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It seems to be the done thing to speculate wildly about Apple’s much rumored super special magic tablet, and as I’ve got one of these internets, and keyboard and an ability to type that seems to make me qualified to comment. So, here goes…

Firstly, lets look at what we actually know. That won’t take long – just two words in fact – “nothing really”. The Wall Street Journal* published and article that MacObserver suggest is about as close to an official leak as we’ll ever get, and there are reports that Apple have organized a press event for the 26th January. That’s it.

* The original article is can be found on the WSJ here, but I’m not paying for a subscription so can’t read it… or share it.

Before I lurch headlong into poorly thought out predictions, I’d just like to  say that right now I’m best  to rid myself of Apple and the days are numbered for both my iPhone and Mac Mini. I don’t see  myself buying one of these mythical beasts as right now I can’t see how it would replace anything I’m using right now. With that said, time for some baseless predictions.

My big hope is that the tablet sets Apple’s sights on bringing eBooks into the mainstream, by including an application and book store that does for books what iTunes did for music. If eBooks are on the agenda, then I’d expect to see electronic, multimedia editions of magazines right there alongside – with single issues and subscriptions sold through iTunes. If the written word is the focus, then it would be very similar to what Apple did with music and podcasts. New eBook readers seem to be appearing on a daily basis, and Apple might think the time is right to do here what they did with the iPod and iPhone – enter a market that’s just gaining a foothold, refine the experience and add just the right amount of shiny, stick an Apple logo on and ship it to the masses.

If  eBooks are on Apple’s agenda, I really hope they stick with a format that’s already pretty widely used- Secure ePub. If they do this, then they’ll open up their potential market way beyond tablet owners, and maybe help to marginalize the threat from Amazon’s Kindle. An knock on effect would be that publishers would have to get their arses in gear and start getting their back catalogues out as eBooks, and as a Sony Reader owner, I wouldn’t complain about that. Of course, just as likely is that they’ll invent a whole new format just for shits and giggles.

If rumours are to be believed and this device is going to come to market at or around $1000 then I don’t think it takes a genius to work out that this will be much more than the worlds shiniest eBook reader, it will have to do a lot more. I’m imagining a supersized iPod Touch – web browser, media player (that plays nicely with HiDef content and will plug into your TV) and maybe , just maybe Apple can even “innovate”  some multitasking magic to make this an Apple device that’s useful in the “real time” online world. Oh yeah, and of course if you want to install software then head on over to the tablet’ very own app store. Now that Apple have illustrated  just how lucrative a single player marketplace can be I don’t expect them to abandon it any time soon.

If both of these ideas are anywhere near the mark, I’d say Apple’s biggest challenge will be the screen – the  reason I like my Sony Reader is the fantastic screen that makes reading a pleasure, if its plain old LED (or other backlight dependent technology), then I’m not convinced it’ll be much fun to read for long periods.

Generally I’ve never been a fan of tablet devices, in my time at Proporta I was lucky enough to get my hands on a range of tablet devices from various manufacturers and the same problem cropped up time and time again – using a device that size in the way you’re expected to is just akward. Typing is a pain, you either have to support the device with one hand and poke the screen with a single finger (which is slow) or rely on keyboard that’s split across the two edges of the device (which is a pain as it takes an age to get used to them). It doesn’t really end there though, you’re sitting down and ready for some tablet-ing, then you can’t just put it on your lap and type away, that is unless severe neck ache is something that helps you sleep at night. That said, Apple did manage to produce the first mobile phone with truely usable on screen keyboard, so maybe they’ve got an ace up their sleeve, we’ll have to wait and see.

What do I base all this on? The same thing as pretty much everyone else – nothing. It’s all one big guess, it would be fucking sweet if I was right though. I’ll even write my very own “told you so” post to celebrate. Not that anyone will read it, they’ll be to busy blogging about how cool the tablet it and how they can’t wait to buy one. Suckers.

