When people have said that ebooks will always be limited to "people who can afford the device", I have said things similar to those which reader Stephen A says in a comment on an earlier post:
Both decent e-book readers and tablets will be cheap (<$50) to free in a year. I purchased a Maylong-150 android tablet for $99 from Walgreens recently. While not as spectacular as the color Nook it is a perfectly good ebook reader which runs all android readers: aldiko, nook, kindle, and Borders, etc. as well as browsing and all the other functions of android. The Indian government has demoed a tablet with comparable capability for $35 with the aim to drive the price to $10-20. MIT Media Lab's OLPC program is targeting the $50 price point.
My prediction is that $50 android tablets will be ubiquitous by next year with free units available from cell providers and bookstores. This will change things radically both due to their omnipresence and due to the use of multiple tablets at a time.
Yep.
Then I guess it will be time for those devices higher on the price scale to compete on quality and capabilities, might get interesting.
My neighboring electronics store is already giving away *laptops*! Free with a broadband contract. This is Currys, UK.
Saturday, December 18, 2010
Readers will be free
When people have said that ebooks will always be limited to "people who can afford the device", I have said things similar to those which reader Stephen A says in a comment on an earlier post:
Both decent e-book readers and tablets will be cheap (<$50) to free in a year. I purchased a Maylong-150 android tablet for $99 from Walgreens recently. While not as spectacular as the color Nook it is a perfectly good ebook reader which runs all android readers: aldiko, nook, kindle, and Borders, etc. as well as browsing and all the other functions of android. The Indian government has demoed a tablet with comparable capability for $35 with the aim to drive the price to $10-20. MIT Media Lab's OLPC program is targeting the $50 price point.
My prediction is that $50 android tablets will be ubiquitous by next year with free units available from cell providers and bookstores. This will change things radically both due to their omnipresence and due to the use of multiple tablets at a time.
Yep.
Then I guess it will be time for those devices higher on the price scale to compete on quality and capabilities, might get interesting.
Both decent e-book readers and tablets will be cheap (<$50) to free in a year. I purchased a Maylong-150 android tablet for $99 from Walgreens recently. While not as spectacular as the color Nook it is a perfectly good ebook reader which runs all android readers: aldiko, nook, kindle, and Borders, etc. as well as browsing and all the other functions of android. The Indian government has demoed a tablet with comparable capability for $35 with the aim to drive the price to $10-20. MIT Media Lab's OLPC program is targeting the $50 price point.
My prediction is that $50 android tablets will be ubiquitous by next year with free units available from cell providers and bookstores. This will change things radically both due to their omnipresence and due to the use of multiple tablets at a time.
Yep.
Then I guess it will be time for those devices higher on the price scale to compete on quality and capabilities, might get interesting.
Thursday, December 16, 2010
We want user-control
Look at MegaReader, an app which gives easy access to over a million free books from various places around the web. That's cool in itself, but what I really like is that it also gives the reader choices of:
Now why don't we get that in the big fancy readers from Apple, Amazon, and B&N? Some of them only have one font, in four or six sizes, and one or two options for background. Do they think their customers are all sheep who get confused by too many choices? Or don't they have software engineers who can do this stuff? If it's the first one, that certainly goes against Microsoft's philosophy when making Windows 95 where you can customize everything, and Windows became omnipresent.
- 23 fonts
- Step-less choice of colors for text and background
- Step-less choice of font size
- Control of margin width
- ... and so on
Now why don't we get that in the big fancy readers from Apple, Amazon, and B&N? Some of them only have one font, in four or six sizes, and one or two options for background. Do they think their customers are all sheep who get confused by too many choices? Or don't they have software engineers who can do this stuff? If it's the first one, that certainly goes against Microsoft's philosophy when making Windows 95 where you can customize everything, and Windows became omnipresent.
Tuesday, December 14, 2010
More new uses for iPad
Who would'a thunk?
Sure, it's pretty much just a toy, but many important developments and inventions started as "pretty much just a toy".
Another one: Art Authority, and app I've liked since the very beginning of the iPad. It's an app for browsing 50,000 of the world's famous paintings, and include much data about the paintings and painters.
Sure, it's pretty much just a toy, but many important developments and inventions started as "pretty much just a toy".
Another one: Art Authority, and app I've liked since the very beginning of the iPad. It's an app for browsing 50,000 of the world's famous paintings, and include much data about the paintings and painters.
Sunday, December 12, 2010
New uses for iPad
I keep hearing of new uses for iPad. For instance, my friend who is an artist, wrote to me:
I had meant to say to you at the time, when I sent the cat image, that the reason the eyes looked so alive was because I had used my ipad to show me a photograph of a real cat, and was able to concentrate on the detail of how tones worked, where the shadows and highlights were, and whether they would be sharp or softened.
My extra new found use for the ipad is as an artists tool... if I want to know how feather barbs look in detail, load a photo, and sit my ipad next to me, and concentrate on the detail...!
The ipad is a wonderful thing, and it has quickly become an essential part of my daily life..!
I really don`t think that some people realise the potential.. and, I confess, I don`t either yet.. but I am learning..!
Zeppelina
I had meant to say to you at the time, when I sent the cat image, that the reason the eyes looked so alive was because I had used my ipad to show me a photograph of a real cat, and was able to concentrate on the detail of how tones worked, where the shadows and highlights were, and whether they would be sharp or softened.
My extra new found use for the ipad is as an artists tool... if I want to know how feather barbs look in detail, load a photo, and sit my ipad next to me, and concentrate on the detail...!
The ipad is a wonderful thing, and it has quickly become an essential part of my daily life..!
I really don`t think that some people realise the potential.. and, I confess, I don`t either yet.. but I am learning..!
Zeppelina
(Painting in progress)
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