Apple tablet lights fire under old media
The upcoming announcement of the Apple tablet computer has caught the imagination of media publishers of all kinds. And that old Apple tech magic may lend some new appeal to old media of all kinds.
Apple appears to be looking to take print, video and film in the same direction it has taken music over that last few years. What Steve Jobs and company did for audio with the iPod and iTunes, they may well be able to do for books, magazines, newspapers, television, and films with their new tablet computer. The new form factor of the iTablet (along with the changing paradigms of media and digital rights, which may make such a change inevitable in any case)Â may give those media publishing industries a medium for the transformation from the old media universe to the new.
A device like the upcoming Apple tablet computer has all of the qualities necessary to make it useful in a wide variety of media situations, given it’s portable size, appeal to cool, and overall utility. Use it to read the news. Use it to watch television videos. Use it to stream film along with music. Take it to school and use it to display textbooks and take notes. Use it as a recreational e-reader, displaying all of your books and magazines. And, as a bonus, use it as a 3G VOIP telephone and to run all sorts of applications to make your daily life easier.
Smaller than a laptop, bigger than an iPhone, faster than an iPod Touch, the Apple tablet (if the rumors are right) may be the most versatile all-around device of this young century. Apple has been talking deal with publishers of all kinds in order to bring us the content we want, according to a Wall Street Journal story. As important as technology to all those publishers is the ability to charge for content, something they badly need to do in order to stay alive in a digital age. Publishers need to match their new digital editions with new methods of payment, or we all may be out of media altogether before we realize it. The tablet computer is the device that could make that possible and, as it often is, Apple is in a position to lead the way.
Related Posts:
