Re: Re: why Apple won't build an ebook reader

I have to admit to being a fan of Jobs and Apple. But,
if the MacBook Air is any indication of where his head
is at, Jobs is losing it. Bad. An $1800 laptop that
has specs lower than the $150 cheaper Ultimate
BlackBook. And no optical drive. He actually thinks
people would be ok with "borrowing" another computer's
optical drive to install software. Wow. That's
ridiculous. Jobs has a great track record, but he's
not perfect. Just look at the first generation of
AppleTV.

With the ubiquity of the ipod/iphone it's amazing that
they aren't used more as readers. I know there are
tech issues with txt files over a certain size, but a
simple software update to fix that would instantly put
Apple head and shoulders beyond everyone in the reader
business.


--- John Landahl <[email protected]> wrote:

> --- In [email protected], Bill Janssen
> <bill@...> wrote:
> >
> > > Yes, Jobs has a point, especially in the context
> of Apple.  However,
> > > one might speculate that the Kindle will spur
> interest in reading.
> > 
> > One could, but hard to see any reason one *would*.
> > 
> > I suppose one could also speculate that Jobs is
> just trying to muddy
> > the waters, being poised to bring out his own
> reader, perhaps as early
> > as next week!  But why?
> > 
> > I thought his comment was interesting mainly
> because of his proven
> > track record in consumer gadgets, particularly
> leisure-time gadgets,
> > and his emphasis on "I skate to where the puck is
> going to be."
> > 
> > The Kindle's interesting, too.  It's a dedicated
> point-of-sale
> > terminal for Amazon, which makes the always-on
> connection aspect more
> > understandable.  Why put barriers in the way of
> purchasing something?
> > The "reader" part of it almost seems just window
> dressing, the
> > macguffin Amazon has hung their 21st Century
> version of direct mail
> > on.  And of course Apple's doing something similar
> with the iPhone and
> > the ability to use it to purchase music (and
> ebooks!) directly.  But
> > look at the differences in functionality between
> the two.  Wow!
> > 
> > Bill
> >
> 
> I certainly won't dispute Steve Jobs success in
> skating to where the puck will be in terms 
> of consumer electronic gadgets.  However, as other
> posters have pointed out, he may also 
> employ a little misdirection from time to time about
> where he anticipates the puck will be 
> a few months out.
> 
>  I'd say that what Amazon is doing is more like
> bringing the puck up the ice.  There's a 
> school of thought over on the MobileRead forums that
> says the Kindle is a long-term 
> effort on Amazon's part.  The argument is that it
> fits so well with their overall business 
> that Amazon will patiently and systematically work
> to refine the Kindle and the Kindle 
> Store, and will adjust the Kindle's price point to
> gain wider market acceptance over the 
> long term.  
> 
> One specific instance of efforts at refining their
> system is allowing Amazon gift cards to be 
> used for the purchase of Kindle editions.  One vocal
> complaint among early Kindle 
> purchasers was that the fine print on Amazon gift
> cards turned out to exclude 
> downloadable electronic products.  They argued that
> excluding ebooks didn't make any 
> sense, and evidently Amazon agreed, because shortly
> after Christmas the Kindle Store 
> began accepting gift cards for purchases.  There
> were several other similar early 
> complaints that have also become non-issues due to
> changes to Amazon's back-end 
> system.
> 
> John
> 
> 
> 



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