Comments on: New Apple tablet rumors point to Kindle clones?

Rumors of an Apple tablet or Netbook have been all over the place lately, but is Apple scanning books for a possible e-book store or reader as well?

[atici]

> if Apple was able to integrate a portable tablet computer, gaming machine, and e-book reader all in one > using the maturing iPhone OS X operating system

That is not possible. A proper e-book reader uses e-ink technology not lcd display.

[Nick Lilavois]

> That is not possible. A proper e-book reader uses e-ink technology not lcd display.

only until someone makes a "proper ebook reader" with a LCD display.

we all spend many hours a day reading email and websites on LCDs, so books are no different. I read ebboks on laptops, and on my iphone, with no problems.

I have seen the Sony ebook reader with e-ink technology, and I would never buy that thing- the screen inverses itself every time you flip a page. That is incredibly annoying, and distracting. A LCD does not do that- plus, it can show full-collor magazines, photos, and movies.

The era of single-function devices are over.

I would LOVE a 10" iPod touch- as long as it can run both iPhone/pod applications AND normal OSX desktop apps.

[bojennett]

to Nick Lilavols...

There are three reasons using an LCD as an eBook reader is not viable. (1) battery. I don't care how good an OLED is, you are going to burn your battery out driving it just due to the backlight, the "book" will get warm to the touch as well, (2) eye strain. An active display strains the eyes... period, and finally (3) reading under "sunlight" type conditions. an OLED (gloss especially, but also matte) just can't be read very well in sunlight conditions. i love watching people try to use their laptops outside. they are constantly adjusting the angle or position just to be able to see what the heck is going on.

That doesn't mean e-Ink technology, as it stands, is great technology... far from it. But the first Kindle was much better than the Sony reader as far as flashing (on page turns) goes, and the newest Kindle is even better.

[ZetaZeta_]

Gameboy classic through Gameboy Advance classic used LCDs with no backlights and looks better in direct sunlight. I'm sure there are ways to make an LCD work well for ebooks.

[zyxxy]

Battery life, battery life, battery life, battery life, followed by sunlight readability.

There are other transflective technologies out there that are also sunlight readable, but they require more power than e-ink. I am not sure how much power it takes to run a Mirasol display, but they have limited color gamut and speed, so they are not an LCD replacement either. When I get buried in a book, I sometimes read for five or six hours straight. If the device cannot display that long without being plugged in, it is a non-starter.

Also, the era of single-function devices is NOT over. People keep screaming that over and over, but that doen't make it true. My phone has a camera in it, but in spite of that, I still own a compact point-n-shoot and a digital SLR. Within the household we have three MP3 players. The book readers mentioned are all far to big to carry around as your 'smart phone' and any reasonably sized smart phone is too small to be a 'real' book reader, and by real, I mean practical size for reading multiple hours at a stretch.

[jug831]

You had me up to the 'scanning truckloads of books' comment. ROFLMAO. Why would they do that? Surely these books exist in electronic format, and scanning in the paperback you buy off Amazon will not get around the copyright, which means you have to work with the publisher anyway, so why not ask them for a PDF or something while you are on the phone ASKING IF YOU CAN RESELL THEIR PRODUCTS!!!

I see the 10inch screens for a netbook with a small keyboard and no trackpad. The keyboard may actually be bigger than competing netbooks when you take the track pad away. Guessing a price point of $699.

[jug831]

As a follow up to my last comment as I re-read you story and laugh again, what would Apple do with all the books when done scanning them? Post on Amazon for sale as used books?

And why would Apple put that Green momentum they have been gaining at risk by using a technology where the books have to be printed on paper and then trucked burning Diesel fuel before scanning them back into electronic format, then shipping them out again?

I enjoy reading Apple rumors, but please only tell me about those that are feasible.

[Lattice1]

You know this Apple we are talking about, if they are re-scanning books it could be for some kind of "Think Different" reason that would throw everybody else off, like having the entire front, side and back of a book imaged for a finger swipe friendly display of books ala Coverflow.

[Perry_Clease]

"Apple has been receiving truckloads of books--actual real paper-bound books--at its headquarters in Cupertino, Calif."

Well so much for Steve Jobs' statement that people don't read these days, or words to that effect. :)

My gut feeling, which is a big feeling considering the size of my gut, is that these screens could be for a touch keyboard on a MacBook, well a MacNetBook for that matter.

@jug831, your right why scan when you can use the page layout files from which the books were created. I started in this racket as a typesetter in small job shop, individual pieces of type into a composing stick. Trust me no one creates books like that except maybe at Williamsburg or someplace like that.

