Excellent idea, with two minor drawbacks:
1... eInk is opaque, and cannot be backlit.
2... backlights are what stress eyes in LCD displays in the first place, and thus defeats the main benefit of eInk: reflected light that looks more like paper.
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.
Steve Jobs on MacBook Air, Android and Kindle
- Thread starter MacRumors
- Start date
- Sort by reaction score
Excellent idea, with two minor drawbacks:
1... eInk is opaque, and cannot be backlit.
2... backlights are what stress eyes in LCD displays in the first place, and thus defeats the main benefit of eInk: reflected light that looks more like paper.
But then again, paperbacks don't lie flat, books aren't searchable and they take up a lot of space that people don't have today.
To all those Luddites who claim that print is "special", I'm sure Apple could give us an iReader that smells like leather and has a built-in compartment to hold silverfish.
Your assumptions are completely off base. Do you honestly think that less than 60% of Americans listened to a song on the radio, a CD they bought, a download from iTMS, or a track they pulled off P2P in the past year? Do you honestly think that less than 60% of Americans rented DVDs, used PPV services, purchased TV shows from iTMS, or downloaded a movie from P2P in the past year?
The numbers for on line acquisition of media is going up while the numbers of book sales are going down. I don't agree w/Jobs' hyperbole that "no one reads anymore" but the trends are very obvious. There are so many more entertainment options out there now that the market has become very fragmented.
Would I be surprised if Apple added eBook functionality to the iPhone/iPod Touch or a tablet style device? No, because Apple doesn't foreshadow its future products. I would be surprised though if Apple came out w/a dedicated eBook reader. That, IMO, would be a dead-end product.
Lethal
Yes I'm sure Steve paid some employee or marketing firm to find out this information.
Now that I have my MacBook Pro I don't read anymore... facts is facts
I wonder if all these people who feel print is special also love getting smeared ink on their fingers when they read newspapers. I bet they love dealing with flipping pages on the paper and finding the story in tiny ink. Screw that, I love reading the times on my kindle. I find the story I like in the index and it instantly brings me to it. It's compact and fast and I love not having to throw out the paper. It's all digital.
When iTunes music store came out, people said they prefer holding their music on CDs and still some people say Vinyl is the way to hold your music. Well, that hasn't stopped the digital music store from taking off.
Ne'er a truer word was spoken, or at least, that's what the rest of the world thinks
Now, now, don't get all defensive and patriotic on me: obviously, if you're too dumb to read you won't be here on this forum, so I'm clearly not insulting YOU personally! But Americans are viewed as dumber by the rest of the world, and that massive figure of 40% just goes to show why.
Personally, from a business point of view, I'm fed up of dealing with Americans who think I've priced my stuff in dollars, and are amazed to discover we don't use dollars in my country
Don't they teach anything in schools over there?And, heh... the irony is that the "stuff" I'm selling is ... ummm... books
I can't justify a Kindle and $10.00 e-books. I have an old fashioned library card for myself and my family. This year my goal is to read the top 100 Scifi novels of all time. A Kindle will set me back $400, and 100 novels at $10 will set me back another $1,000. That is just what I read, not including my wife and daughters reading habits.
My Library card costs $50 a year Vs. $1,400 I would invest in a Kindle just to reach my current goal. If the library doesn't have a book I want, I pay a whopping dollar for interlibrary exchange.
The only benefit a Kindle would offer me is saving me the trip to the Library, but I find it a fun thing to do with the family. Kindle might be a great alternative to people who sink $100+ a month at Barnes & Noble and Borders, but your average library card holder (who I would guess make up a majority of avid readers) laughs at the cost.
I'm not tied to the feel of a real book in my hands either. If the cost of a Kindle became more in line with what I pay for the volumes of content I read, then I could consider purchasing one. If Apple offered a slightly bigger iPod Touch that had an e-book reader, I could see myself going in that direction too--as long as the cost of the books was cheaper than $10 a pop.
The chances that Apple would offer books at a reasonable rate? Zilch.
