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This book is a top notch implementation of a questionable concept.  Like a shiny new sports car on a dealer’s lot, it looks and performs great right now, but its value will fall as time goes by.

The problem is that a book of iPhone app recommendations is similar to the “best of the Internet” books that appeared in the 90s – they were out-of-date within a year of their publication.

This book was published just last month (July 2009), but there are many excellent apps that were released after the book was written: Camera Zoom, Ragdoll Blaster, Comixology’s Comics.

Also, the book was written just before the release of the iPhone’s OS 3.0.  The new operating system made some entirely new types of app models possible, such as in-app purchases (the aforementioned Comics app) and augmented reality (Nearest Tube), while rendering some of the book’s picks inoperable (Darkroom) or considerably less valuable (Quickoffice – the first, and last, app to offer custom copy-and-paste support).

Having said all that, anyone wading into the iPhone App Store badly needs a guide of some sort, since the App Store is notoriously difficult to navigate when you are looking for the best rated apps of a specific type.

At present, you have two options: sort through the multitude of web sites that contain app reviews, or read a book like this.  For the time being, the only book like this is this (though I’m sure that will soon change too).

I found this book’s recommendations and reviews of apps I’m familiar with to be fair and accurate. In many cases I had already come across the same apps through other sources, but there were several instances where I switched app loyalties based on the book’s recommendation. The book really shines in the breadth of categories that it covers.  I discovered many apps, and quite a few categories, that I had no idea existed but now use regularly, such as Instapaper and Last.fm.

In addition to soon becoming out-of-date, the book has a couple of other drawbacks that are admittedly unavoidable for this type of publication. At least half of the app categories were ones that I have no interest in and skipped right past, making this a very short read. Also, a lot of the apps are either unavailable in Canada or of no use to people outside the US, but the book’s reviews clearly identify most of these instances.

I should mention that O’Reilly has also established a companion “Best iPhone Apps” web site.  Currently, the site only contains some abbreviated reviews of the same apps covered by the book, but hopefully they will cover new apps in the future.  At this point, the site isn’t an alternative to the book, or even a better alternative to the many other sites that publish iPhone app reviews.

The bottom line: although only a fraction of the apps covered in this book were of interest to me, I ended up using about 10 of those apps, all of them new discoveries for me. I didn’t find any of the book’s recommendations to be outright clunkers. This made the book a worthwhile investment to me. Those who are completely new to iPhone apps, or who love trying new things, will find this book to be particularly valuable.

Together with David Pogue’s iPhone: The Missing Manual, The Best iPhone Apps could be considered “iPhone 101″.  (Grad students can advance to yet another O’Reilly publication, iPhone Hacks, a book which truly lives up to the promise of “Hacks”).

I saw a rumour (not rumor!) over at iPhoneInCanada.ca.  They say that us Canadians can get our filthy mitts on those delectable Amazon Kindle books by doing the following:

1. 

   Mmmm, forbidden fruit

   Get an iPhone or iPod Touch.  (I suppose you could also try to get an actual Kindle, but that’s a different rumour).   If you’re on a budget then a 1st generation iPod Touch is the least expensive option, and you should be able to find one for about $150 on eBay.   Apple.ca occasionally sells refurbished 1st gens for about $180, and they currently have refurbished 2nd generation iPod Touches for $200.

2. Download and install iTunes as usual.  Sign up using your true Canadian address and credit card – you’ll need to do so to get your iPhone/iPod up and running.
3. Purchase a Mastercard gift card.  These are sold at Shopper’s Drug Mart and, perhaps, other retailers.  The key is that it must be a “Vanilla” brand Mastercard, which apparently does not appear to be a Canadian credit card to iTunes.  Accept no substitutes – the Visa gift card, for example, does not do the trick.
4. Follow the steps on iTunesInCanada to add a 2nd user-ID to iTunes, this time an American one. (Hint – don’t use a Canadian domain like sympatico.ca – Apple probably isn’t that stupid).   It appears that the billing address doesn’t matter, so long as it’s somewhere in America.
5. Log into the iTunes App Store using your new American user-ID.  Take a look around – there’s a lot more than Kindle to be found.  For example, they have a Last.FM client for streaming audio – banned in the Canadian App Store for no apparent reason.  They also have its main competitor, Pandora.  They have all 6 seasons of Aqua Teen Hunger Force, which is 6 more than us poor Canadians are offered!  With all of these new entertainment options available, do you still have time to read books?  If not, you can stop here.
6. 

   Mmmmm, forbidden fast food

   Download and install the Kindle app from iTunes.  Surprisingly, considering how difficult Apple makes it to sync your iPhone/iPod to another computer, syncing  to another account is seamless – you won’t lose any of the apps or media currently on your device.

7. Run the Kindle app and use it to create a new Amazon user-ID.  (Note that this is Amazon.com, not .ca, so your Amazon.ca login won’t work).  Again, use a new e-mail address that doesn’t have a Canadian domain, like Gmail or Hotmail.
8. Now here’s the tricky part — things appear to have changed since the iPhonesInCanada article was written.   The Vanilla Mastercard trick no longer works at Amazon – hopefully Apple won’t catch on too!   However, since you won’t get very far without a billing address, go ahead and add your Vanilla Mastercard.  To do so, click on the Your Account link, then “Add A Credit Card”.  Be sure to enter an American billing address – the same one as you’re using on iTunes should work.
9. Logout of Amazon.com.  Then, log back in to Amazon.com using a Canadian user-ID.  If you’ve already bought from Amazon.com in the past, use that user-ID.  Otherwise, you’ll have to create yet another new user-ID, and add your Canadian credit card (not the Vanilla Mastercard) to this one, with your correct Canadian billing address.
10. 

    Loonie Launderer

    While logged in with you Canadian user-ID, buy a Gift Card.  Select the “E-mail a Gift Card” option, and enter the e-mail address of your American Amazon user-ID.

11. You should find that your American e-mail account receives the gift card within minutes.  Log into Amazon.com with your American user-ID, then go to the “Your Account” page. Delete the Vanilla Mastercard from your account (click on “Manage Payment Options”, then the delete button).  Then, from the “My Account” page, click on “Apply a Gift Certificate/Card to Your Account” and enter the code that you received in the e-mail.
12. And you’re done!  Go to any Kindle book’s page (best to experiment with a free one first) and click the “Buy Now with Click Once” link.  It should work, and the next time you run the Kindle app it will automatically download the book to your iPhone/iPod.
13. As you purchase Kindle books you will, of course, need to replenish your Amazon account from time to time, using additional gift certificates.

Now, don’t get me wrong, I’m not suggesting you go and do all this.   There are many good reasons why you shouldn’t.

Apple is becoming increasingly aggressive about enforcing the rules of the App Store, so they might close this loophole at any time.  Amazon has been known to make their Kindle books magically disappear when a publisher raises a licensing issue. Perhaps the best reason is that you don’t have to: there are plenty of other e-book retailers, including a home-grown one, who are quite happy to do business with us.

And, after all, it’s just a rumour!