Thoughts on the iPad from an e-book reader point of view

Besides loving to read on e-paper technology with its clarity and on the Kindle with its well-thought-out, direct reading & study features, I also love doing the Web on my 10" Samsung Netbook  (NC10-14). So the thoughts are on that also.

Re the e-reader, the Apple team was apparently given two weeks to put that together, unless I mis-read the transcript. It's made to look as if you're reading a physical book, but there were no words I saw in the live blogging transcripts (Wired, Engadget, CNet) about the e-reader functions for Searches, inline-instantly-accessible dictionary, highlighting, notes, etc.

The Amazon Kindle Store
The article last night from Engadget quoting WSJ: Apple wants e-books to be $12.99 or $14.99...for best sellers turned out to be right.

Steve Jobs wants the publishers to charge more (which is how they will get more from the deal with Jobs) than is charged at Amazon for the bestsellers (!) Then, both publishers and Apple will be happier, but what about the book-buying customers? Why would customers buy from iTunes store or iBook store rather than from Amazon in that case?

Also, if - as Jobs said - the iPad will work with all apps that currently work with the iPod (a great feature) and then the Amazon Kindlestore itself, with its lower prices for best sellers, will be available on the iPad, why would people choose to pay more at the Apple store for a best seller?

I imagine that the Apple store will offer all kinds of bonuses for buying from their store, credits to get this or that. But people tend to go for the best price, direct. Still, Apple customers are very loyal so those may go with the Apple store, but I doubt that very many would.

So, the Amazon Kindlestore would get that many more buying customers -- those who had not bought a Kindle before or who had read Kindle books only on their PCs with the free Kindle for PC app.

E-Reader Dictionary and Annotation Functions
From the photos, the iBook effect is very pretty, but I couldn't see from the photos that it will be sharp and clear in the way an e-paper display (e-Ink and others) is with a screen that's not putting light into your eyes. I guess it'll be left up to developer apps to add the searching and annotation functions? They weren't mentioned and are key.

And those who want a clear e-reader without dictionary or annotation tools can get one for about $200 with the pocketable but very readable Sony PRS-300, though it has no wireless access.

iPad vs the 6" Kindle International
More on the above when I get to Apple's decent pricing for a Web tablet -- but as pricing for an e-reader-plus, the iPad won't threaten the Kindle International ("Global") as the lead e-reader for people who want to read books comfortably (size and clarity of text on screen) at a reasonable price for both the device and the books themselves.

Every day there's a column on the Net written by a columnist who had resisted ereaders for the usual reasons (look, touch, smell) succumbing to the reading experience of the Kindle. People who love to read books are the target audience for the bulk of dedicated e-readers, rather than whose who want to surf and be visually entertained.

The DX, though, will have to be given PDF editing tools and ePub reading capability for it to be chosen in academia, not that there is editing of PDFs for the iPad at the moment either.

McGraw-Hill
We also get a clue as to why the McGraw-Hill exec was so forthcoming in that CNBC interview last night despite non-disclosure agreements normally made and respected. They weren't part of the 5 publishers highlighted today as getting with the entire program, though obviously they'll participate in some way.

iPad vs Netbooks
Some points that come to mind when Steve Jobs put down netbooks (with commenters on the live blogging sites writing back that netbooks are actually faster and more powerful than the iPad w/o a need to buy and carry add-ons to make it more worthwhile):

Jobs isn't targeting business-use laptops but I don't see that most of us who love our small but 10"-screen netbooks will want to get this, as we have 160G to 300G hard drives to store the videos he was showing and a real keyboard plus touchpad to do mousing chores. And it can do many things at once.

List of problems for the iPad vs the netbook audience it wants:
1. No multi-tasking possible
2. No flash (!) for the Web? But Jobs has been adamantly against using it.
3. 1 connection for USB port capability if you buy a special adapter
4. Storage ability not at all great for a WEB device - especially for people with laptop-use like the photographers who thought they could travel with the iPad and store their photos on it while being able to view and edit later at 64G storage, tops, at a cost of $800+.
And still photos do not begin to take the storage space of videos. Video hounds tend to want to keep many videos on at once.
5. Some commenters said it's too big for your pocket, too small for meaningful work or even play.
6. A physical keyboard means extra$ and also extra weight to carry.

