I don't understand that either. If it's basically a big iPod Touch, or to paraphrase that, a touchscreen/wifi/email/web browser/e-reader that runs apps from the app store, I'll be happy. Even more if it's substantially under $1000.
Got a tip for us?
Let us know
Become a MacRumors Supporter for $50/year with no ads, ability to filter front page stories, and private forums.
Book Publishers Offer Details on Apple's Tablet Plans?
- Thread starter MacRumors
- Start date
- Sort by reaction score
I don't understand that either. If it's basically a big iPod Touch, or to paraphrase that, a touchscreen/wifi/email/web browser/e-reader that runs apps from the app store, I'll be happy. Even more if it's substantially under $1000.
ha
Just like all the public domain music and movies on itunes at present right? Free media competes with pay media, so no access to free media?
Just like all the public domain music and movies on itunes at present right? Free media competes with pay media, so no access to free media?
Amazon. . .what do they want, really?
Does Amazon really want to be a competitive, leading manufacturer of electronics (Kindle) or did they feel they need to jump in because no one had yet built a good reader? Do they view themselves as a gigantic retailer of traditional and e-books or do they really want to enter into an arms race with Apple?
Seems to me Amazon would be better served supporting platforms as a distributor and taking a cut off each transaction. Not sure what they, Barnes and Noble think they will gain from the balkanization of the ebook market.
Does Amazon really want to be a competitive, leading manufacturer of electronics (Kindle) or did they feel they need to jump in because no one had yet built a good reader? Do they view themselves as a gigantic retailer of traditional and e-books or do they really want to enter into an arms race with Apple?
Seems to me Amazon would be better served supporting platforms as a distributor and taking a cut off each transaction. Not sure what they, Barnes and Noble think they will gain from the balkanization of the ebook market.
Are you on drugs? It doesn't need to be any price, and if it's in between a MBP and an iPhone and acts as the best eReader out there plus whatever other capabilities it may/will have, then $299 is absolutely absurd. It's Apple: nothing first gen is ever cheap. Accept it.
It may depend on whether Apple decides to simply deliver the hardware or enter into an arms race with Amazon and other distributors for content distribution
In the latter case publishers/distributors may prefer Microsoft/HP
HobeSoundDarryl
macrumors G5
You can't do that. Apple prices their production at the premium end of the spectrum. Sure you have that $300 notebook, but look at where Apple prices their lowest-end notebook. Someone can get a smart phone for free with contract, look where Apple prices their smart phone with contract. There are tons of iPod-like players- some with MORE capabilities than iPod- but look where Apple prices their iPods. Why will this product break the pattern?
And these people imagining the print industry will subsidize the price, why exactly will they do that? And are you the same people who keep speculating that all this print media is going to be souped up with new features like video, etc AND priced a lot lower since it won't have to be printed and distributed like the print edition? Apple can't "save" the print industry
while getting them to chip in on the TOTAL price Apple wants for this Tablet, getting them put in the time & effort to meaningfully enhance their print products for the Tablet AND getting them to significantly reduce the price they charge for that media, since they don't have to print it on paper for this Tablet. Realistically, if there is going to be a subsidy for a price "not anywhere near $1000", it's going to be hooked to an optional 3G contract. That way the company paying the difference with you will actually get paid back by you over time.
Having read all I've read, thought about the possibilities, etc. my low-end guess is still at $799 unsubsidized, which, in marketing-speak is "not anywhere near $1000", with pricing as low as around $399 with a 2-year contract with AT&T or Verizon.
This is Apple we're talking about. On what else did they roll out a "next big thing" product and have everyone shocked at how LOW the price was (without a 3G subsidy hooked to it)?
HobeSoundDarryl
macrumors G5
They're all hoping for a iPod-like dominance scenario. It's their shot at building an iPod for books. They all saw what iPod did for little Apple (at the time) and would all like a chance to do the same for themselves.
HobeSoundDarryl
macrumors G5
Sorry, I should have better worded that relative to rolling out a new Apple product.
The away from 1000 dollar price point is good news, but I'm concerned that will mean its more of a big iPod touch. This report as well as the data of "50 tablet like devices surfing the web using 3.2" suggests that to me. It be a neat device, but not quite what I'm looking for.
Yes I can do that, because $500 is much more than under $300.
How are you missing that point.
It would be like me saying, well I have a hp notebook for $500 that does this that and this so it makes sense that Apple could do something in line with those specs for $999.
Somehow you misunderstood that under $300 is not the same price point as $500.
Well technically that's all it is. It'll be the iPhone 4's hardware, but attached to a 10" display. Maybe more RAM, maybe more battery, but that's it. Incremental cost increase over the iPhone could be minimal considering that miniaturisation will not be quite as drastic. $700 seems feasible.
HobeSoundDarryl
macrumors G5
Sorry, I didn't mean you couldn't do that as in "I forbid you to do that". I meant that's not how Apple prices things. Following your logic, maybe I could find that same Asus notebook used for $50, and since it has the same tech inside, maybe this Tablet should be priced at $100. That's still 100% more, but it will have no more of a bearing on how Apple prices this thing.
The reality is that apparently Apple thinks this is a really big thing. It has it's own special session scheduled this week. If you step back through a similar setup in Apple's history, the pattern is exactly the same:
- major fanboy hype buildup ahead of the event
- major segments believe that "this time pricing will be different (lower)"
- EVENT is on with live coverage
- we drink the koolaid, oohing and ahing all the way up until Steve announces the price
- then, there are a ton of thread posts griping about how it's missing this and that, I can't believe they want that much for it, and 2 or 3 posts about "snappier" and "powerbook G5".
Do you really believe that this time is going to be different?