[Rick Mc Callister]

There is an incredible need on college campuses for an inexpensive notebook/laptop that can replace paper textbooks with interactive text + workbook/lab books.
Kindle can't do this because it's a passive dummy machine.
If students had cheap notebooks/laptops, it would free up language lab, writing lab, etc. lab space for something else and would reduce costs to universities.
If it were cheap enough and students could buy classware on line, they could receive the device as part of their financial aid and costs of texts would theoretically drop.
To give an idea, the price of the paper bundle of my students' Spanish text is over $180, while the software can be bought on line for $35.
Multiply this by the dozens of classes students take.
If Apple doesn't fill this niche, some enterprising geeks will --and I hope they remember that I put the bug in their ear and make me VP of Company Picnics or some such office that meets my abilities.

Been reading Digital Daily, have you Tom?

Rumored Apple Netbook Actually an E-book?
http://digitaldaily.allthingsd.com/20090311/apple-netbook-actually-an-e-book/

Incidentally, DD speculates that "the books" Ihnatko mentions may well be the devices themselves.

[Tom Krazit]

I hadn't seen that. In any event, isn't the proper etiquette to link to the original source of the material, rather than the person who blogged about somebody else blogging about somebody else's original article?

[mgheff]

That would be stupid. I don't even get the point of the Kindle, anyways. Overpriced for one thing, and a second thing, who is really reading like ten books at a time? Just get an individual book and that should save you $300. I am hoping for a netbook/tablet comp from Apple. That would be sick. A touchscreen netbook would fail miserably, though.

[Perry_Clease]

I read several books at a time. There are few on my nightstand, one in the bathroom, a few in the living on the end table.

[iPhoneUser]

At least when you're done with books, they can become Kindling, whereas when you're done with the Kindle in 5 seconds, it's just another useless one trick pony with a screen you've got lying around the house. It's unfathomable to me companies would even consider producing a device with no internet functionality these days, seriously. If I was an Amazon CEO, I'd want the entire Kindle team out on the street yesterday.

[zyxxy]

The Kindle is a wireless device, and it has a browser built it. You obviously don't know Kindle.

[iPhoneUser]

No, in all honesty I don't know Kindle cause I kept seeing articles about this e-book reader from Amazon and I had already read enough. Amazon selling an e-book reader is almost like Charmin selling laxatives.

The fact that the Kindle is a wireless device with a browser built in (which you cannot view in color I might add) makes it only half as useless as I originally thought it was.

[iPhoneUser]

E-book readers are completely useless. But they let you read e-books with e-ink you say? WOWEEE!!!! Hey, guess what, my LCD Macbook screen lets me read not only books, but everything else too! And it displays it in color! If Apple makes an e-book reader, they're even dumber than Amazon.

These screens are for a netbook/tablet pc that will utilize a touch screen AND thin retractable keyboard, be 802.11n compatible, probably around 120GB, have a couple USB ports, yadda yadda yadda. It probably could run both OSX native and iPhone/touch apps and probably should. Price point? I'm thinking in the neighborhood of $599 - if typical pc netbooks sell for around $300-500, expect Apple to adjust their prices accordingly. And why the need for the keyboard if it's a touchscreen? I just think more people would be fond of the device if it employs a physical keyboard. I'm not so sure touch-typing would be all that effective with relatively no feedback on a touch screen.

[rigzen]

Surprising that people are so negative about e-book readers. You simply cannot compare a notebook to the Kindle or Sony's reader in terms of the reading experience. Granted, they are expensive and not multi-purpose at all, but you can read comfortably for hours...which I cannot do on a notebook. And they are comfortable to hold, much lighter than most texts and rarely need charging.
If Apple does make an e-book reader, I would bet they will do it in a much more stylish manner than the existing readers.....better? ...maybe.

[iPhoneUser]

Apple does have an e-reader, it's called the iPhone and the Apps are called Kindle (what a surprise, yet dumb marketing move by Amazon if you're trying to get people to buy the Kindle) or Stanza. Oddly enough, Stanza blows Kindle outta the water on the iPhone. Apple will not stoop to the e-reader level, they're much too arrogant. They'll just package an e-reader desktop app into the next line of 10" touch screen devices they're building which will have all the pretty Apple bells and whistles on them.

I'm sorry but the Kindle seems much to much like the result of a marketing meeting titled "What can we sell that looks like an iPhone/smartphone and has a touch screen." The Kindle is a device much like the new Shuffle - it's meant to test technology out on the public and is probably nothing more than a market study for Amazon who's already one if not 2 design iterations ahead of Kindle by now (Shuffle's voice technology is rumored to be getting tested for future implementation into iPhone OSs http://news.cnet.com/8301-17938_105-10195250-1.html)

[AppleSuxLeo]

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[cheinyeanlim]

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