For some reason, people did not expect just a giant iPod.

Pricing
The pricing, as I said, is very good for a web-device if you want one.
From the transcript:

11:22 Here are the options:
Wi-Fi only:
16GB $500
32GB $600
64GB $700

Wi-Fi + 3G:
16GB $630
32GB $740 Should be $730
64GB $830

It’ll be shipping in 60 days; 90 days for 3G models.

What's smart, and attractive, is the no-contract price of $15/mo. for 250M of data
(but it's a useless amount data for most though a few can stay under that and some will not realize they can't).

Even $30/month for unlimited cellular wireless is good because most netbooks sold on 2-year contracts with Sprint and Verizon (the netbooks are sold for $150 avg) require a $60/mo. for those 2-years for ALMOST unlimited wireless.

This part would be a coup were it not that AT&T who will provide this has been asking users not to use the wireless so much as they can't handle the capacity in a few cities. So what will they do now?

BASE price then, before add-on wireless keyboard, covers, cases, webcam (which almost all notebooks have, built in) for the 3G wireless is $630, with only 16G storage for a device that was shown doing streaming video that some will want to keep (and on their netbooks they can), and a plethora of other things.

So the most PRACTICAL starting point is really 32G at $740 $730 (the transcript is off by $10; thanks to Batman for the correction) - before the data plan is added. Kudos for the lower starting points for those who can live with the limitations on a data-gobbling device.

In the iPad's Favor
A point in the iPad's favor: Most netbooks equipped to have 3G access instead of just WiFi WILL cost $40 (ultra limited access) to $60 per month with the requirement that buyers pay this amount for 2 years. With the iPad there is no contract needed for the lower pricing of $30/mo. for 'unlimited' access (when AT&T is able to handle it).

My Take on the iPad
My take: Elegant Jack of all trades, Master of none in a lighter, but far less flexible package than a netbook. And so far I think it will suffice for e-reading for people who are not that keen on reading entire books often, but who read mainly in spurts and are interested more in newspapers and magazine reading and haven't yet bought an e-reader due to lack of interest.

Those who do want to read many books on one dedicated device but who were waiting to see what the Apple is like before buying an e-reader will look at $259 for a many-featured, efficient e-reader like the Kindle, or the Sony or even the Nook (though the Nook is currently extremely buggy in the most basic operations after update 1.11 and so inefficient that it's hard to say how it will do long-term, but readers who haven't used more direct, capable, and reliable e-readers will enjoy the Nook because it does have the best screen contrast of the e-readers, looks great and is priced well).

The Kindle-Killer hopes
For now, there is still no "Kindle-killer," as many gadgeteers like to say, where the $259 Kindle Int'l is concerned, coming as it does with free 24/7 Net access in the U.S., Japan, HongKong and Mexico for text-based lookups and with, at the least, live Wikipedia access at no cost, globally, in addition to an excellent e-paper reading experience.

The key is with long-session sequential text reading vs the random reading done with newspapers and magazines. LCD screens are not doable for most with that kind of reading focus.
I can leave this low-white-tuned desktop screen bleary-eyed, with almost blurred vision, and go read on the Kindle and then remain awake for hours caught up in the reading, with no strain on the eyes and my vision back to normal.

Amazon needs to work on the Kindle DX to make it more attractive to business and academia.
Again, ePub format support is required as is the editing of PDFs for those two target audiences.

For people like me (and there are many) I favor reading on the DX because of its extremely vivid clarity and the ability to read PDFs very well (web-info is usually offered in PDF format) while it handles illustrations in books with far better detail than the smaller e-readers. The Kindle's annotation tools and webpage support for those annotations + the design of their dictionary use are prime, and it remains to be seen how the iPad will handle these areas later as well as the effect on the eyes for any long-session reading.

