New Toy
By Kathleen Bolton | February 1, 2010 |
My librarian husband, who regards e-book readers like Kindle and Nook with disdain (“and what will happen to libraries when there are no more books?” he asks rhetorically) said out of the blue the other day: “I want an iPad.”
This is a guy who barely uses his cellphone and has a really old iPod Nano. He’s a late adopter, this one.
I’m not a techie person but I appreciate innovation and convenience. I have an iTouch (lurve it!) and the usuals. No e-book yet, but we were thinking about getting a Kindle this year. But I hadn’t heard about Apple’s new Must Have toy for 2010. So I hopped online to find out what made my luddite husband salivate over one of these things.
David Pogue from the New York Times describes the iPad thusly:
The iPad is, as predicted, essentially a giant iPod Touch: aluminum-backed, half-inch thin, with a 10-inch screen surrounded by a shiny black border. At the bottom, there’s the standard iPod/iPhone connector and a single Home button. It will be available in models ranging from $499 (16 gigs of memory, Wi-Fi) to $830 (64 gigs of memory, Wi-Fi and 3G cellular).
So basically, it’s a hybrid between a Netbook and an iTouch. The e-book application is handsome, the screen is in color and it looks sleek and cool. What Apple has done is create an e-book reader for the hipster crowd. And it will move people on the fence about e-book readers to finally taking the plunge.
As a writer and novelist, I’m pleased that there are things out there that make buying books easier. I’m also pleased to read stuff like this:
In negotiations with Apple, publishers agreed to a business model that gives them more power over the price that customers pay for e-books. Publishers had all but lost that power on Amazon.com’s Kindle e-reader.
With Apple, under a formula that tethers the maximum e-book price to the print price on the same book, publishers will be able to charge $12.99 to $14.99 for most general fiction and nonfiction titles — higher than the common $9.99 price that Amazon had effectively set for new releases and best sellers. Apple will keep 30 percent of each sale, and publishers will take 70 percent.
Apple isn’t trying to squeeze the publisher for every dime? Publishers have power in the distribution game for once? Could the iPad staunch the bleeding in the publishing industry?
The iPad isn’t coming out until April. We won’t be waiting in line for one either. It ain’t cheap. But my book-loving husband is intrigued. He’s coming off the e-book fence. I wonder how many others are like him.
What do you think about the new iPad? Will this get more people on board the e-book train or do you think it’s hype? Are you waiting in line at the Apple Store the day it launches? Or are you sticking with old fashion paper books for now? Let us know in the comments.
Kathleen Bolton is co-founder of Writer Unboxed. She writes under a variety of pseudonyms, including Ani Bolton.
She has written two novels as Cassidy Calloway: Confessions of a First Daughter, and Secrets of a First Daughter–both books in a YA series about the misadventures of the U.S. President’s teen-aged daughter, published by HarperCollins, and Tamara Blake, for the novel Slumber.
Funny, I’ve had the same reaction as your husband. I don’t have any of the other iGadgets, and my phone’s so basic my 14-year-old won’t touch it, BUT….I would consider the iPad. It’s almost as if Apple has targeted slow-adapters like me with a device that addresses my objections to the other ones. It actually looks like it might be a pleasure (and with bigger letters possible) to read. Plus while some claim it’s impractical because you can’t put it in your pocket, that might also minimize some of the antisocial aspects of using it –hard to discreetly glance at a tablet-sized screen while pretending to interact with your lunch partner. Or maybe I’m just kidding myself?
I’m all for finding innovative ways to get people to read (we all remember when Audio books first arrived!) but I will ALWAYS stick with traditional “paper” books…nothing like holding it in your hands, touching the pages and words, to feel like a true lover of books.
Gah, I feel like I’m the only one who isn’t at all intrigued by the iPad… But then, I have a habit for disliking things that are super hyped up. Maybe when the fuss dies down I’ll give it another look (and fall in love — I do love me some Apple products!). :P
.-= Kristan´s last blog ..Snippets: Get it? =-.
