John Gruber and http://www.betanews.com/joewilcox/article/The-world-doesnt-need-an-Apple-tablet-or-any-other/1262456214 had some things to say about a possibly imminent tablet-like device from Apple. Then MG Siegler disagreed with Joe Wilcox. Somewhere in one of these posts or comments to them, I ran across Mag+ by Bonnier. The thing I found interesting about this was the thought that went into how digital magazines would work. It wasn’t web pages that looked like a magazine. It wasn’t 100% true to printed format. It looks like they really tried to make an effort to determine what a sensible balance would be. Although, their radial menu idea and “warming up the page” didn’t click with me right away, their idea for both allowing some of the layout elements of a magazine to remain while getting rid of the tiresome electronic page turning meme really resonated with me. The final products may not end up working or looking like this, but they have at least shown part of a compelling path forward.
Although I don’t have a Kindle reader, I do have the software loaded on my iPhone and PC. I’m not sure I care for the horizontal page flipping as opposed to vertical scrolling, but maybe it will grow on me. The one advantage I see right now to flipping is that it is easier to figure out where you left off after setting the device down. However, the visual bookmarking on the iPhone works well enough for this that I’m not sure flipping is really a benefit over scrolling. Nevertheless, I definitely enjoy reading books on my iPhone and expect to continue to do so. The fact that Amazon sold more digital than physical books this last Christmas makes me think I am in the rapidly approaching majority, at least for serious readers.
What does this have to do with the tablet? I think Gruber is right that Apple may have planned uses for the tablet that we on the outside haven’t fully grasped yet. It won’t just be a bathroom e-reader and browser. Apple will have some other compelling use case, or combination of use cases. However, I cannot imagine that any use case will preclude the tablet’s use as a reader and browser. In addition, you have to think that a 7 to 10 inch screen would in fact be large enough for decent home automation software. I personally would stick to the lower dollar amounts ($300-500) expected of a e-reader or fancy webpad. I think the home control enthusiasts would be getting a steal at the higher end ($800-1000) considering the quality that is likely to go into a gadget released by Apple and the cost of existing products if the tablet could replace them. In the end, I wouldn’t pay more than the low end unless, Gruber is right and the released product has a good chance of replacing my old PowerPC based Macbook (which is still running strong). The truth is, I currently don’t see a tablet as a compelling laptop replacement. However, I wouldn’t put it past Apple to surprise me like that. I guess I’ll just have to wait and see.