

Large-Screen Kindle Won’t Mean Squat if Apple Tablet Arrives - edw519
http://www.wired.com/gadgetlab/2009/05/kindle-vs-apple/

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ryanwaggoner
Hmmm...this sounds eerily similar to all the people who predicted that the
Kindle would be a failure because of the iPhone's existence.

Even if Apple releases a kickass tablet, I still want a Kindle. I hate reading
books on an LCD screen and having to worry about battery life. I want a
simple, thin device that doesn't strain my eyes that I can leave in my bag and
not worry about. Oh, and I can buy and download books instantly without
worrying about wifi. Sold.

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bjtitus
I agree, they are different products with different markets. A tablet is NOT
suitable for books. A special device with an e-ink style screen is the only
suitable option.

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catone
I don't know that this argument is necessarily valid. I own an iPhone but I
don't own a Kindle, and haven't used one for more than a couple of minutes,
but a lot of people I've talked to who own both swear by the Kindle's e-Ink
screen. From what I hear, for long periods of reading, and for outdoor
reading, the Kindle beats the iPhone (and because of things like screen and
battery, not form factor).

Certainly, an Apple tablet could do a lot more than a large Kindle, but it
won't necessarily "render it moot." The Kindle might still provide a better
experience for the one function is it meant to: reading large quantities of
text... and if there is a market for for a device that just does that (and
there seems to be judging from the Kindle's early success so far), then it
will likely continue to do well.

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whacked_new
It's simply a bad argument.

Task: read a book. Choice 1: miniature computer, 5 hours battery. Choice 2: a
book with digital annotation and search, 20+ hours battery... is there a
choice?

Oh and did I mention the task is to read a book?

Sure, there are people who are fine with a glowing, back-lit reading device
that lets you check email simultaneously. But, the mobile phone replaced the
tethered phone. The computer did not replace the book. ebook devices are what
will replace them. Where the line is blurred, does not warrant a discussion of
"don't mean squat if..." at least not in the next 10 years or so.

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electromagnetic
The thing I find laughable is that they're depicting it like a giant iPhone.
From what I remember HP had a fully touch-screen tablet, however it seemed to
get removed for a return to a full-function tablet (at least from what I've
seen in Canada and the UK). So I highly doubt Apple would enter this market,
again like depicted.

Apple has a strong history of entering existing markets and reinventing it.
The brought considerable style to desktops, they brought sleekness to laptops
and they turned an mp3 player from an exercise/geek accessory to a fully
fledged consumer product and they're doing the same with touch-screen phones.

Apple has never been the first into the market. It waits, looks and acts.
Unless they have some truly amazing idea for a touch-screen-only tablet, they
won't touch the market with one, because they all seem to have flopped (or
ended up getting shipped with a docking station with a keyboard that could
collapse to the body of the tablet: something Apple would never do, after the
whole iPod nano thing in Europe of having to ship with a case, I doubt they
want the embarrassment again). Honestly, I can see Apple shipping a fully
functional tablet, however it will be running OS X and not the iPhone port.

Honestly, if I saw something like their mock-up it would be instantly rejected
by me. I wouldn't, nor couldn't touch the thing. The iPhone is cool, making a
foot wide iPhone _is not_ cool.

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bjtitus
Agreed, they will certainly have to rethink the interface and functionality.
An iPhone is a connected mobile phone but making it a tablet would completely
defeat the interface and the limited functionality it has.

Something similar to the iPhone OS port but customized for tablets would be
ideal.

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kirse
_\-- Wired: By contrast, e-book readers are good at basically one thing:
Storing and displaying monochrome text and simple graphics._

E-ink is the best technology just for that purpose and if I'm going to buy a
_Book Reader_ I want it to be perfect for _reading books_ , not a half-assed
compromise for surfing the web and spamming useless Twitter updates to all my
friends.

 _\-- Make no mistake: There are many more people who would be interested in a
general-purpose tablet than in an e-book reader._

The "many more people" are called tech nerds and their holy grail has already
been realized as the open-source CrunchPad, which will be far cheaper than any
mega-sized iPhone.

The only thing I'll be doing in response to this Apple rumor is day trading
AAPL options.

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electromagnetic
The biggest question of all is price: $360 for a Kindle 2, or likely $3,000
for a megaPhone.

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frig
Apple tablet is probably a much larger ipod touch.

Primary notivation is to make the itunes video store stop sucking so bad:
currently the only pleasant way to watch videos from itunes is on an appletv
(at home), or on a computer (clunky, most people don't carry laptops), or on
an ipod (invitation to eyestrain, especially for older people), or on a
handful of ipod docking solutions (niche products).

Figure the screen resolution is big enough to show full 720p content and is
just large enough to fill the field of view held at the reading distance used
when reading "books".

It might have a fancy OLED screen (for power consumption and aesthetic
reasons; you don't want the battery running out midway through a 2-hour film,
and you don't want the device getting unpleasantly warm to hold midway through
a 2-hour film).

Like the other ipod touches it'd be iphone-os compatible, with special
optimized clients for eg youtube and sites like hulu (if hulu wants) but not
necessarily a general-purpose flash capable browser. It'd be capable of being
a nifty pda but apple isn't going to try to hard on that; it's marketed as a
media tablet that can run productivity software from the apple store if that's
your pleasure, and has ical and so on built in.

Having always-on wireless internet (either from at+t or verizon) makes sense;
since the apple aesthetic is to make stuff that "just works" selling it with
an always-working internet connection is a big win (even if eg you're not
allowed to download films from itunes over the 3g nework).

If it sells it'll be a decent platform for ebooks even if it's not using an
eink screen: nice form factor, amazon and other ebook-reading clients, capable
of buying ebooks anywhere, and already in a lot of people's hands (via eg the
iphone, which is platform-compatible).

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buckler
With the option limited to expensive/not very well-built iRex iLiad at the
moment, I am happy that more large-screen devices are coming out. Meanwhile,
after researching & researching, I'm still reluctant to adapt to the new
technology (dedicated ebook readers) as the "perfect" device still seems a
couple of years away or so. Just feels like any upcoming devices will become
outdated very quickly.

At the moment, I simply want neither e-ink devices nor LCD devices. While
color & refresh time are attractive, LCD devices come at a cost when it comes
to serious reading (eyestrain, battery life). Also, like others have mentioned
here, I'd want a dedicated reader w/o the distractions. However, the prospects
are still enthralling though, with Mary Lou Jespen's Pixel Qi developing LCDs
specifically designed for reading for example. Whether it's new e-ink devices,
CrunchPad, or the Apple tablet, the innovations (& lowering costs) are just so
exciting for an avg. consumer here.

I'm curious about the extent to which traditional publishers will shape this
market. They must face the similar dilemma at the moment... As for the large
Kindle, there's the monochrome constraint & Amazon's control over
functionalities, pricing, etc. With something like Apple's tablet, they would
be reluctant since users would simply browse free content available on the
Internet.

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jdfreefly
Yes, because if Apple decides to do something, the rest of us should pack up
our compilers and go home.

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jerf
One unreleased product is doomed because another hypothetical unreleased
product might be coming? Amazon should just pack it in, they don't have a
single product in their entire warehouse that can compete against the
hypothetical products of six months from now.

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drcode
Wired usually has more thoughtful articles than this. The selling points for
the Kindle are the battery life and outside-viewable screen. The Tablet iPhone
won't address these at all.

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vaksel
Books are probably not "hip" enough for Apple to do

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checkwit
Apple Newton 2. I used to have one of those.

