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Oh dear oh dear. Here we are in the MobileRead forum for people interested in e-readers. And hopefully there is some concensus on what an e-reader is. A device for reading digital books and other documents. A display that allows you to read out of doors or indoors but which does not depend on the screen having its own illumination - though the option to turn illumination on for reading in the dark would be useful! A device with very low power requirements so you can go days or weeks without having to charge the battery. A device that weighs less than the equivalent paper version of the book you are reading.
But along will come the tablet. the slate, whatever Apple decide to call it. And it may do lots of things that e-readers don't do. But because it will allow you to read digital books and documents (albeit without the display advantages, the battery life advantages, the lack of weight advantages) and it comes from Apple the world will change its view of what an e-reader is. It will be as if all the existing devices had ceased to exist. And the world will be a poorer place.
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