That's it for now :-) Comments from others are very welcome, of course.

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Photo Credit: Wired.com

Comparing Apple tablet sneak preview to actual - Update3

CNet has photos though they're "not allowed" - and big too. Minute by minute description here

 I'll end here, as CNet links to GadgetLab's Updates on a new page to get only the Latest live entries so you don't have to look at the earlier stuff.

UPDATE Added Engadget's live blog as they have pictures where the others had to stop.

Comments from each site, from, I would assume, Apple fans for the most part, some disappointment. But it is a sleek, "neat" gizmo. And the show isn't over.
iBook bare bones but looks nice. Where are dictionary, search routines, annotations? To be added by developers in their apps? Says the iBook people had only 2 weeks to get that together ??

Below is just the old 'sneak preview' put there for comparison.

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I'll put the below here so we can see whether the real announcement matches this guy's sneak preview last night.

from GadgetLab today:

Apple is set to launch its new tablet today but entrepreneur and web personality Jason Calacanis seems to have stolen the company’s thunder by revealing a few key details ahead of the official event.

On his twitter feed Tuesay night, Calacanis claimed Apple gave him a tablet to test ten days ago under a non-disclosure agreement (NDA). That NDA ended midnight Tuesday, he says. “It is the most amazing device ever,” Calacanis tweeted.

For those hungry to know more, Calacanis claimed to offer a peek into the Apple tablet’s features:

UPDATE3 There were maybe 3 items that were correct. The rest was his dream. So am striking through it all in case anyone thinks it's an itemization of the actual iPad.

* The tablet runs an “iPhone flavor operating system” and can handle multiple apps at the same time.
* The display is OLED but the device also offers an e-reading mode with longer battery life.
* It has two cameras–one in front, one at the back of the device so it works well for video conferencing.
* There’s a built-in HDTV tuner and PVR.
* There are thumbpads on each side for mouse gestures and fingerprint security for up to five profiles.
* The tablet will cost $600, $700 or $800, depending on size and memory
* There’s also a wireless keyboard and monitor connection for TV available, he says. [ I don't remember re the TV ]
* The tablet connects to other tablets over Wi-Fi for gaming and will include games such as Farmville, the Facebook game that has become a rage among users.
* Overall the tablet offers a battery life of two to three hours while playing games. But there’s a solar pad for recharging.

Sound too good to be true? We will know soon enough. Read Gadget Lab coverage of Apple’s tablet event live.

Since "OLED" is said to cost about $1000 on its own for a good sized screen, it's hard to imagine it's true, but we'll know soon.

McGrawHill discloses Apple Tablet info on CNBC

The Guardian's Bobbie Johnson brings us the CNBC video clip of Terry McGraw spilling lots of beans to CNBC's Erin Burnett and to us on the Apple Tablet.  Was it a controlled leak, or is Steve Jobs doing a slow/fast burn somewhere.  Here is the key quote:

"We have worked with Apple for quite a while - the tablet is going to be based on the iPhone operating system, and so it will be transferrable. So what you're going to be able to do now... we have a consortium of ebooks - we have 95% of all our materials that are in ebook format on that one - so with the tabloid you're going to open up the higher education market, the professional market. The tabloid, the tablet is going to be just really terrific."

Read Bobbie John's raised-eyebrows analysis at the link.

  And then there was this tv-reveal (or was it?) when Stephane Richard, the future CEO of Orange France, said the following (translated by MacRumors)

' Jean-Pierre Elkabbach (the interviewer) : According to Le Point (a french magazine), your partner Apple will be launching a tablet
Stéphane Richard: Yes.
Jean-Pierre Elkabbach: ... equipped with a webcam.
Stéphane Richard: Yes.
Jean-Pierre Elkabbach: Will Orange customers also be able to enjoy it?
Stéphane Richard: Of course!, they will actually particularly enjoy it because the webcam will allow live video streaming. It's a new take on mobile video-conferencing. '

 The video is on the page, and following it is the not ultra-convincing disclaimer by Orange reported by MacRumors:

' Update: paidContent:UK received word from Orange clarifying that Richard was simply acknowledging the speculation regarding a tablet and the company's wish to support it if it does exist.

