What is the Ultimate Role of the Apple Tablet?

[bobob]

As a point of reference for just a dedicated e-reader (and very little else), the Kindle is $249.

One feature not often highlighted when discussing the Kindle is the free 3G global cellular service that is included in the purchase price. ("3G Wireless: 3G wireless lets you download books right from your Kindle; no annual contracts, no monthly fees, and no hunting for Wi-Fi hotspots. Global Coverage: Enjoy 3G wireless coverage at home or abroad in over 100 countries.")

That is a rather big "very little else".

If Apple included a free global 3G cellular connection to the iTunes Store on the Tablet, that would be quite the selling point in my book.

 

[str1f3]

If Apple included a free global 3G cellular connection to the iTunes Store on the Tablet, that would be quite the selling point in my book.

LOL, that will never happen. Why? Because once you implement a color LCD and include Safari, the data usage will go through the roof. That is one reason amongst many that it can't be just a book/magazine reader.

 

[ronb]

There's no argument from me against the need for the print industry to go digital... nor that the print business is generally a dying industry. I don't even argue that trying any way to monetize the good work that is (generally) done there is a bad idea... quite the contrary... I'm all for the print media industries trying to save themselves any way they can... including selling their stuff via a massive channel like iTunes. That all makes perfect sense.

It's the "why the Tablet?" piece that I'm still not grasping. How is it required to pull all this off?

If this print media hits iTunes and is NOT exclusively available only to Tablet owners, why will we need a Tablet to consume it and "save" the print media industry with all these millions(???) of new subscribers?

I believe the tablet is key because it answers some of the advantages I previously mentioned of print. It's very portable and convenient. Christian K does bring up a good point on durability. Only time will tell how the hardware holds up. The difference in the tablet technology is subtle, but enough to turn the tide.

 

[HobeSoundDarryl]

One feature not often highlighted when discussing the Kindle is the free 3G global cellular service that is included in the purchase price. ("3G Wireless: 3G wireless lets you download books right from your Kindle; no annual contracts, no monthly fees, and no hunting for Wi-Fi hotspots. Global Coverage: Enjoy 3G wireless coverage at home or abroad in over 100 countries.")

That is a rather big "very little else".

If Apple included a free global 3G cellular connection to the iTunes Store on the Tablet, that would be quite the selling point in my book.

Right, but that's assumed (at least by me). However, I don't know if a feature who's sole purpose is to make it possible for you to "buy now" is a big selling point for selling a device that I think will be priced around $799. More simply: quick, give me $799 and I'll sell you this great device through which you can buy more stuff any time you want to buy it.

If anyone wants to give me $799, I'll be happy to be "on call" to help you buy anything you want to buy any time you want to buy it. I'll even help you buy things well beyond the stuff that is sold in the iTunes store. And I know my voice-to-ear interface will be superior to anything that can be done in silicon.

And "one more thing"... order during the introductory period and you can have me for only $699 with no data plan or contracts required. Hurry, this is a limited time, limited availability offer.

 

[Rocketman]

Smart, smart answer. I hope you are wrong about pricing being that high-

What you'll get at that price- and at my price too- is "why not just buy a Macbook?" unless it can really cover a lot of the things people use a laptop to do (though it is hard to imagine how).

(and the current incarnation is too small for my big hands).

Here we get to the nut. As a PowerBook owner who adopted the iPhone week 2, the interesting thing I noticed was I could do essentially all my read and review tasks on the iPhone almost immediately and continuously since. I also have fat fingers and failing eyes, but you know what? I could click on the smallest and poorest designed links on my websites despite the small screen size. The touch accuracy is stupendous.

I use a laptop as my desktop now and use its portability features as "luggable". Reminds me of the ole Kaypro! I can do anything on that thing I have done with any desktop, including log onto and run the grid! Client-server is back! It's so 70's.

The tablet, whether it be an iPhone, or a tablet is your "window to the world" "in the palm of your hand" and "with you and connected wherever you go.

That is the thing. Always-on access with a modest local compute capacity but uber convenient GUI and I/O. If you ever looked at the actual memory and CPU specs of an iPhone, they are very modest. But every one of those critters has a (flash) RAMDISC!

If I am wrong on the all-in price I will also be wrong about the margins. I know Apple has a minimum target of 40% and a stretch goal of 55%. That defines the pool of pricing, data plans, cloud plans, and value-added content sales. One has to go by the basic minimum as most buyers are cost sensitive.

There will always be premium customers who spend more than double the average, but there are not enough of them to bend the curve much. I still need a luggable for most of the content creation tasks I do and even though the tablet will have enough compute power to be a reasonable "window to the other computers", it will not replace them yet. But in the palm of your hand you will have a window to your home computer, work computer, cloud computers (instances), and of course your TV system.

That's worth $1100 for hardware, $2100 all-in. 24 easy installments.

"Only $89.95 per month on your credit card".
- Computer
- Phone
- DVR
- Stereo
- Baby monitor
- Terminal
- School books
- Magazines
- Videos
- Videoconferencing
- Video camera
- Dictation
- Media and data server

In the palm of your hand. Anywhere.

Rocketman

We're gonna need denser wifi access in populated places Lucy . . .
http://xirrus.com/

 

[bclark525]

ijob

Frankly speaking, there's also the factor that he was only a week or two away from being dead earlier this year.

I was in his position a few years ago. It makes you focus on what's most important to you, and what needs to be done quickly.

Perhaps he just doesn't want to wait any longer.

And we have all missed the obvious name for this new product: "ijob"! and it will do everything! and sell for $666.

 

[HobeSoundDarryl]

Rocketman, interesting post. I just can't imagine this thing at $89.95/month even with that reasonably good logic. I picture hundreds of dollars up front plus a 24-month plan or about $799 with no plan. But let me say, I'd love to see that (your view) happen... as that would sell a lot of Tablets (though then the question might become, why buy iPhones, iPods, and maybe computers anymore)?

This idea of Apple getting into the monthly payment side of iPhone-like business is interesting. Hooking it to the rumor about "cable killing" TV subscriptions and it could turn into a razor-blade model: give away the Tablet and make all the money on the service plan(s) approach. That is quite a stretch from Apple's long term stance of "being in the hardware business", but THAT would "sell" a lot of Tablets.

If it goes there, then I would advise Apple to make it $99/month and just give the Tablets away for free* (with a 24 month contract). That yields $2400 over the 2 years with an initial up-front price that can't be beat. 10M Tablets in year 1 would seem VERY LIKELY with that kind of deal.

 

[A.list.face]

This could be great for college students. Being able to use all ebooks and not having to worry about bookstore lines, lugging books around. I know I would rather do that.

 

[guet]

It's the "why the Tablet?" piece that I'm still not grasping. How is it required to pull all this off?

You can browse the web on a motorola razr, but an iPhone makes it much easier, and a larger touchscreen would make it easier still (NB not a laptop). You can read books on an iPhone, but a larger touchscreen would make it a more pleasant experience. You can manually browse lots of news sites or use instapaper to download copies of them, but using a dedicated news reader app that allowed subscriptions from many sources might be a more pleasant experience (the sort of software that might come into its own on a tablet). Nothing *requires* a tablet, but many things are made easier by it.

Evidently not all form factors or devices suit everyone, and some people feel a tablet would be better to consume media with than a laptop or iPod - I certainly do. If these arguments are meaningless to you, you will never understand the 'why' of a tablet form factor with decent software, so have a nice day and continue using your laptop or iPhone or whatever else you think more suitable.

No one is claiming that a tablet obsoletes the laptop or iPod, but a shift from print to digital is coming, and part of that shift are readers in multiple form factors.

As for the price, probably around $600-$800 initially, given the price of netbooks and iPod touches starts at $200. It's quite possible to price it at that level if they use the same sort of ARM chips and screens etc as the iPod, slightly bigger. Sure it'd disappoint the REAL photoshop on REAL MAC OS crowd, but that's not the market for a tablet.

Why would a book publisher want to "price their e-book for Tablet" right (meaning really low) to only help Apple sell more Tablets? What's in heavily cutting their revenues for each of these sales for those companies?

Brick and mortar stores typically take 50-60% of retail price, the app store takes 30%. In addition, printing and warehousing are substantial parts of the origination cost for books - that's why books go out of print. There's room for a price reduction for digital versions right there, with no revenue cut, and substantial increased revenue for publishers with large back catalogues, or who produce good digital versions of classics for a low price.

 

[talkingnewmedia]

I believe the tablet is key because it answers some of the advantages I previously mentioned of print. It's very portable and convenient. Christian K does bring up a good point on durability. Only time will tell how the hardware holds up. The difference in the tablet technology is subtle, but enough to turn the tide.

I agree that a tablet, one that captures the imagination of consumers the way that the iPhone has, is essential to creating a viable new market for publishers. The second important element would be having a new marketplace for publishers -- like the iTunes store for music or apps.

As usual, most of the talk in teh industry is focused on the world of journalism, or how this will effect the big publishers. But here is my closer-to-the-ground look at all this -- from the perspective of small trade publishers, newspapers, and their ad staffs.

If Apple announces not only a new tablet/reader, but a way for anyone to publish and be read, that would be truly revolutionary. I don't think they will go quite that far . . . at least not initially.

On second thought . . . anyone can have their podcasts on iTunes now, the process is really very easy. If creating publications for mobile media could become as easy as creating podcasts, or creating a blog on Blogger or WordPress, a whole new world of publishing would emerge-- a real disaster for traditional publishers. The biggest nightmare for media owners is not change, or new products, but fragmentation {over saturation}.

 

[TraceyS/FL]

OK. But do you want to pay (my guess) $799 for this AND THEN pay for the subscriptions to the e-Magazines to go with it? Or would you rather just use the $799 to buy hundreds of copies of the print version over the next few years. For example, if you subscribe to 2 magazines now at- say $25/yr each- $799 buys you 16 years of copies of those magazines... even if they are the dreaded print version.

The lack of clutter in my house is worth something. The ability to have with me/us anything we might want to read is worth something. To be able to grab on device when leaving the house - that contains textbooks, magazines, dictionary, magazines, video lectures, novels... and still have room in the bag and not need a dolly is..... priceless?

I have a need for this TODAY. In 30 minutes I walk out the door for an afternoon of chaos - to ensure that my kids all have the right stuff with them - they got Lands End totes for CHristmas. How much easier it would be to do a visual and see that htey have their Slates. That is all they NEED, because i have made sure it is loaded up for the week with what they need to get done.

I don´t agree. The majority of people with a paper subscription will most likely keep it (at least until the subscription runs out..). Some would switch to the e-version.

I'd probably at this time, only keep the paper copy of National Geographic.

One of the large advantages for non subscribers would be that they don´t have to get up and go to a newsstand to get an issue. Just buy it online. That same principle makes me buy more music anyway..

Technically it would also be possible to buy single articles from issues and back issues.

Instant gratification. Impulse buying.

Magazines do that now. Call up just about any of them and say you are interested in subscribing and ask for a free issue or free trial. You'll almost certainly get it. And that is much more accessible than asking someone to buy a Tablet so that they can get a free trial.

But, what about it being 3pm on a Saturday afternoon - and I have some time to kill and want to read XYZ Widget Magazine?

I can wait until Monday and call, then wait for it to show up.

But my Monday's stink and I"ll probably forget to call... and the odds are if i do remember to call - by the time my mail lady gets it to me, i won't want to read it any longer.

Magazines. Not a priority for delivery. My DD got her issue of a groups magazine last week. The one that everyone else apparently got in NOVEMBER. It was the Nov/Dec issue..... nothing like reading about some cool things that were going on in December late. And, the post office will just tell me they were too busy during the holiday season to add magazines into our route (it's a rural route inside the town limits).

Frankly, i see myself actually BUYING magazines on impulse instead of never buying them as is the case currently.

And yes, i can see this happening outside of the Tablet. I use my 17" MBP as a desktop and my Touch & Treo travel with me. But again, i have a need for 2 or 3 of "the slates" for my kids (only one of which currently uses a 6yo dying 12" iBook - who rejected a netbook to replace it)

But i see the iTunes model for the print industry as a big thing - i know that for me it will lead to impulse buying.

The point is why a Tablet? So many posts seem to be finding real marketing opportunities because new content will be added for sale on iTunes, etc which is most definitely true. But why do we need a Tablet for all this other stuff to work?

We don't need it, but what is wrong with a new option with a bigger screen and perhaps more of a blurred line between the iPhone/Touch and a laptop?

Something will work on other devices - but offer the best viewing on the new size?

 

[str1f3]

Rocketman, interesting post. I just can't imagine this thing at $89.95/month even with that reasonably good logic. I picture hundreds of dollars up front plus a 24-month plan or about $799 with no plan. But let me say, I'd love to see that (your view) happen... as that would sell a lot of Tablets (though then the question might become, why buy iPhones, iPods, and maybe computers anymore)?

This idea of Apple getting into the monthly payment side of iPhone-like business is interesting. Hooking it to the rumor about "cable killing" TV subscriptions and it could turn into a razor-blade model: give away the Tablet and make all the money on the service plan(s) approach. That is quite a stretch from Apple's long term stance of "being in the hardware business", but THAT would "sell" a lot of Tablets.