I’m a gadget hound and tech fiend, so of course I want the iPad. I read lots of material (ebooks, websites, blogs) on my iPhone, some on the Kindle. The larger color screen on the iPad coupled with all the functionality of an iPhone/iPod Touch and the ability to purchase ebooks from different ebook vendors without having to worry about converting or breaking DRM makes it a great ebook and internet browsing device, IMO.
Better late to the party…then not at all, I say.
I have an iPod and an iPhone, but I’ll probably put an iPad on my Christmas list this year anyway.
Boys with toys…what can I say.
.-= DL Hammons´s last blog ..The Mighty 100 Celebration =-.
I don’t know; our family is usually pretty up to date on all the latest gizmos, no matter who they’re from, but somehow, e-books just aren’t one of them… maybe because our most avid thechie isn’t a big reader.
.-= TatteredSpinner´s last blog ..The Last Mile =-.
I would love LOVE an e-reader of some kind. But being low on the scratch (did I really just say scratch?) I am going to be with old fashioned books for a long time coming. Did you know you can read all the books you want for free from the library? (insert sarcasm) It is amazing.
But like most writers and readers, I love having my own books – browsing them, selecting them, holding them, smelling them, reading and rereading them. So even when money is no longer an issue (if that day ever comes) I will be a hybrid user and read the old fashioned and the new fashioned way.
.-= Rebecca´s last blog ..Writing Sucks =-.
being low on the scratch as well, i shall wait. from what i read, you’ll pay for all the extras. but like all pc stuff, wait and they’ll bundle and the price will come down.
iDrool
.-= Yat-Yee´s last blog ..Thoughts, mostly obvious, occasionally profound, and sometimes disconcerting =-.
iDrool, lol.
I love my computers – yup plular, but when it comes to books, I am sticking to paper. It’s not just the fact that reading on screen is annoying, but also missing out on sesations of reading a book, of holding a copy, of feeling different paper. Each book is different. Not to mention an integral furnishing in my house. It’s the one thing I proudly collect.
.-= Dolly´s last blog ..Something New Coming Up =-.
I love Apple things. I want an e-reader because I hate printing out reams and reams of paper on multiple edits (it’s unsustainable and it fills up my tiny office space). But the ipad is not going to be my e-reader. The eye strain from hours at the glowing computer is killing me, and the ipad is just the same screen as a computer–backlit LCD. E-ink and paper don’t contribute to eye strain the same way. Why couldn’t Apple have made e-ink cool?
I’m a bit intrigued by the idea of e-books. Mainly for traveling purposes. I LOOOOOVE my old fashioned paper books. I’m a little scared to even think about an e-book reader for fear of betraying them. But I can see the handiness of being able to carry a whole library in one device.
I’m also an apple fan. I would love to be a e-reader from them. BUT the backlit screen is a deal-killer for me. I hate reading on a computer screen. I don’t know that I want to give Amazon my business though. So I’m kind of at a loss for what to do. Probably will stick to paper books for awhile until there is something that combines all my e-reading wants (because you can’t call them needs)
I have looked forward to Apple’s entrance into the e-book universe…but now that it’s here, I want to see it in person. I’m also very interested in what the e-reading experience would be like.
.-= suzanne´s last blog ..Mindful Thrift – and – A Free Book Giveaway!!! =-.
I like the idea of e-books, but I really don’t like the idea of having to buy all my books from one e-store, as the iPad and Kindle seem to require. It’s a lot of money to spend, and the landscape is shifting quickly.
.-= Ann Marie´s last blog ..A Corpse, a Cop, and Canines =-.
I always pooh-poohed e-books and e-readers. But like your husband, I took one look at the iPad release vid online and said, out loud to my empty bedroom, “I want an iPad.” I really, really do.
.-= Danica´s last blog ..Basic Biology =-.
I have a kindle and I don’t really see on the ipad really competes with an e-reader of any time when the e-reader is designed with electronic paper and the ipad has a regular computer screen that is back lit. One of the nice things about electronic paper is that it isn’t as hard on your eyes as a computer screen. So, I guess I’m not convinced that the ipad is the next greatest thing. Plus, if it has a program that goes with it like itunes, I never want to use it. I love macs, and I like my ipod but I don’t care for Apple programs.
.-= Ruthann´s last blog ..Science Fridays! =-.