These responses in no way reflect Orange's confirmation of the existence of the rumoured device. The spokesperson was merely confirming that he is aware of the speculation surrounding a launch and that Orange would be delighted to have such a product were it ever to be available. '

Apple tablet to launch in February, at $800++ ?

This is an UPDATE to the last two entries about the continuing rumors about an Apple tablet or iPad.

  Earlier stories with details about the rumors & hoped-for features:
1.  Apple Tablet Challenge to Kindle Delayed, It's Said - August 19, 2009
2.  Apple Tablet announced early Sept? Yr-end release? - August 14, 2009

9to5Mac's Seth Weintraub reports yesterday that the Taiwan Economic News carried some parts information on Apple's possible Tablet.  I first saw this reported on teleread.org and the image is from the 9to5Mac story.

The Taiwan Economic News story by Steve Chuang reports that Apple will launch "its newest tablet PCs (curiously worded) next February" and that

"The tablet PC features a 9.6-inch screen, finger-touch function and built-in HSPDA (high speed download packet access) module, and adopts a P.A. SEMI processor chip and long lasting battery pack, selling for between US$799 and US$999."

That would be before any Web data-access charges.

Firms specifically mentioned include:
1.  DynaPack International Technology Corp.- "has been exclusively contracted to supply up to 300,000 units of long lasting battery packs a month."

2.  Wanshih Electronic Co., Ltd. "is expected to absorb around 70% of Apple`s orders for mini coaxial cables for the tablet PCs."

3.  "...Layers Scientific-Technics Co., Ltd. and Wintek Corp. will supply power chokes and touch panels, respectively..."

A commenter points out that the pricing seems logical because ""Without contract (monthly fees), an iPhone 3GS 32GB costs 675 € [$986 U.S.] (in Belgium."

CNNMoney/Fortune-Brainstorm Tech's Philip Elmer-DeWitt calls Steve Chuang "a reporter with a pretty good track record on the supply chain beat."

 They also include some thoughts about the parts vendors.
Reaction to the rumored price-point ($800 to $1000 is not exactly enthusiastic.

Apple Tablet Challenge to Kindle Delayed, It's Said

This is an UPDATE to the long story a couple of days ago about AllthingsD's earlier report that the Apple tablet might be announced the week of Sept. 7 at one of their keynote events.

Today AllthingsD is reporting (John Paczkowski) that the keynote event will be Sept. 9 in San Francisco but that

"...our sources insist it will not involve any discussion whatsoever of the tablet Apple is reportedly developing.   Too bad. It’s looking more and more like we’ll have to wait until 2010 for that."

  Instead, the event "is expected to showcase upgrades to the iPod line and an update to iTunes that may involve some sort of social element."

  Interestingly, the over-rumored Apple Tablet or iPad has been described AS an "upgrade to the iPod line" -- larger ones.  I imagine getting all the contract negotiations with publishers and cellular phone companies would have presented a problem for early delivery even if the rumored unit was almost ready.  Or maybe Apple is playing it coy, as it has before.

  Remaining excitement could be an appearance by Steve Jobs.  Here's a fascinating article on Jobs and on Apple itself by The Sunday Times, August 16, 2009.

  Additional reading for the interested:
  Two Apple tablets - Slashgear

Apple Tablet announced early Sept? Yr-end release?

Mashable's Adam Ostrow14 reports that the Apple Tablet may be announced, according to AllThingsD the week of September 7th during one of its "keynote events" traditionally used for unveiling new products.  The rumors are unending, but this one has an added wrinkle - a release in two versions.  No one has actually said the event will include an Apple Tablet or Apple iPad announcement though.

Gizmodo's Brian Lam says he was told by someone more or less verified that "it will come in two editions, one featuring a webcam and one focused on the education market and that it would cost between $700 to $900.  Also, it might be made to act as a secondary screen/touchpad for iMacs and iBooks.