If it goes there, then I would advise Apple to make it $99/month and just give the Tablets away for free* (with a 24 month contract). That yields $2400 over the 2 years with an initial up-front price that can't be beat. 10M Tablets in year 1 would seem VERY LIKELY with that kind of deal.

The $99/month is interesting but I wonder if customers will be wary of that owing that every month. If you add that along with a TV/movie/music subscription customers may be turned off.

As to your comment of Apple attaching a data plan to thrir devices, that is going to have to change unless wifi becomes a gov't owned utility. I would prefer Apple buy up one of these telcos and control the whole operation from beginning to end.

 

[bobob]

As a point of reference for just a dedicated e-reader (and very little else), the Kindle is $249.

One feature not often highlighted when discussing the Kindle is the free 3G global cellular service that is included in the purchase price. ("3G Wireless: 3G wireless lets you download books right from your Kindle; no annual contracts, no monthly fees, and no hunting for Wi-Fi hotspots. Global Coverage: Enjoy 3G wireless coverage at home or abroad in over 100 countries.")

That is a rather big "very little else".

If Apple included a free global 3G cellular connection to the iTunes Store on the Tablet, that would be quite the selling point in my book.

Right, but that's assumed (at least by me). However, I don't know if a feature who's sole purpose is to make it possible for you to "buy now" is a big selling point for selling a device that I think will be priced around $799. More simply: quick, give me $799 and I'll sell you this great device through which you can buy more stuff any time you want to buy it.

If anyone wants to give me $799, I'll be happy to be "on call" to help you buy anything you want to buy any time you want to buy it. I'll even help you buy things well beyond the stuff that is sold in the iTunes store. And I know my voice-to-ear interface will be superior to anything that can be done in silicon.

And "one more thing"... order during the introductory period and you can have me for only $699 with no data plan or contracts required. Hurry, this is a limited time, limited availability offer.

You're correct in that it's an obvious sales tool, though to be fair, the Kindle also allows you to use their free global 3G to do such things as receive your daily newspaper or magazine subscription before you wake up, access Wikipedia and other basic web browsing, send documents (DOC, PDF, HTML, TXT, RTF, JPEG, GIF, etc) via email to your unit, and to redownload any of your previously purchased books to maximize onboard storage space. Those functions are not as trivial as your attempt at humor may imply.

 

[str1f3]

Rocketman, interesting post. I just can't imagine this thing at $89.95/month even with that reasonably good logic. I picture hundreds of dollars up front plus a 24-month plan or about $799 with no plan. But let me say, I'd love to see that (your view) happen... as that would sell a lot of Tablets (though then the question might become, why buy iPhones, iPods, and maybe computers anymore)?

This idea of Apple getting into the monthly payment side of iPhone-like business is interesting. Hooking it to the rumor about "cable killing" TV subscriptions and it could turn into a razor-blade model: give away the Tablet and make all the money on the service plan(s) approach. That is quite a stretch from Apple's long term stance of "being in the hardware business", but THAT would "sell" a lot of Tablets.

If it goes there, then I would advise Apple to make it $99/month and just give the Tablets away for free* (with a 24 month contract). That yields $2400 over the 2 years with an initial up-front price that can't be beat. 10M Tablets in year 1 would seem VERY LIKELY with that kind of deal.

The $99/month is interesting but I wonder if customers will be wary of that owing that every month. If you add that along with a TV/movie/music subscription customers may be turned off.

As to your comment of Apple attaching a data plan to thrir devices, that is going to have to change unless wifi becomes a gov't owned utility. I would prefer Apple buy up one of these telcos and control the whole operation from beginning to end.

 

[HobeSoundDarryl]

Brick and mortar stores typically take 50-60% of retail price, the app store takes 30%. In addition, printing and warehousing are substantial parts of the origination cost for books - that's why books go out of print. There's room for a price reduction for digital versions right there, with no revenue cut, and substantial increased revenue for publishers with large back catalogues, or who produce good digital versions of classics for a low price.

Ok, let's assume your numbers shared here are true (I've not seen such numbers and I work with a lot of publishers, etc). But, let's let them be true for the sake of discussions. The implication becomes that the same book in the iTunes store could be discounted 20-30% to compensate for 50-60% brick & mortar cut minus the 30% you are assuming Apple would take as their cut of this kind of media PLUS some other reasonably-good discount for not having to print, warehouse and distribute. Let's say all that totals up to 50%.

