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Steve Jobs on MacBook Air, Android and Kindle

he was saying the same thing about video on iPod or the possibility of an Apple branded phone - and look now!

So now I'll just say, instead of following what he says as universal truth, that I find his comment about Books/reading highly suspicious (and also I have to say I don't agree with him at all) – I am sure actually that they are actively working on a Mac Tablet that will be waaay cooler than anithing else on the market, thiner, less than 2oz and that will be also able to be used as eBook.

Funny that Zoolander is at the top of selling/rental lists in iTunes - when are we going to see a Steve Jobs "Center For Children Who Can't Read Good And Wanna Learn To Do Other Stuff Good Too"

And on a final note, I saw a guy the other day in the subway who had one of those Sony book electronic gadget thing - I have to say it is pretty cool... and would give it a try - but paper is way better anyway...
 
Hi,

My name is Steve, and I'm a pompous ass. Everything I'm involved with is great and revolutionary, and no other person or company has the capacity to be successful at anything.

My stock has dropped 10% in two days because everyone else is too stupid to recognize my greatness.
 
nasty Steve?

Steve Jobs said:
I actually think Google has achieved their goal without Android, and I now think Android hurts them more than it helps them. It’s just going to divide them and people who want to be their partners.
Click to expand...
Am I alone in thinking this is a kind of veiled threat?

I mean if the entire rest of the cellphone vendor market is jumping on Android (they seem to be), Android would be facilitating the cooperation between Google and everyone else.

The only "partner" this could create a divide with is Apple. :)
 
Just like Jobs thought no one would like to watch videos and movies on a 3 inch screen. I guess he can be wrong sometimes. The only reason I haven't purchased an iPhone or iPod Touch yet is it doesn't do Ebooks. That is the only reason I still use my Palm. Get a clue Apple. Get a clue Jobs. Not because everyone wants something, doesn't mean you can't still give the features to the people that do. It wouldn't take much to be an Ebook reader on the Touch and iPhone.
 
Read?

People read all the time. We're all reading this.

And plenty of people still read novels. Just ask J.K. Rowling.

Oh, and I'd say that half of the most successful movies that were released during the past few years were based on novels.

And I would still like a good, slick e-reader app for my iPhone.
 
People don't read anymore!? What a top class chump. So in future Apple is going to be led in its decision making by the proclivities of America's burger munching bloated residuum eh? I look forward to Ives turning his hand to the Lazy-Boy Commode Pro then!
 
Steve might be losing it!

Steve Jobs has always been a real *** and he has always been a very negative person when it comes to discussing others products (unless they are his partners).

But after watching the last keynote he really appears to be declining. I have never seen such a lackluster, unenthusiastic, mistake prone presentation from Jobs. Twice he referred to the great features in Tiger when he meant leopard, he stemmed and stuttered, he fumbled through flickr photos, and just did not seem very excited. Usually I come away from a SJ presentation feeling pumped and ready to buy. I actually had trouble staying awake during this one.

I think his illness, his age, and his involvement in multiple companies is starting to take it's toll.
 
Spades said:
OK, people are reading fewer things published by the publishing industry. I'm sure that's a clear sign that fewer people are reading.

After all it's not like there's a new way of distributing the written word. Other than THE INTERNET.

It's fine to claim people are reading less but it doesn't seem likely to me, and you certainly need better evidence than a weakening publishing industry.
Click to expand...


Um. Who's providing the content for Amazon for the Internet?

The publishing industry that's shrinking.

A weakening publishing industry is good evidence, not bad evidence.

Of course, there are other things that are providing content on the internet, but those are things that are not providing content for Amazon.
 
This is great news!!!!!


If Jobs says they're not gonna do it, it means they WILL do it in exactly one year from now!

That's how it was with the iPod video, the iPhone, the AppleTV, the move to intel... Basically anything Steve says he WON'T do, he WILL do.
 
Steve may be misreading what the market is for ebooks, but he has a lot better handle on what's actually ocurring than a lot of folks here, who seem to be shooting from the hip and not thinking a whole lot about it.

odedia said:
This is great news!!!!!


If Jobs says they're not gonna do it, it means they WILL do it in exactly one year from now!

That's how it was with the iPod video, the iPhone, the AppleTV, the move to intel... Basically anything Steve says he WON'T do, he WILL do.
Click to expand...

Quite possible. He'll probably do something in a distinctly different way, though, with more of an emphasis on style and usability.
 
"It doesn't matter how good or bad the product is, the fact is that people don’t read anymore," he said. "Forty percent of the people in the U.S. read one book or less last year. The whole conception is flawed at the top because people don’t read anymore."
Click to expand...
How many books were sold last year?
 
Granted I may not be book-read, but I've got subscriptions to Men's Health, Esquire, and GQ, and I sometimes read the articles! Although I do have to admit I mainly subscribe to sample the newest colognes. If Apple can't come out with an e-reader that lets me smell the latest cologne, it's worthless.
 
Has there ever been a time when more than 40% of Americans read more than one book a year? Stating the current stat without comparing it to history is meaningless.
 
gwangung said:
Um. Who's providing the content for Amazon for the Internet?

