[quote author=“SNIPUS”]How about instead of replicating the book reading experience we try to IMPROVE it
i.e.  you are reading a non fiction book and a word comes up you do not understand. double click it and the dictionary pops up with the answer.

You mean the way Leopard works right now when you right(control)-click a word and select “Look Up” from the contextual menu?

[quote author=“Tommo_UK”][quote author=“SNIPUS”]How about instead of replicating the book reading experience we try to IMPROVE it
i.e.  you are reading a non fiction book and a word comes up you do not understand. double click it and the dictionary pops up with the answer.

You mean the way Leopard works right now when you right(control)-click a word and select “Look Up” from the contextual menu?

right click???? heck Tommo just touch it. 

What ever happened to the scrolling\foldable lcd technology with color “ink” that would have touch sensors incorporated into it?  I remember last year there was quite a lot of discussion about it after digging up the patents.

We had discussed how great it would be to hold many books, “swiping” your finger across the page to turn the page, highlighting and making notes as you read, college students no longer having to lug around heavy books, lawyers having a database of books handy in court, having internet access, architects carrying blue prints, doctors carrying manuals, and everything smaller than a toliet paper tube.

It has “persistent” network connection over 3G. I bet Apple will eat it for breakfast as soon as next MW with a multi-touch tablet PC.

[quote author=“carbonat”]It has “persistent” network connection over 3G. I bet Apple will eat it for breakfast as soon as next MW with a multi-touch tablet PC.

Its not how big your connection is, its what you do with it

Much is made of the “free” EV-DO connection, but seeing as you can’t do anything with it other than download eBooks its fairly pointless highlighting it as a feature IMO.

[quote author=“Tommo_UK”][quote author=“carbonat”]It has “persistent” network connection over 3G. I bet Apple will eat it for breakfast as soon as next MW with a multi-touch tablet PC.

Its not how big your connection is, its what you do with it

Much is made of the “free” EV-DO connection, but seeing as you can’t do anything with it other than download eBooks its fairly pointless highlighting it as a feature IMO.

A multi-touch tabled mac from Apple will be the killer device for the forthcoming years. The iPhone and iPod touch are merely the testing devices for such jump ahead. This Apple branded tabled PC will eat competition exactly the same way the iPhone is doing. Since it will be a true computer running OS X, reading books on it is only one more possibility (you can already do it using any laptop). However, wireless fast internet access anywhere will be needed to completely exploit its possibilities. Virtually all laptop users already use 3G cards attached to their computers to ensure they are always connected. A stylish, thin multi-touch screen computer (imagine an iPhone like design, only significantly larger in screen size but only 10 mm width) will have to incorporate 3G out of the box to avoid design ugliness if external cards have to be added to it.

Unbelievable pumping of AMZN from the Kindle launch:

10:42   AMZN Amazon.com: Kindle could prove to be as important to reading as the iPod has been to listening - Stifel (83.48 )

Earlier, Stifel said that they tested the Amazon Kindle, the recently launched hardware innovation from book retailer Amazon.com. The firm is convinced that the Kindle is a must have product for the heavy reader and, as well, the heavy traveler. Also, investors should expect Kindle to improve, its price point to drop, and its addressable market to expand, in their view. They believe Kindle, over time, could prove to be as important to reading as the iPod has been to listening. The firm raises their tgt to $94 from $91.

” They believe Kindle, over time, could prove to be as important to reading as the iPod has been to listening.”

IMO if iPod had launched only able to play music from the the iTunes store, it would be outsold by Creative and Sandisk. But music players would still be an important category. Same thing here; e-readers will be an important category, Kindle may or may not be important.

The problem is, Kindle is not a lust-worthy device, it’s a joining fee for a new book club. Imagine for example an Apple e-paper based “iPod book” - music + books (no video). Sync any pdf from iTunes. Or buy e-books and magazines from the iTunes store. In other words, a pure book replacement that doesn’t try to do the things that other devices are better at. Cheaper and better for the task at hand. Nothing new to learn.

[quote author=“Tommo_UK”][quote author=“carbonat”]It has “persistent” network connection over 3G. I bet Apple will eat it for breakfast as soon as next MW with a multi-touch tablet PC.

Its not how big your connection is, its what you do with it

Much is made of the “free” EV-DO connection, but seeing as you can’t do anything with it other than download eBooks its fairly pointless highlighting it as a feature IMO.

The Kindle does have a browser, though, from reports, it has problems. (It seems to be rather basic.) The 4-level grayscale display also limits its usefulness.

[quote author=“carbonat”]It has “persistent” netwoHowever, wireless fast internet access anywhere will be needed to completely exploit its possibilities. Virtually all laptop users already use 3G cards attached to their computers to ensure they are always connected.

Most of the people I know who have laptops don’t have a 3G card, even those with laptops that could use such a card. (The MacBooks caannot.) The service is expensive here in the US. That’s why they use WiFi hotspots.

[quote author=“gslusher”][quote author=“Tommo_UK”][quote author=“carbonat”]It has “persistent” network connection over 3G. I bet Apple will eat it for breakfast as soon as next MW with a multi-touch tablet PC.

Its not how big your connection is, its what you do with it
Much is made of the “free” EV-DO connection, but seeing as you can’t do anything with it other than download eBooks its fairly pointless highlighting it as a feature IMO.

The Kindle does have a browser, though, from reports, it has problems. (It seems to be rather basic.) The 4-level grayscale display also limits its usefulness.

That’s my point - its worse than useless. Its frustrating because you’ll never know if a site will load on it or not, thus wasting time and patience in the process.

[quote author=“gslusher”]

Most of the people I know who have laptops don’t have a 3G card, even those with laptops that could use such a card. (The MacBooks caannot.) The service is expensive here in the US. That’s why they use WiFi hotspots.

Not in Europe. Non-private WiFi spots are not that common. However 3G is everywhere and only costs Ђ59 a month (that’s in Spain, where prices are known to be higher) for unlimited access. As far as I learned from the posts in AFB the situation in the US is rather different than in the EU, as far as high speed connection availability and the used technologies is concerned.