In Apple Wednesday January 27, 2010 Preview, I posted a list. Here is that list with what happened and what didn’t:
Where’s the Barnes & Noble connection that got TechCrunch front page on Techmeme?
Where’s all the other half-assed shit that got front-page coverage on Techmeme?
Even this morning one place was saying it’d be iLife shown, not iWork!
Show me someone who did better than that!
And I stick by that final line. With the low-end price, only the terminally stupid would buy an eInk device.
Who will you bastards have to rip off when I pull the plug on this blog?
The eBook Test 
The Bad:
No webcam
No multitasking
Unfortunate name.
Huge bezel.
The Good:
Speed
$500 price point (+$130 for a 3G enabled model)
No data carrier lock in or contract.
(The last two would have been deal breakers for me. I commented in an earlier thread that for $500 and no lock in I would consider this. I’m definitely going to start saving my pennies.I didn’t think they’d come in under $800. I stand corrected.)
The “Meh”:
No Flash support (no Hulu)
The Cane:
ePub format books in bookstore at a three to five dollar premium over Amazon and Sony.
You have said that 12 ounces is too heavy for an eBook reader.
Do you still stick by that or is Apple allowed twice the weight of others?
No. I’m shocked by that damned 1.5 pounds(!!!!) weight too. I haven’t said the final word on this yet. Still need to see videos and some other event coverage. I missed important bits of it due to a weak PC.
“And I stick by that final line. With the low-end price, only the terminally stupid would buy an eInk device.”
What makes you think everyone wants, needs, or are even going to use all the features of the $500 iPad? If all of someone’s needs can be fulfilled by a $200 E-ink reader, why spend more?
Did you watch the video presentation, Nate?
Do you mean the Stevenote? Not yet. The iPad is basically a 10″ ITouch, yes? (It probably has several improvements to the UI, though.)
I have an iTouch and I have a 10″ tablet. I have read on both, and I can easily imagine what the two would be like together. I’m not impressed. The 10″ tablet (and the iPad) is big and heavy when compared to the Kindle. It’s also expensive. When you can buy an iPad for $260 & it weighs 12oz, then it will kill epaper.
One of my ebook readers is the Jetbook. It has a 5″ screen, and weighs ~8oz. I got it for $150, and the reading experience is very pleasant. I have a couple other ebook readers under $300, and they are all quite nice to read on. Buying any one of these devices is still a good idea if you like to read.
We’ve already seen many articles about how more people are reading on the iPhone than on eInk devices. The iPad will further seal the doom of those devices.
Okay, I saw it. Still not terribly impressed with the iPad as an ebook reader. He didn’t demonstrate dictionary lookup, highlighting, annotation, web search (from inside the book), word search, bookmarks, or the ability to change font & background colors, justification, or margins.
Show me the ability to have several books open at once and jump between them, and then I’ll slightly be impressed.
Oh, iBooks is crap. But so is ePub.
If iBooks is crap, then how can the iPad replace existing epaper readers?
And you still haven’t countered my economics argument.
Listen, Nate, don’t be annoying. I’m not about to have this sink to a fucking HS debating contest. If you want that shit, do it at your own fucking blog.
“We’ve already seen many articles about how more people are reading on the iPhone than on eInk devices. The iPad will further seal the doom of those devices.”
I pulled this out because the nested comments would have gotten too narrow.
Yes, a lot of people read on the iPhone, but that is mainly because they always have it with them, not because it has the best experience. Convenience is the factor here, and I doubt that will apply to the iPad. It’s too big to be carried around like an iPhone.
It’s easy to take your phone out of your pocket and read whenever you have a minute, but it’s not so easy to take an iPad out of your briefcase or backpack. I’ve tried it with a similar sized device, so I know this.