iPad iShmad

david — Tue, 09 Mar 2010 06:16:30 +0000

Hmm, we’ll wait and see about the iPad … all the hype about it being an ebook platform is interesting, -ish. No doubt Steve, bless him, wants to rule the world of ebook media as well, since it looks like it’s going somewhere, despite his having said “noone reads anymore”. (I’m reminded of my disillusionment when I worked at Apple years ago — 80′s — and some fellow from the Advanced Technology Group gave an internal talk about how media was going to be where it was at and that we were headed for a ‘post-literate’ era … more prescient than I was at the time.)

Meanwhile and anyway, in all the oohing and ahing, no one seems to talk much about the real difference about an ebook reader, namely the reflective eink display. A luminescent screen is great for all kinds of “knowledge worker” activity, but gets old real quick for genuine book reading. IMO anyway, the simulation of a book by an (eink) ereader is the best “virtual reality” experience I’ve had, as judged anyway by its versimilitude …

I will probably covet one to some extent, but not sure I will add it (immediately) to my Kindle, Sony, Nook collection. Reading books on the iPhone is nice in a pinch, but only in a pinch; can’t imagine it will be much different on iPad.

I know some folks are working on “multimedia” experiences — it reminds me again, speaking of Apple, of the “ebooks” published as Hypercard stacks. Talk about ahead of your time — wish I could remember the press offhand that really pioneered this (books as Hypercard stacks). They had vision but I think that was really the bit flipping off for me and ebooks until eink happened.

BLITZES at bltcpress » ebooks

iPad iShmad