My Library card costs $50 a year Vs. $1,400 I would invest in a Kindle just to reach my current goal. If the library doesn't have a book I want, I pay a whopping dollar for interlibrary exchange.
The only benefit a Kindle would offer me is saving me the trip to the Library, but I find it a fun thing to do with the family. Kindle might be a great alternative to people who sink $100+ a month at Barnes & Noble and Borders, but your average library card holder (who I would guess make up a majority of avid readers) laughs at the cost.
I'm not tied to the feel of a real book in my hands either. If the cost of a Kindle became more in line with what I pay for the volumes of content I read, then I could consider purchasing one. If Apple offered a slightly bigger iPod Touch that had an e-book reader, I could see myself going in that direction too--as long as the cost of the books was cheaper than $10 a pop.
The chances that Apple would offer books at a reasonable rate? Zilch.
I think, nowadays there are a lot more people who read books than 50 years ago.. if I'd be able to read PDFs on the Kindle (I mean all PDFs, not just the ones that are benignly formatted) I'd buy a Kindle immediately. I've about a hundred scientific papers scattered all over my desk in my office, I'd be absotely willing to pay $300-$400 to get rid of that mess. $1700 for a thin laptop that's actually larger than my 12" powerbook, well, I'm not so sure about that...
"people don't read anymore"
that is a pretty asinine comment. It is about as asinine as the idea of making an electronic reader. But nonetheless, it's not the most effective anti-electronic reader argument available.
I think the real problem at hand is that "people don't read anymore". If 40% of Americans don't read books... than 40% of (North) Americans need to stop watching 2hr episodes of The Biggest Loser and pick up a book.
that is a pretty asinine comment. It is about as asinine as the idea of making an electronic reader. But nonetheless, it's not the most effective anti-electronic reader argument available.
I think the real problem at hand is that "people don't read anymore". If 40% of Americans don't read books... than 40% of (North) Americans need to stop watching 2hr episodes of The Biggest Loser and pick up a book.
LOL Has nobody else seen the irony in Steve "Moron" Jobs talking about marketshare? Based on his specious logic, "nobody" buys his over priced fancy toy Mac garbage either. You would think a flim flam artist who sells over priced fancy looking junk to 10% of the population would think twice about characterizing other products or industries as niche. If you didn't have legions of kool aid drinking idiots buying your small marketshare products, you'd be a poor hippy. I hate to break it to you steve-o, "nobody" buys macs either, with 10% of marketshare if that, that's less people than read 1 book LOL.
I think Steves a little upset that his Macbook Air is a miserable failure as an "ultra portable" with a footprint the size of an elephant. Oh wait, but its so thin! LOL
I think Steves a little upset that his Macbook Air is a miserable failure as an "ultra portable" with a footprint the size of an elephant. Oh wait, but its so thin! LOL
The biggest probelm here and we are all victim to it.... is INFORMATION OVERLOAD. Back in the day Newpaper,Books, TV (13 Channels), Newspapers, Mail (postoffice) and Phone.... Rotory...Radio. I'm sure there are many more like telegraph... and Phonograph....
Now we have PDA's, Cellphones, Phone, Kindels, TV (700 Channels), INTERNET, Mail, Email, SMS, Elevator video, Laptops, ipods, Blu-Ray, DVD, HD-DVD. Wireless, Bluetooth...PS3,Xbox FAX, DVR, VHS, DV, MPEG, QUicktime, DIVX, MP3.... the list will go on and on.... there are just so many things taking up our time ..... who has time any more...
All the things that are saving us time are using up our time.
Yep! It will be THIN! Thinner than a piece of paper and can't be weighed! In fact it will be so thin one will not be able to read or see it!
So do you read the interview in the NY Times or do you read about it on a webpage? Print is not dead, but it will get unimportant. And to go online you will use a computer (video, audio, programs, colors!), and not use something like the b&w kindle.
Except the start up cost to the consumer! That would be one hell of a price even before buying your first ebook!
