Apple Tablet

IMHO e-ink is great to read, but it's completely useless for everything else. I find the Kindle's "user interface" such as it is, a flashing klunky mess. But I'm willing to agree that that is my problem.

I think overall the better active screens manage the tradeoffs better for me. YMMV.

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748703906204575027503731077976.html?mod=WSJ_hpp_sections_business

Apple's business model for books, which the company has kept under tight wraps, shifts the focus away from the bargain-basement prices Amazon has made popular, according to publishers that have met directly with the company. Apple is asking publishers to set two e-book price points for hardcover best sellers: $12.99 and $14.99, with fewer titles offered at $9.99. In setting their own e-book prices, publishers would avoid the threat of heavy discounting. Apple would take a 30% cut of the book price, with publishers receiving the remaining 70%.

Why would Apple take an opposite direction with books than they did with music. I believe that the reason iTunes was successful is that the media was (individually) cheap to the consumer and that the publisher, while making less per item sold, would make it back in quantity of sales. This direction (if true) that they are heading down for books seems to be designed to lure publishers at the cost of added expense to the consumer. Unless publishers are going to subsidize the cost of the tablet, I fail to see how this is going to help make the device attractive as an e-reader.

So I am a geek and will be watching TWiT live tomorrow just to see what the hype is about. I admit, I am not an Apple fan, but I do recognize their influence in the cell market and with the music industry. So will be interested in seeing what the new item is..and what new innovations it will offer. The traffic on Twitter is amazing..cynics and fan bois all hyped up for the announcement tomorrow. In all honesty, I do hope that the new product is amazing,innovating and more important to most "cool". But I think once the TWiT coverage is done with..and all is known, I will go watch some reruns of Cranky Geeks and get my cynical side back again.

Love the them music to Cranky Geeks :).

Certainly the ebook side of the Apple announcement will be prominent, but I'm really hoping it's not the focus of the design. I'm not hoping for an Apple Kindle. I am looking for a productivity tablet. Like others have mentioned, I can't see the battery life of a big iPhone/iPod coming close to what the Kindle offers.

psu_13 wrote:

IMHO e-ink is great to read, but it's completely useless for everything else. I find the Kindle's "user interface" such as it is, a flashing klunky mess. But I'm willing to agree that that is my problem.

I think overall the better active screens manage the tradeoffs better for me. YMMV.

Agreed about e-ink. Trying to read a newspaper on Kindle is frustrating. Pitch dot ratio is way off..as is the speed and ease of reading. I just don't know if many are willing to spend the money to be able to read a magazine electronically. Magazines were always behind the times news wise (even back in the sixties), but they were something to hold,feel, and save. Just my opinion, but advertising is what has killed the magazines, not the magazine it self.

Nevin73 wrote:

Why would Apple take an opposite direction with books than they did with music. I believe that the reason iTunes was successful is that the media was (individually) cheap to the consumer and that the publisher, while making less per item sold, would make it back in quantity of sales. This direction (if true) that they are heading down for books seems to be designed to lure publishers at the cost of added expense to the consumer. Unless publishers are going to subsidize the cost of the tablet, I fail to see how this is going to help make the device attractive as an e-reader.

To be fair, it's a different market. Most people don't want to buy the middle 20 pages of a novel because they overheard someone reading it out loud at Starbucks.

One way higher prices could be more attractive would simply be availability. Publishers currently balking at Amazon trying to force the $10 price point might be more amicable to setting higher prices.

My gut reaction is skepticism, but since that was my initial feeling about the iPhone I'm not going to jump to conclusions this time.

PyromanFO wrote:
Which leads me to my next thought.. how will this thing be carried? It will probably be to big to slip into a pocket... perhaps a coat one..but certainly not jeans.. thus are we on the brink of a "murse" revolution?

This will be the start of the "netbook holster". I'm hoping, because that's the only remotely manly way to carry this.

I propose a tablet bandolier.

...what?

Nevin73 wrote:

Why would Apple take an opposite direction with books than they did with music. I believe that the reason iTunes was successful is that the media was (individually) cheap to the consumer and that the publisher, while making less per item sold, would make it back in quantity of sales. This direction (if true) that they are heading down for books seems to be designed to lure publishers at the cost of added expense to the consumer. Unless publishers are going to subsidize the cost of the tablet, I fail to see how this is going to help make the device attractive as an e-reader.

