Should we reserve a spot for Apple's Tablet in our devices list?

[dioib]

Apple January 27th "Come See Our Latest Creation" Event Confirmed

I am not personally a fan of Apple's "Shallow Beauty" products (despite personal experience), but I as far as mobile reading is concerned, I think the tablet is going to revolutionize our mobile reading experience by its larger screen and faster processor (touch capability aside). As for probable battery concerns I am thinking of Solio Portable Solar Chargers as long as compatibility is not an issue.

I am impatiently waiting for the date it hits the market..

[Jack Tingle]

No.

Originally Posted by dioib

...as far as mobile reading is concerned, I think the tablet is going to revolutionize our mobile reading experience...

I don't. At best, it will be YARD (yet another reading device). At worst, it will be very expensive and mostly useless for the purpose.

Originally Posted by dioib

I am impatiently waiting for the date it hits the market..

That's nice. Let's see if they actually release anything first. And if it has any value for reading ebooks.

Regards,
Jack Tingle

[phenomshel]

Originally Posted by Jack Tingle

No.



I don't. At best, it will be YARD (yet another reading device). At worst, it will be very expensive and mostly useless for the purpose.



That's nice. Let's see if they actually release anything first. And if it has any value for reading ebooks.

Regards,
Jack Tingle

Well, the problem here won't be the (mythical) device's value or non value for reading ebooks, it will be the fact that if it's an LCD display, it will get dismissed out of hand by a lot of people who won't read on anything except e-ink, (not that there's anything wrong with that preference). I can read and enjoy reading on both types of technology; but that's not the norm. Everyone's definition of "suitable to read ebooks on" is different - and you have to take that person's definition into account when reading opinions on a device's "value" for reading ebooks.

[dioib]

If I may say, the choice of a device by large depends on the diversity of document formats it can handle. For me, this rules out most of the current E-Readers in the market. The reason is simply that I mainly work with dense Mathematical documents and my preference is to see and read each page in one go (plus probable divinity of continuous page turn option). The main format I use is DJVU and to the best of my knowledge the current Ereaders either don't support the format at all or it's nothing but a headache (Tigran's development on Hanlin V3 appears to be a significant exception although I cannot comment on its page/view capabilities). The rest of document formats that people use for usual reading experience (minus PDF that I usually convert it to DJVU) are more or less (and elegantly) accessible on my HTC TP2 phone using MobiReader and Calibre. So my hopes for now, are factored out in Apple's new product (assuming it is anything near what was long expected).

[EowynCarter]

No.
Tablets are not e-readers, even though they can act as such.

[The Old Man]

Originally Posted by dioib

Apple January 27th "Come See Our Latest Creation" Event Confirmed

I am impatiently waiting for the date it hits the market..

"Should we reserve a spot on our devices list?
YES!
Apple's tablet/slate (if that's what the announcement turns out to be) will sell more units in the first year than all the others combined. If it's a large screen iTouch iPod with a longer-lasting user replaceable battery, connectivity with papers/magazines/books and applications like the iPod - I want one!

[nboshart]

Oh man, please cut out the italics serif!

It's going to shake things up, but it's not really an eReader. Are we adding other forums for tablet computers? I'm more interested in Asus's offering; I may be able to afford that one.

[The Old Man]

Originally Posted by nboshart

It's going to shake things up, but it's not really an eReader. Are we adding other forums for tablet computers? I'm more interested in Asus's offering; I may be able to afford that one.

But I think it will be an e-reader. Not with e-ink and not with as long a battery life but with the ability to read news, pdf, etc. I have found I like to read on a backlit screen provided the background can be set to a light beige, gray or some neutral color.

[dioib]

Originally Posted by nboshart

Oh man, please cut out the italics serif!

Roger!

As for the literal conflict, I take The Old Man's side. I think in this evolving world we'd better keep our horizons open to extension. Plus I think even if the device is NOT by some nonexistent definition an "eReader" in the exact literal(?) sense of the term, it would delightfully serve the purpose (if not for a long time, for a good time).

[rcuadro]

Originally Posted by EowynCarter

No.
Tablets are not e-readers, even though they can act as such.

Hell, then all computers are ereaders right

[kjk]

Why not just put it with the iPhone under "Portable Devices"?

[JSWolf]

No, we should not reserve a space for whatever the announcement is until it is announced and whatever it is is a good reader.

[wodin]

Originally Posted by rcuadro

Hell, then all computers are ereaders right

Well ..... Yes. Some better than others.

[The Old Man]

Originally Posted by rcuadro

Hell, then all computers are ereaders right

In a sense, yes. I had a Motion tablet for years and used it for a variety of functions. BUT an e-reader should have certain criteria such as quick on and off, easy to read, portable, 8 hours + battery life. If does other things like web surfing, app running, so much the better. I expect the Apple slate will do all that. Probably will have a camera and perhaps a phone. I'm expecting a lot.

[HansTWN]

I bow my head to Steve Jobs, the grandmaster of hype. Unbelievable, this thing hasn't even been announced, nobody knows how it will look, how much it will cost (actually we do, an arm and a leg), and what functionality it will have and his zealous fans want to add it to a reader forum already! Oh great marketing genius, we worship you.