In the Comments section, a NuncioCurry quotes a web-machine-translation of an Engadget Germany website post, which in turn quotes Le Journal du Geek which lists (see link for full details):

"
# It will be equipped with an iPhone emulator, shown as a widget on the desktop, which will use AppStore applications on the touchscreen with the resolution of the iPod Touch / iPhone. However, this widget will not call, send SMS / MMS, or to take pictures / videos because there is no webcam on the MacBook...

# It will be equipped with OS X 10.6 Snow Leopard, with an overlay to do everything through the touch screen (eg display a keyboard)...

# This product [has] no optical drive but the MacBook Air SuperDrive is compatible.

# There are also 2 USB ports, an SD card reader, an input and an audio line-out, a MagSafe power port and a Kensington lock port.

# The product will be available in 2 versions: one version with a 80GB hard drive offered for € 849 and a version with a 120GB hard drive offered for 999 €.

[ NOTE that the prices quoted are now in EUROS so that they'd be the amounts seen x 1.5 - that has to be a mistake. ]

# The battery should be up to four hours persevere.
[ I took the better translation of two offered there. ]

# A dock for use as a screen classic will also be offered at a price of 79 €. This dock will also include an iPod / iPhone. "

Apple 'netbook' due October. And, the CrunchPad?

Computerworld reports that the coming Apple netbook (others say tablet) will sell for about $800, with a 9.7" screen (the size of the Kindle DX) according to a Taiwanese news site [I linked a Google automated, though primitive, web-translation].

The expected price is high but Technology Business Research's Ezra Gottheil says "Apple has never been above squeezing early adopters."  As either a touchscreen notebook or Internet tablet, this would be the cost before adding on monthly wireless charges as Apple of course would need to do for Internet access outside the home or office, but for customers who want color and video, the $800 cost plus $720/year wireless access charges (or ~$1,520 for first year) would probably be worth it.  Computerworld says that, according to Infotimes,

' Apple has placed orders with three Taiwanese electronics manufacturers -- Dynapack International Technology, Foxconn and Wintek -- for components that will be assembled into a netbook. Wintek, said InfoTimes, will produce the 9.7-in. touch screens. Foxconn is a contract netbook and notebook maker, and it will be the primary manufacturer for Apple's netbook. '

Gottheil wonders what it will do about a keyboard, though I don't see anything indicating it wouldn't have either a physical or virtual one.  He is hoping for an external one.  Computerworld ends its report with

' But Gottheil was sticking to his "iPod on steroids" vision of whatever Apple introduces to fill the gap between the top-end iPhone and the low-end MacBook Pro.  "That's more likely, I think, than a traditional netbook," he said.  "Even outside of Apple, this has to happen.  PCs, even Macs, are a combination of a professional tool and a hobbyist's device." '

And then there's the announcement still expected, for July, of TechCrunch's CrunchPad, which is a 12" tablet web-browser expected to sell for $350 which will be dedicated to browsing the web in color with no internal storage but with a card slot for external storage.

  In the Chicago Sun-Times report by the always pragmatic Andy Ihnatko, he (unlike other columnists) mentions the need for either WiFi or 3G wireless access and wonders whether 3G capability will be included.

  As of now, no one has said publicly whether the capability is only WiFi (useable at home or office with your WiFi network or at hotspots when out) or also 3G wireless, but there have been hints from salespeople mentioning 3G when apologizing for some halting in the video.

 3G Wireless would be great but will be a capability that requires (except for the Kindles) that the customer buy the monthly wireless (usually $60/month).  However, the other option of WiFi access at home, while relaxing in your chair, and webbing that way, would be great.  I think they'll sell plenty of these for people with WiFi in the house, and WiFi is easy to set up for a total of $50 or less.

Neither of these are e-readers, but the Apple tablet would almost surely have Apple apps capability which means that one could read e-books even if with backlighting, which many would appreciate at night.  But for $800 it would be a luxury to get it for e-book reading.  And battery life would be shorter.  For Net access away from home/office networks, the Apple would cost about $1,520 for the first year and then about $720 plus taxes and fees in subsequent years.