I think we get your price- maybe a little better than that- with a subsidy via AT&T or Verizon, or some similar, contract-hooked arrangement directly with Apple, or similar. I just don't see an unsubsidized iPhone being priced higher than this "latest & greatest" Tablet, even if I try to cut the phone functionality (and thus all the benefits of that functionality) out of this, and let it be more of a bigger iPod Touch.
But the good news is we both find out in less than 2 days. I'd hang on to that Asus rather than make a big bet on a $499 unsubsidized Tablet to replace it.
Super fail for thinking it is possible that they will price it for less than the (high end) iPod Touch, it probably is going to have an iPod on it.
Here's another vote for the same confusion. The only thing lacking from the iPhone, save size, is the ability to run arbitrary software on it a la OS X.
Ignore the iPhone/iPod name & baggage for a moment, and just slightly tweak the specs.
If I offered you a pretty much full-blown computer, with touchscreen, WiFi/G3/G4, e-mail, web browsing, e-book reader, Bluetooth keyboard and mouse (with trackpad surface) support, 10s of GB of flash, "cloud computing" support offloading local storage needs, runs arbitrary software* including compilers*, and maybe even mini Display Port & USB (if not wireless versions thereof), all in a package no larger than a 10" notepad about 1/4" thick (and little heavier), why would you NOT gladly shell out $1000+ for it? Come Thursday lunch I'll be at the Apple store waving my credit card.
* - this may be the make/break point for many of us. The iPhone model is awesome, but for the single caveat that all software be Apple-approved. For truly breakthru tech, the device must free the user from the desktop; as is now, about the only reason I have a home PC short of screen size & keyboard is that the iPod demands periodic tethering. Dear Steve, grant us gcc...
The number of copies that a content provider can sell is directly connected to how many devices are bought and deployed. For example if there are only 1 million devices then the NYTimes can't possibly sell more than 1 million subscriptions. In fact most publishers are only going to get a smaller fragment of the total device population. So for them to be interested need to have a sufficiently larger market (or portential market) than the competing solutions. There is zero reason for those folks to seriously talk with Apple unless they are getting some projection of footprint the device will have. There is no way to do a cost benefit analysis if you don't have those numbers.
Will this have phone capabilities as well? It's a big @$$ iPhone right. So we can hold the 10 inch screen to our ear to talk. Imagine if we never moved away from the big 'brick' cell phones because technology never advanced to a point were chips never got smaller and things just got faster. This will be the first You-tube video, holding this thing up to you ear.
Seriously, wonder how much data plan is and where is tethering?
Seriously, wonder how much data plan is and where is tethering?
Waky Waky
Think further.
You see,
The real paradigm here is not a computer without a keyboard - the real paradigm here is the way content will be accessed. Don´t look to hard on the hardware - content is king - The hardwares purpose is only to distribute the content.
If you want to stream - make it smoth as a dream...
Think further.
You see,
The real paradigm here is not a computer without a keyboard - the real paradigm here is the way content will be accessed. Don´t look to hard on the hardware - content is king - The hardwares purpose is only to distribute the content.
If you want to stream - make it smoth as a dream...
I hope Apple does not release something in the $299-$399 range like some people are hoping. That means it would be nothing more than a glorified iPod Touch or subsidized by a contract. I am hoping for more than a big screen for Apps and e-book. I also don't need another contract and I think many would agree. I have a friend that works at Future Shop here in Canada (owned by Best Buy) and he said those netbooks you get for free by signing a contract for a data plan hardly ever sell. None of the employees make any commission from them because no customer even seems interested.
HobeSoundDarryl
macrumors G5
Furthermore, if you are these publishers, you don't care that much about Tablet numbers, as getting your products sold to ALL-itunes-connected devices. Getting to sell your magazines, books, etc to the whole crowd is much, MUCH more appealing than thinking about being sold on just this ONE device.
I fear that too many people think the 2 are absolutely intertwined... that this print media is going to be to the Tablet, what apps are to the iPhone/Touch. I don't see it that way at all. If I'm one of these publishers, I want my new iTunes media to be sold like the movie/tv show/music media in iTunes... meaning, to everyone with an iTunes-connected device.
But, as soon as you decouple this special new content from the Tablet, it circles right back to "if I already have (laptop, iPhone, Touch, or combinations), why do I need this Tablet" questions. And the most solid answers keep coming back to less tangible answers like "cool", "thinner", "lighter", (moderately more) "convenient", and the imaginary features such as those on Star Trek tricorders, and similar.
I'd happily pay $500-$600 for a 10" iPod Touch if it lets me read books, newspapers, and magazines on it, lets me store pdf files on it and access them offline, and has good data/text entry features for taking meeting notes.
If I could edit Office docs too, that would be icing on the cake. USB and SD ports, and the ability to connect a bluetooth keyboard, would be a cherry on top (to mix my metaphors).
If I could edit Office docs too, that would be icing on the cake. USB and SD ports, and the ability to connect a bluetooth keyboard, would be a cherry on top (to mix my metaphors).
Good. All these different incompatible readers are annoying. I just want to read my books, both paid and public domain as well as PDFs and other documents. I would like them to be readable in what ever 'reader' I want to use. For example, GoodReader, not a book seller, is a great reader. I use it for PDFs and JPGs. It would be great if it read paid books too and could access (read) all the books on a device rather than having little sandboxes.
MacRumors said:
There is an enormous library of public domain books already in existence. Hopefully that is going to be available. It would be a crying shame if Apple were to lock out public domain literature. I suspect this will be accessible on the Tablet, after all it is accessible on the iPod/iPhone and the Macintosh. Even Windows can.
MacRumorsApple's tablet will not be priced "anywhere near" the $1 said: