By Edward Nawotka Here’s something I don’t get to write that often: Stephen King agrees with me (sort of). It the April 2 issue of Entertainment Weekly magazine, King devotes his pop culture column — this week’s title is “Inspector of Gadgets” — to the forthcoming iPad. As you might remember, King was himself a pitchman for the launch of …
12bn iPad Apps Totaling $8bn Predicted, How Many Will be Books?
By Edward Nawotka I haven’t pre-ordered an iPad yet. I’m still waiting to see if there are any takers for my Kindle II and the Bose SoundDock II I won at SXSW (Interested in either, email me, as a loyal reader I’ll do you a deal). But as the hype mounts, it’s getting more difficult to resist. What has been …
International iPad Coming in April
By Siobhan O’Leary Though the wireless, non-3G version of the iPad is scheduled for release on April 3rd in the US, Apple has announced that it will be released in Germany at the end of April. As reported in the Boersenblatt, the German iBookStore will be open for business this year (though no specific date was provided) and the prices …
The Future with Flippers: A Cautionary Tale for the Book Biz
By Edward Nawotka “So, in 2020, we’ll all arrive in one-piece jersey romper suits woven out of pulped hardback books and synthetic slippers made from discarded Kindle e-readers.” Thus begins Tyler Brûlé’s satirical vision of what the world might look like in another ten years if the iPad and other touch screen devices become dominant — and we don’t find a …
No Surprise: Apple Users Most Likely to Buy iPads
By Siobhan O’Leary One thousand German Internet users were asked by the market research institute Yougovpsychonomics if they plan to buy an iPad this year. As reported in the Boersenblatt, 20% of them answered “yes,” with 4% saying they would definitely purchase one and 16% saying it was very probable. The interest was greatest among people who already use Apple …
Tell Us Your Favorite Article on the iPad
By Edward Nawotka Today’s editorial, like so many others on the Web, discusses the launch of Apple’s iPad. There are a myriad of opinions, reviews, and view about the device and no clear consensus other than to agree that Apple is taking a risk by offering a device that appears compromised to many. So, in the service of our readers …
Apple is Up to Something Publishers May Not Like
Editorial by Edward Nawotka Earlier on Publishing Perspectives (“CES is not a Book Fair and Steve Jobs is no Joe Gutenberg“) I warned that the launch of Apple’s internet tablet would “likely be a revolution in computing, not a revolution in reading.” I take that back: iPad isn’t even a revolution in computing, it’s merely an incremental upgrade. That said, …
Börsenverein Welcomes iPad, txtr Readies App
By Siobhan O’Leary Though Apple’s iPad may not be available in Europe for months, the Börsenverein des deutschen Buchhandels (German Publishers and Booksellers Association) has nonetheless released a statement about it, pointing out that they are pleased to see another device on the market that will make the mobile reading of e-books more attractive. The Börsenverein also applauded Apple for …