Why isn't other physical media digitized for sale in iTunes showing those kinds of discounts? Why is a movie not 50% less than the DVD sold at the same brick & mortar stores carrying these books & magazines? Those DVDs are also warehoused & distributed. Why don't we see those 50% discounts for that media in iTunes now?

And getting that point, why is this print media going to be priced so much lower... so heavily discounted on a relative basis... when the other media already being sold in iTunes apparently sells at about the same (full) price?

 

[talkingnewmedia]

Brick and mortar stores typically take 50-60% of retail price, the app store takes 30%. In addition, printing and warehousing are substantial parts of the origination cost for books - that's why books go out of print. There's room for a price reduction for digital versions right there, with no revenue cut, and substantial increased revenue for publishers with large back catalogues, or who produce good digital versions of classics for a low price.

Sadly, very few publishers have taken advantage of this by placing out-of-print products on the marketplace at low prices, as HobeSoundDarryl points out.

Verve Records has done this to a limited degree by allowing the downloading of previously out-of-print jazz records at a reasonable price.

I think the old-world-think of "produce, market, repackage" continues to be the norm. Rather than allow a low selling product to be available at a reasonable price, many publishers would rather let the product go unavailable for a while, then reintroduce it at a premium price later. (Walt Disney does this all the time.) It's low volume/high margin versus low margin/high volume. (Sounds like Apple, right?)

 

[deconstruct60]

It can be argued that it's subtle difference between a laptop and a tablet. But that subtle difference is,

There is going to be a significant difference between tablet and laptop (at least in the Apple based solutions space); price.

Apple has decided that laptop prices stop at $999. Over time the gap between volume quantity iPhone and laptop price barrier will become larger and larger (given they stick to this pricing and the smartphone market predictably matures a bit and prices start dropping a bit). Inside of that HUGE gap will be a place for the a computer that does 5-10 things that the user wants to do 95% of the time while mobile (or even not mobile but constrained on budget. )

Notice that a significant fraction of the folks posting on these tablet threads are screaming for a less expensive Mac OS X laptop. If Apple can get away with it, I suspect Apple would like to hold the $999 line on laptops for another 2-4 years. Some of those folks who have limited usage needs will "settle" for the Slate/Tablet. ( Just as some others have settled for the iPhone even though the screen is too small to really do what they want to do. There were few options.)

Some of the presentation problems of presenting content is size specific. Note that safari on iPhone was a win over the competition because it rendered "normal" sized web pages. Web publishers didn't need to format special pages for cell phones. The downside on that was that the "pain" was shoveled over to the user of having pan/zoom/shrink/etc overhead added to what would have to do on a more "normal" computer ( laptop/desktop with normal sized screen). The tablet removes that issue while still keeping better portability (than laptop/desktop) and at a lower price.

That last issue is key. Folks have been remarking here about how tablets have classically failed. That failure is in part because tablets were priced HIGHER than laptops. Especially the tablets that "had to" add all the laptop features and add tablet features on top. That is going to end up costing more. More stuff --> higher price. Contrast that with it is lighter and more affordable than laptop/desktop. You think there is a user adoption problem with that?!?

There will be a feature differentiation between iPhone/Touch and Slate in: 2x,3x sized screen (which at least can be seen right away), better battery life, presumably substantive CPU/GPU horsepower (bleeding edge Apple ARM chipset that will drift down to Phone/Touch on future shrinks/refinements and possibly software that requires it, e.g., Flash so that not surfing a subset of web. ) , etc.

They are all computers. Touch/Phone/Slate/MacBook/iMac/etc. So hand wringing over overlap is neither a new problem nor user problem solution oriented.

 

[HobeSoundDarryl]

You're correct in that it's an obvious sales tool, though to be fair, the Kindle also allows you to use their free global 3G to do such things as receive your daily newspaper or magazine subscription before you wake up, access Wikipedia and other basic web browsing, send documents (DOC, PDF, HTML, TXT, RTF, JPEG, GIF, etc) via email to your unit, and to redownload any of your previously purchased books to maximize onboard storage space. Those functions are not as trivial as your attempt at humor may imply.

OK right. But as soon as it's "free 3G" for things beyond buying and downloading purchased content... as soon as it is real free 3G- if that's what you are implying- then yes, that would completely sell the Tablet alone, as it would become the cheapest wireless, always connected, device on the planet... and almost completely obsolete the likes of AT&T, Verizon, Tmobile, and all other wireless service sellers.

