild, a few twitpics from lucky (or eager) mac fans and the odd blog post from tech heads who couldn’t wait a few months and so had units shipped from the US were the only real evidence that the iPad was available to anything other than technology journalists and Apple developers in Ireland and the UK.

There are now dozens of videos displaying what look like impressive apps and concepts for apps not to mention reviews of good and bad iPad apps all of which mean very little when you have nowhere to see them in action. But despite the fact that the device itself is thin on the ground, speculation, rumour and preparations are rife. The trend in reviews from those who have the device here suggests some issues if people are planning to use the device for reading while commuting.

Whereas the iPod Touch/iPhone is a joy for a commuter with it’s slim profile and easy to hold for extended periods, the iPad is a weighty 1.5 pounds! Most don’t feel this is too much of a problem and think the device more suited to the home anyway.

Apple disappointed those of us waiting for the international release of the iPad when they announced that because of the success of the device in the US, they were delaying the release until the end of May and the pricing information until the 10 May.

Even when they do release the device to foreign customers, Apple will do so without the critical (at least to book publishers) iBooks app and iBookstore. At least when Amazon’s Kindle rolled out, books could be bought directly on the device from Amazon, on the iPad, international users will need to use third party apps or directly purchase books apps on iTunes.
 
The London Book Fair would have been the perfect opportunity for Irish and UK publishing types to get their hands on the device for a short while anyway. But it was not to be, volcanic ash cloud interrupted the travel plans of most Americans.

There seems to be a real sense of belief in the iPad as a new space for content. Maybe I’m too skeptical for my own good, but while I see money to be made, a new space seems a stretch too far for my view.
 
I was fortunate enough to see one in real form this week and while I was impressed by the elegance and by the simplicity, I was struck too by the heaviness. I find myself wanting it without a good reason. My iPod Touch is more than good enough for my mobile entertainment needs, including but certainly not limited to reading, and my Macbook does the job for work needs. I’m looking forward to the pricing though and who knows, maybe I’ll crack and buy one.

Bio: Eoin Purcell (@eoinpurcell) lives and works in Dublin, Ireland. He is a publishing industry analyst and commentator. He runs Green Lamp Media, a publishing and publishing services company. He also edits Irish Publishing News.