eReader Wars
Coldewey: The Kindle and iPad are two important forces in the current e-reader wars; alternatives: http://j.mp/a19E2E
Tagged: Que Toggle Comment Threads | Keyboard Shortcuts
Gerrit Eicker
eReaders Comparison
An eReaders comparison table: iPad vs. Kindle and Kindle DX, Nook, Sony Daily Edition, Que; http://j.mp/d77t6G
Gerrit Eicker
Tablets: Hot at CES
The CES brings a deluge of devices for reading and surfing the Web: 2010 is tablet time; http://j.mp/5FnNAX
Gerrit Eicker
Que Launched
Plastic Logic finally launched its Que eReader for business people today at the CES; http://j.mp/5Zx3RJ
Gerrit Eicker
Que
Plastic Logic offers more insights on its Que eReader: for businesspeople, by businesspeople; http://j.mp/1mWsIl
pC: “So how does the iPad stack up against its more single-minded competition? We can’t say yet how it really compares to reading a novel on a Kindle, textbooks on a Kindle DX or business pdfs on a Que. What we can do is lay out the specs and features side by side.”
NYT: “To Deliver, iPad Needs Media Deals … Critics who suggested that Apple unveiled little more than an iPhone that won’t fit in your pocket don’t seem to understand that by scaling the iPhone experience, the iPad becomes a different species. Media companies now have a new platform that presents content in an intimate way.”
RWW: “According to Amazon’s CEO Jeff Bezos, ‘millions of people now own Kindles.’ Sadly, Amazon has always kept the exact number of Kindle sales under wraps. According to some analysts, consumers in the US bought roughly 3 million e-readers in 2009 and the majority of these were probably Kindles.”
NYT: “And now (drum roll) the Toy of the Year award goes to … the Apple iPad. – That’s a reasonable prediction for this time next year, once children start swiping at iPad’s puddle of interactivity.”
TC: “The iPad is a computer for people who don’t like computers. People who don’t like the idea of upgrading their 3D drivers, or adjusting their screen resolution, or installing new memory. Who don’t understand why their computer gets slower and slower the longer they own it, who have 25 icons in their system tray and have to wait ten minutes for their system to boot up every day.”
Macworld: “For years we’ve all held to the belief that computing had to be made simpler for the ‘average person.’ I find it difficult to come to any conclusion other than that we have totally failed in this effort. … Think of the millions of hours of human effort spent on preventing and recovering from the problems caused by completely open computer systems. Think of the lengths that people have gone to in order to acquire skills that are orthogonal to their core interests and their job, just so they can get their job done. – If the iPad and its successor devices free these people to focus on what they do best, it will dramatically change people’s perceptions of computing from something to fear to something to engage enthusiastically with. I find it hard to believe that the loss of background processing isn’t a price worth paying to have a computer that isn’t frightening anymore.”
TC: “Don’t think about the iPad as just a computer. Its true potential lies in its potential as a communications device. Already, it functions as an electronic reader, helping to bring the world of books to computers. But there is video and audio too, with the potential for VoIP apps and even one day a camera for video messaging. The artificial walls that separate our notion of communications and computing are being broken.”
NYT: “The more, the better. That’s the fashionable recipe for nurturing new ideas these days. It emphasizes a kind of Internet-era egalitarianism that celebrates the ‘wisdom of the crowd‘ and ‘open innovation.’ … Yet Apple … suggests another innovation formula – one more elitist and individual. – This approach is reflected in the company’s latest potentially game-changing gadget, the iPad tablet, unveiled last week. It may succeed or stumble but it clearly carries the taste and perspective of Mr. Jobs and seems stamped by the company’s earlier marketing motto: Think Different.”
Winer: “One recurring theme in defense of the closedness of the iPad is that it gives you access to the web and that’s the most open thing around. Maybe, but if I want the web there are much better and less expensive ways to get it that don’t compromise on flexibility and the ability to run other software. In other words, if you want the web and only the web, iPad would be a poor choice.”
TC: “Both Apple and Google are very popular with consumers, but their offerings are very different – while aiming for the same market. And as two companies that were once as close as could be, it’s also fascinating to watch the tension and awkwardness as they now compete in an ever-growing number of areas. – If this market between laptops and smartphones proves big enough, perhaps the two frenemies can once again find a common ground and band together to defeat their common enemy: Microsoft.”
NYT: “Concerns over the lack of Flash in the iPad and iPhone may be short-lived. Many online video sites have been experimenting with a new video format, called HTML5. Unlike Flash, which is a downloaded piece of software that can interact with a computer’s operating system, HTML5 works directly in a Web browser. And although this new video format does not work in all browsers, it will allow iPhone and iPad users to enjoy more Web-based video content. – In addition, the patents surrounding HTML5 are owned by a group of companies; Apple is a part of that group.”
RWW: “While it’s not perfect, HTML 5 might just be the step you need to decrease the time and cost of developing across devices.“