This will be interesting to watch since the Apple tablet wouldn't be as capable as a Netbook with hard drive and normal apps and would be overkill for book-reading while not as easy on the eyes for pure-reading as is the otherwise more limited e-ink screen.  But Apple always makes devices that attract.
  Here are speculations on the form factor and operating system.

I think the CrunchPad will be an easier sell though.  Ihnatko's report includes a video of a demo of the CrunchPad in April.

A bad-apple decision and other news

The Net is abuzz with Apple's strange iPhone App Censorship of a reader app (Eucalyptus) because people can search the Project Gutenberg and find (gasp) the Kama Sutra and even download and read it.  The Wired article by Brian Chen includes Apple's explanation in its rejection letter, and a later email from Apple requested that access to the Kama Sutra be removed, despite its actually being a part of the Project Gutenberg and not the app.  So the beleaguered author, Jamie Montgomerie, has installed a filter to block that particular search.  Will Apple approve it?  Why not?  And Montgomerie couldn't have bought that kind of advertising.

  In the meantime, Technologizer's Harry McCracken writes, "Judging from its Web site, it’s more or less comparable to Amazon’s Kindle application–except all the content is free, and the interface looks to be prettier. The asking price is $9.99–steep for an iPhone program, but I’m tempted."

Well, actually, the Project Gutenberg books are available to all Kindle owners, free, direct to their Kindle, since the catalog can be placed on the Kindle, and the Kindle search feature within that book/catalog for the author or title plus a click on the found title will download the book to the device, though that might cost 15c with Amazon's new Whispernet charge for "personal documents" (meaning documents that don't come from Amazon).  These primarily-text books are usually less than one megabyte each, but if a stray one is 2 megabytes then it's 30c for the wireless delivery.
  There is always the option to instead download it to your computer from the Project Gutenberg site and transfer it to the Kindle with the included usb cable if 15c is a problem.

See the earlier entry on this blog for instructions on how to get that catalog onto the Kindle, thanks to James Adcock.

OTHER NEWS:
. Those awaiting an Apple announcement in June '09 about a Kindle-challenging Apple Tablet will have to wait until the "first half of 2010" for whatever it is that'll use a 10" screen and cost between $500 to $700.  If the product includes wireless access it'll certainly also cost at least another $30/month for that, judging from Apple's history.
  Thoughtful article at ITworld.

. Kindle owners who have iPhones and like to sync their reading between the two will be happy to see that Amazon has put the Stanza team to work already, improving Amazon's Kindle app for the iPhone and iPod so that the Kindle books can be read in landscape mode; you can tap on either side of the device to NextPage or PrevPage; and change the colors of the background and text.  The latter's especially useful for dimmer light.  A look at the black against white example made me realize it looks very nice but I was surprised to have to squint my eyes after a bit because of the energy of the white while the gray is easier for a longer period of time.  It's been documented that a gray background is easier on the eyes, but that of course is dependent on how dark the foreground text is.

. Will Kindle sales crash Nielsen Bookscan?.  In an earlier entry here, it was noted that Jeff Bezos claimed that when Kindle titles are available, they now represent 35% of those books' sales.  Bookscan can't include those sales, for reasons given in the article, and this would have a rather large impact on their reports.

. And if Amazon hasn't given publishers enough to worry about lately, they now have Amazon Encore:

'AmazonEncore is a new program whereby Amazon will use information such as customer reviews on Amazon.com to identify exceptional, overlooked books and authors with more potential than their sales may indicate. Amazon will then partner with the authors to re-introduce their books to readers through marketing support and distribution into multiple channels and formats, such as the Amazon.com Books Store, Amazon Kindle Store, Audible.com, and national and independent bookstores via third-party wholesalers.'

. Is the Kindle hurting Barnes and Noble sales?

UPDATE - 5/27/09: Apple relents and allows sales of Eucalyptus app. (Surprise)