The publishing industry that's shrinking.

A weakening publishing industry is good evidence, not bad evidence.

Of course, there are other things that are providing content on the internet, but those are things that are not providing content for Amazon.
Click to expand...

Who cares about Amazon. I agree the Kindle is junk. That still doesn't change that there's more to reading than what the traditional publishing industry puts out.
 
ViveLeLivre said:
Kindle is flawed because it's ugly as sin and has a poor button layout, yet they're constantly sold out on Amazon (think Nintendo Wii-like availability).
Click to expand...
Amazon can't possibly be selling 1.8 million of them a month... (Notes that is how many Wii's Nintendo makes for the whole world a month...)
 
I guess whenever I walk into a Borders or Barnes & Noble and it's crowded, all of those people are there purely out of curiousity as to what all those strange objects on the shelves are.
 
Macbookair and Macbook tablet

I agree that people read far less BOOKS than they used to, but isn't that largely because of our busy lifestyles, our growing love for modern 'new media' alternatives etc?

Isn't that the point of these mac computers, to gel everything that you need, and put them all at your fingertips? I think it is less about people not reading, and more because people aren't used to the whole concept of purchasing digital books online...yet. iTunes store will never make the kind of sales on books that they do with music.

The problem is you can't sell books to any generation of people in the same glittery way as you can blockbuster movies.

I do think you could gradually get consumer interest going by providing a digital link & code system on every paperback book in Borders for example, meaning that you have purchased the book and the link to download it for viewing on your tablet if desired.

I can see that the the many creative pros and pro-sumers would gain from having the kind of touchscreen tablet that would allow them to tweak their digital creations without the need of a wacom tablet. To be able to have all the features of every other mac in your lap, as light as a macbook air, a tablet would have all the convenience of reading a magazine, easy to pick up, easy to put down, easy to pass around and doesn't make you look as if you've brought work along with you wherever you go. Be a hardcore user, do seriously amazing stuff, but the chance to appear casual about it, instead of a computer geek.

I think a multi-touch, touch screen tablet form mac would be huge. The Macbook Air minus the keyboard would be a great start.
 
I read

I read. Not as often as I'd like but I love reading.
I read Great Expectations from the Gutenberg project on my iBook which was pretty painless. I'd love a lightweight, cheap (super) low-power e-reader but without any commercial tie-ins to a large corporation. I'm particularly keen on the idea of a few hundred digital pages, so that turning pages and flicking through a book to get a look at the contents is still possible. I know they don't exist yet but Kindle, like the Sony reader, is a start, (mostly) in the right direction.
ibjoshua
 
Macbookair and Macbook tablet

I agree that people read far less BOOKS than they used to, but isn't that largely because of our busy lifestyles, our growing love for modern 'new media' alternatives etc?

Isn't that the point of these mac computers, to gel everything that you need, and put them all on one device at your fingertips? I think it is also less about people not wanting to read, and more because people aren't used to the whole concept of purchasing digital books online...yet. Think of how many people read every day, except they're reading online, because they have to go onto their computers every day to check email, so thy're conveniently one click away from reading the news/weather or whatever...so I think the mindset now is that the peoples library of choice is on their computer.

Currently, the iTunes store will never make the kind of sales on books that they do with music therefore it's not a viable option for them to try and do so.

The problem is you can't sell books to any generation of people in the same glittery way as you can blockbuster movies or music albums.

A long shot, but I do think you could gradually get consumer interest going by providing a digital link & code system on every paperback book in Borders for example, meaning that you have purchased the book and the link to download it for viewing on your tablet if desired.

I can see that the the many creative pros and pro-sumers would gain from having the kind of touchscreen tablet that would allow them to tweak their digital creations without the need of a wacom tablet. To be able to have all the features of every other mac in your lap, as light as a macbook air, a tablet would have all the convenience of reading a magazine, easy to pick up, easy to put down, easy to pass around and doesn't make you look as if you've brought work along with you wherever you go. Be a hardcore user, do seriously amazing stuff, but the chance to appear casual about it, instead of a computer geek.

I think a multi-touch, touch screen tablet form mac would be huge. The Macbook Air minus the keyboard would be a great start.
 
1000 books in your pocket

A huge portable personal library is the correct model for music, it is not for books. Who needs to carry around more than one book at a time. A song lasts 5 min, so the portability of hundreds of songs needs a solution. A book can last from days to weeks, so just carry the book, its not a problem that needs solving (certainly not in a dedicated device). The displays use wonderful technology, they can be used for all sorts of great stuff, but having 1000 books in my pocket is not useful.
 
Spades said:
A minority of whom spend absurd amounts of money on books annually.
Click to expand...

Exactly. How many users are on Librarything.com? My 8000 book library is a testament to the absurd amount of money I've spent on books ... probably 10X what I've spent on technology in my lifetime.

I don't usually say this, but Jobs came across like a dick in that interview. I think I'll buy a Kindle today just to thumb my nose at him. He certainly didn't introduce anything yesterday more worthy of my $400.
 
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