That does seem pretty strange. The publishers face an uphill struggle selling the idea of e-Books already, surely they need lower prices to provide a reason to change. I can't read an e-book in the bath, after all.

But then, they've done something similar with video. An iTunes movie download is generally significantly more expensive than the equivalent DVD on Amazon. I guess that's why the Apple TV has flopped, though.

I think it would be really interesting if Apple used something like this hybrid display that can switch between LCD and e-Ink. Switch to LCD to watch a movie or surf the web, or to e-Ink with incredible battery life for sucking down books on a long plane journey. Sweet.

Sonicator wrote:
PyromanFO wrote:
Which leads me to my next thought.. how will this thing be carried? It will probably be to big to slip into a pocket... perhaps a coat one..but certainly not jeans.. thus are we on the brink of a "murse" revolution?

This will be the start of the "netbook holster". I'm hoping, because that's the only remotely manly way to carry this.

I propose a tablet bandolier.

...what?

I'm really hoping that the "fanny pack" comes back in style. No one can deny the awesome utility that is the fanny pack.
If there are no hipsters to re-pioneer the fanny pack I'll just have to go to Urban Outfitters and get a murse. [size=6] My man-card has already been deemed irrevocable[/size]

http://kotaku.com/5457527/first-apple-tablet-game-officially-announced-%5Bupdate%5D

iphone developer has announced a crossword game for the unannounced tablet. Ooops.

I'm just happy the stupid thing is finally here.. I was getting tired of all the tablet speculation. Though amusingly enough I sometimes think the almost sheer willpower of the internet convinced Apple to make the stupid thing.

heard on a podcast: "the last time people got so excited about a tablet, Moses came down a mountain with two."

http://twitter.com/a7an/statuses/828...

Looks like iPad is the official name - sounds like a feminine hygiene product to me.

It is ugly. Just a big iPhone.

IMAGE(http://cache.gizmodo.com/assets/appletablet/appletabletb106.jpg)
IMAGE(http://cache.gizmodo.com/assets/appletablet/appletabletb99.jpg)

Right now I'm not that excited. I don't see the need to carry this and my smart phone around with me. I hope it does support E-Ink to make reading easier.

That does look like a giant iPhone. That's, odd?

No flash from the looks of it.

It's big... really big.

Interesting.. uses their "own" Apple CPU.. so I guess that company they acquired was for this specific reason..

Any price point mentioned yet?

How the hell are you going to carry that thing? And somehow I envisioned something that would be thinner (width-wise). Hard to tell, but that doesn't look it would be great for widescreen viewing.

Well, it's .5 inches so it's pretty thin. Battery life looks excellent but the drive space (16-64gb) does not. For a video device 16gb is tiny. The archos devices have much more space.

Tanglebones wrote:

Looks like iPad is the official name - sounds like a feminine hygiene product to me.

Damn, you ruined the name for me.

It doesn't surprise me that it looks like a giant I-touch. I use the I-touch all the time but have wanted one with a bigger screen. Ten inches would be fine for me. What's the price? I'm not seeing that on the news.

No price mentioned yet.

Funkenpants wrote:

Ten inches would be fine for me.

Interesting.

This has been your daily OOCT...

Selections from the twitter feed of The Apple Blog

@TheAppleBlog[/url]]
Size of iPad looks to be about the same as a Kindle DX. Form factor is very much like the iPhone.

Specs: 0.5 inches thin. 1.5 pounds. Thinner than any netbook. Lighter than any netbook. 9.7 inch IPS display.

16-64 GB hard drive. Bluetooth. Works with iPod accessories. 10 hour battery life. One month battery life on standby.

Games are looking awesome on this. Redownload your iPhone apps and you are good to go.

I'm kinda mixed on it basically running iPhone OS and apps.. one the one hand it doesnt split the dev base.. on the other hand are there left opportunities to take advantage of "tablety" features.. I guess time will tell.

Pfft - you'd have to be the biggest, saddest geek in the world to wander around with one of those. It looks like an iPhone that's been at the pies.

Dr.Ghastly wrote:
Funkenpants wrote:

Ten inches would be fine for me.

Interesting.

This has been your daily OOCT...

Lol. I walked into that one.

Funkenpants wrote:
Dr.Ghastly wrote:
Funkenpants wrote:

Ten inches would be fine for me.

Interesting.

This has been your daily OOCT...

Lol. I walked into that one.

Oh?

This sh*t just writes itself today..

Good god, it's hideous.