I don't see "free 3G" beyond being able to download media you purchase in this device. Apple could build in the actual cost of the "free" 3G into the media being purchased. But they almost couldn't price this thing high enough in a flat fee up front to safely cover the cost of 3G service they would be charged to fulfill general 3G open uses.

 

[apolloa]

what rumors of apple scanning books? Obviously google has, but i haven't heard anything about apple?

And why would they have to scan books unless they are old and in the public domain? (i.e. free?) Copyrighted books will typically be available in ebook format from the publisher (assuming the publisher is willing to allow them to be published electronically).

http://www.google.com/search?btnG=1&pws=0&q=apple+rumoured+to+be+scanning+books

apolloa, not really singling you out in this response (and I can generally agree with a chunk of what you are saying), but a good deal of the reasoning for why we need a Tablet keeps revolving around other companies/industries outside of Apple heavily dropping their prices. Why would a book publisher want to "price their e-book for Tablet" right (meaning really low) to only help Apple sell more Tablets? What's in heavily cutting their revenues for each of these sales for those companies?

And we see no evidence of this in general. Are movies in iTunes cheaper than their DVD versions? Are TV Shows in iTunes cheaper than their DVD versions?

More directly, are ebooks sold on Kindle cheaper than the print version? And if so, are those prices "priced right" if they represent just about as low as the publishers will be willing to go for a paperless version?

Ah yes, in the UK at least I was going to buy my mum a Sony ebook reader from Waterstones, a very well renowned chain of book stores and online etailer, but when we looked into it the prices on both Amazon and Waterstones for ebooks is pretty much the same as the paper versions!! Not much of an incentive to buy an ebook is it? So I didn't in the end. She prefers paper anyway.

A quick search reveals:

http://www.amazon.co.uk/s/ref=nb_ss?url=search-alias=stripbooks&field-keywords=ebook&x=0&y=0
http://www.waterstones.com/waterstonesweb/navigate.do?pPageID=1837
http://www.waterstones.com/waterstonesweb/browse/ebooks/4294964587/

In my mind even at sale prices these are far too high a price points. Hence why I say if Apple can price it right in the UK at least, they may well get a big lead on the competition. Yes, if you spend ages hunting around you may get them cheaper but people don't want that, they want to go to these well known places to buy ebooks, add iTunes into the mix and undercut the pricing and well.....

 

[HobeSoundDarryl]

I would prefer Apple buy up one of these telcos and control the whole operation from beginning to end.

Amen.

 

[talkingnewmedia]

Prediction: it won't be traditional publishers that bring low priced publications to any tablet/reader or iTunes marketplace but New Media publishers who understand that there is money to be made selling $1.99 apps and $2.99 books.

 

[bobob]

But they almost couldn't price this thing high enough in a flat fee up front to safely cover the cost of 3G service they would be charged to fulfill general 3G open uses.

How in the world does Amazon manage to do it for a flat fee of $249 up front?

 

[pubwvj]

If Apple included a free global 3G cellular connection to the iTunes Store on the Tablet, that would be quite the selling point in my book.

That would be great but doubtful due to the ongoing cost for Apple. So, how do they subsidize such a service? Ads?

 

[HobeSoundDarryl]

How in the world does Amazon manage to do it for a flat fee of $249 up front?

By charging enough extra on each book sold. Kindle is a thin use device. It is probably very far from what this Tablet will be. I haven't see the stats, but web browsing via 3G on the Kindle is probably a fraction of what it is with an iPhone. So, if the bulk of what flows through a Kindle 3G exchange is another book purchase, Amazon just builds that bit of cost into the price of the book.

If people starting burning up the 3G access via Kindle for anything it can touch that is NOT buying books, either book prices would go way up or a new 3G fee for high volume users will show. 3G is not FREE to anyone... Amazon or Apple included. Those providing the pathway will get paid for that access one way or another.

 

[HobeSoundDarryl]

In my mind even at sale prices these are far too high a price points. Hence why I say if Apple can price it right in the UK at least, they may well get a big lead on the competition. Yes, if you spend ages hunting around you may get them cheaper but people don't want that, they want to go to these well known places to buy ebooks, add iTunes into the mix and undercut the pricing and well.....

So, if I'm understanding your post, you are suggesting that Amazon- a massive book etailer can't get the prices of the publishers low enough to be "priced right" but Apple- who does not sell books at all right now- will somehow get those publishers to cut much better deals than they have with Amazon? Why exactly would they do this?