Submitted by Ian Lamont05.05.2009
Thunderdome
Loading...
News149027Salesforce's
Categories
This prediction is closed and has been judged.
Rumors of a new Apple device have been making the rounds, and it's not an Apple netbook. According to a recent news report, Apple "is readying a device that may make it easier to read digital books and periodicals." The sources are identified as "people familiar with the matter."
Apple has not publicly said anything about producing an e-reader. However, the competition in this space is definitely heating up, with Amazon's existing Kindle brand, a large-sized Amazon e-reader being prepared for market, and other competitors such as Sony and Plastic Logic working on their own product lines.
In addition, newspapers, magazines, and book publishers are eager to develop online revenue streams that can counteract the slide of print titles. A robust e-reader with a simple purchasing mechanism and popular technology brand might not only be well-received by customers, but also by some publishers.
Prediction: Apple will announce an e-reader device with its own brand (i.e., not an iPod or a MacBook) at the 2009 World Wide Developers Conference, which kicks off on June 8.
The criteria for this prediction coming true are the device must have a larger touch screen than an iPhone or iPod Touch, a facility to browse the pages of books and periodicals in digital format, and an Apple-designed shopping application or purchasing mechanism for individual titles and periodical subscriptions.
The device may have other capabilities as well (such as browsing Web sites and downloading other apps) but one of the main functions -- if not the main function -- is its ability to browse and purchase digital books, as described above.
Price History
Prediction Statistics
| Betting Closes: | Jun 07 2009 | Current Consensus: | 10.91% | Total Bets: | 20 |
| Today's Change: | 0% | ||||
| Life Time High: | 50.00% | ||||
| Life Time Low: | 10.43% |
Comments
I'm surprisd Apple hasn't come up with a reader before now., seeing as how the Sony is not compatible with the Mac. I almpst bought a Sony e-reader today, then I ran across this article, so I'm holding on. Want to keep it all the the family.......already have a Mac lap top, ipod and iphone........just waiting now for the ireader.....come on Apple
I purchased a Kindle 1 and it has great value and ease of use, it works great for the downloads from Amazon. I really wanted it to use for the pdf files that my text books come in, not possible, no way to unlock the book once I have converted it to a Kindle friendly file.
I only hope that Apple can make an e-reader that allows direct download of pdf files and the ability to unlock them on the device. I will be first in line to purchase if that happens, at this point I am considering a netbook as my reader, with a Mac as my back up to use for everything else.
Judged negative. No e-reader at WWDC '09.
Ian Lamont
Managing Editor
The Industry Standard
twitter.com/the_standard
Has the Apple E-reader been announced? I'll not make a Kindle purchase, if so.
I'm holding out buying an ereader until I see what Apple comes up with. Using my IPod for that purpose for now.
My magic ereader wish list from Apple. . . I'd hope they would make a large version of the IPod. Although I do like that paper look of the kindle. Something big for me would be for it to have blue tooth or a usb jack for a portable or foldable keyboard, like my old Palm PDA. Also a word processor app like Word by MS, so I can write the great American novel on the go. Hope it would be about 8 x 10". It must be able to sync with my home computer for document and book backup. And yp more than one computer!!! But also be fine by itself with no need for a computer.
It would be neat if you could get on itunes from anywhere without buying into a service. Internet extra for a price.
They already have the structure for an ebook system using Itunes.
I'd like to be able to purchase apps that can read anybody's ereader book format.
Playing games would be okay especially my X-Plane sims! Yeah, I want it all! IPod made me greedy. But I know they can do it!.
Give me one device that does it all please. My pockets look a squirrel storing up for the winter. I’d like to combine:
1. My iPhone
2. My higher pixel digital camera that also does video clips
3. My Kindle 2
4. My high-capacity iPod (I need over 100GB to store all my media and the iPhone won’t cut it)
I used to throw my PDA into this list before my iPhone, but it combined that into my phone nicely.
If Apple gives me a tablet that does all of these things about the size of the Kindle 2 (I could do video conferencing on a screen like that!) and I will gladly haul something that size around everywhere. And pay for it - I mean, add up what I'm already paying for all these gizmos anyway.
I was considering buying a kindle but thought it was a bit pricey and didn't offer as much as I would like. I realized I have a lot of hope in Apple products and I Googled it. I found this article. I think I'll hold out for an Apple version.
Hopefully it will work with apps. Basically, I want an iPod touch but larger and easier to read. And a color display would be lovely. I was annoyed that kindle is only in black and white. I think apps are great because then you can pick and choose what you need and want and aren't stuck with stuff you could do with out that is just taking up space.
What people don't understand is that the Apple e-reader will either feature apps, or e-ink, not both. The very low screen refresh rate would make essentially any app, and literally every game on the app store, completely unusable. I absolutely refuse to buy an Apple e-reader if it features the same or LCD or OLED screen. E-Ink should be the only technology used in readers. Otherwise, I've got my 9 inch Asus Eee to read books on, so why would I use a 7 inch LCD screen? No thanks. E-Ink or nothing, Apple.
If apple does put out an Ereader, and I really really hope they do, I would like e-ink, and an easy purchase and download method, pdf comparable, and most of all for me (as I am dyslectic) the text to speech like they have in Leopard. There a few other things, but really just look at the Kindle and the Nook, take what is good and then improve on it, so us yet again how Apple is an innovative and amazing company.
An ereader that gave the user the ability to edit text files that are converted to e-files would be great. As an editor, I would love to edit manuscript on an eRader rather than carry around pages of manuscript. That would be a great help in my profession and make any eReader a popular choice for editors, writers, students, etc. Of course, netbooks do the same thing, but I'd like to cut down on the number of gadgets I own too. An iPhone and a versatile eReader... that would be perfect!
I was going to buy a Nook from Barnes&Nobles for Christmas but I will rather wait until Apple puts one out next year.
Post new comment