The funny thing about this is that the pre-requisite to buying music, using a Mac, buying on line movies etc.... etc.... is that One FIRST must be able to read! Just another arrogant pompous ass statement by the man himself, SJ!
I remember seeing that budget Motorola phone with e-ink and some sort of Backlight. Or maybe the screen was sunken in a little and lighted from the sides. Anyway, there should be a way to have some kind of reading light without having to resort to a lamp when on a plane, car or whatever. Reading in the dark is bad too. Oh well, guess it will never come to life since no one wants a dedicated device just for reading I guess.
A pocket book sized tablet would still be neat tho. The Macbook Air shows us how small a motherboard can be. I say, put 2 GB of soldered on RAM and a 1.8" iPod HDD on it. Maybe add 2GB Flash for swapping and/or sleep image. Make the battery big enough to last minimum 6 hours when actually using the device and just have a normal version of OSX running on it. think EEEPC, but as a pretty, mobile tablet.
Didn't Steve once denounce portable media players?
Didn't Steve once deny that they were making a phone?
Didn't Steve state that he dislikes ultra-portables because he dislikes any kind of tradeoff in performance?
Uhhhmmmm..... yeah. Next big thing coming from Apple - the Apple Kindle (got a nice ring doesn't it?)
Didn't Steve once deny that they were making a phone?
Didn't Steve state that he dislikes ultra-portables because he dislikes any kind of tradeoff in performance?
Uhhhmmmm..... yeah. Next big thing coming from Apple - the Apple Kindle (got a nice ring doesn't it?)
Your wife is not 300 million people.
All those comments on here and that blog about how they know someone who reads or see 100 people at bookstore proves that everyone still reads makes me laugh.
It is like the people who get 4 feet of snow in their neighborhood and say "Hey, there isn't any climate change!"
There is a difference between micro and macro. Learn it.
Thousands moan and groan daily about Amazon's inability to deliver these in under a month after one orders. Such a dismal failure.
Some of you are taking his comments way too personally. I don't think Steve was saying that people shouldn't read. He was simply saying they don't... not enough to warrant creating a new product or duplicating a current one. His comments were from a business perspective, not a human one.
Those who read, in his opinion, are few and far between (which is in fact a true statement). Of those who do, there are not enough that would shell out a few hundred simply to do what they are already doing, only on the road. Reading a book (a novel anyway) is often a several-day procedure per book. This is in contrast to the iPod, where each song lasts for a few minutes. Therefore it's more convenient to have several songs in your pocket every day... not as convenient or necessary to carry several books at once.
I don't think he was being arrogant, or difficult, or condescending, or rude. He was being realistic. And I'd like to think that the Kindle caters to the novel reader, not the textbook/reference book reader. I know that there's no way I'd have my Kindle out while referring to the substance of a book. I'd want my handwritten dog-eared highlighted textbook instead. Jobs knows this.
Just my opinion. I could be wrong.
Those who read, in his opinion, are few and far between (which is in fact a true statement). Of those who do, there are not enough that would shell out a few hundred simply to do what they are already doing, only on the road. Reading a book (a novel anyway) is often a several-day procedure per book. This is in contrast to the iPod, where each song lasts for a few minutes. Therefore it's more convenient to have several songs in your pocket every day... not as convenient or necessary to carry several books at once.
I don't think he was being arrogant, or difficult, or condescending, or rude. He was being realistic. And I'd like to think that the Kindle caters to the novel reader, not the textbook/reference book reader. I know that there's no way I'd have my Kindle out while referring to the substance of a book. I'd want my handwritten dog-eared highlighted textbook instead. Jobs knows this.
Just my opinion. I could be wrong.
40% don't read, the other 60% don't just read.
So really not much market as the ones interested would see the technology and wonder what it offers.
Reduces paper - just like a library
Easy to distribute - good but not a king hit.
It's electronic - so i can underline and make comments then have them search able and cut and paste into the paper i'm writing.
There's your selling advantage. Can Kindle do this?
I guess no as it not a highlighted feature.
Is this what Steve is really referring to. the market isn't served by the product.