Oh yeah, in reading the literally some articles about the tablet I came across Robert Scoble’s response to an article by Joe Wilcox on Beta News pointing out just how very wrong Joe Wilcox is about everything tablet. One thing struck me about all the example Mr. Scoble gives about brilliant tablets currently being use – they’re all fixed in place. Not a single one solves the clumsy mobile experience that has, as far as I’ve seen, always accompanied tablets.

So, just a few weeks to wait to find out for real, and one think I can say for sure, the tech press is going to be full of unbearable levels of all things Apple until way after this tablet ships.

Ever since Amazon launched the Kindle for US customers way back in November 2007 Ebook readers started to get some attention, the Kindle was by no means the first, but when Amazon released an updated Kindle (creatively called the Kindle 2) in February 2009  it seemed as though eBook readers had really arrived. Well they had in the USA at least. It wasn’t until the second half of 2009 that their popularity looked like spreading outside the US –  Sony released their “Pocket Reader” and “Reader Touch“, Barnes & Noble released the Nook, iRiver announced the Story, Foxit had the eSlick and Endless Ideas introduced the BeBook. Oh, and rampant rumours gathered pace that some company called Apple would be introducing a tablet reader of some sort at some unspecified time. Maybe. Perhaps.

I enjoy reading, but much like my old fashioned ways of  preferring to  buy CDs over MP3′, I’d never really understood the attraction of buying an electronic copy of a book. I’d tried with my my iPhone and older PDA’s (Palm Vx anyone?) but I never found it an enjoyable experience. The backlight in LCD screens is harsh and bright, and the device just never felt quite right. All it took to change my mind on eBooks was one short demo of a true eBook Reader with an E Ink screen. Unlike traditional LCD displays, E Ink screens don’t have a backlight built in and this means if you want to read, you’ll need an external  light source (like a lamp or the sun) which is generally readily available if you plan to do some reading. The benefit from not being backlit  is that when you’re reading your book, the screen “feels” much more like traditional paper, the display is crisp and the screen non-reflective. An even more important feature is that E Ink displays don’t draw power to keep the screen on, they only use the battery when the screen is being refreshed, once it’s updated the battery is left alone until the new refresh. This is why the battery life for eBook Readers is generally quoted in terms of the number of page turns you’ll get from a single charge. It’s all pretty clever, but if you’re  really interested, I’m sure Wikipedia will explain it better than I ever can.

What I can say for sure is that I was blown away by just how impressive and the text on screen was, despite a grey background, it was very close to reading real type on paper and I  decided I wanted one. Great, all well and good, just the minor  problem that aside from a few minutes spent playing with a demo model I  had no idea what to look for in a reader. Enter everyones best friend, Google, and after a bit of searching I came across the fantastic Mobile Read and their even more amazing forums.

The Mobile Read forums cover everything from beginners guides (handy, very handy) hardware specific reviews, tips and troubleshooting, recommendations on where’s best to buy your books, how to find free content and even a pretty active community discussing the best new books and throwing out ideas of authors you might like to check out. If you’re taking the plunge into any new technology, finding an active, helpful and friendly forum is always a massive plus and I can’t recommend the forums on Mobile Read strongly enough. Some time spent on here will save you from all manner of headaches and make it a breeze to decide which reader is right for you.

The two biggest questions I needed answers to were…
1) What format must my eBook reader support?
2) Where can I get me some books?

The answers didn’t take long to find and were…
1) Secure ePub
2) Waterstone’s and WH Smiths

I won’t bore you with the details, but Secure ePub is slowly becoming the most common format amongst online eBook sellers, and even Sony have ditched their own proprietary format and are switching the US-only eBook store to use ePub, so make sure your device supports it (if you buy a Kindle it won’t, but I think that’s to do with their licensing restrictions as much as anything). As for the book stores, buying books is a breeze (and getting easier all the time), the online stores have improved greatly over the six months or so I’ve been using them and I reckon I’ve bought around 20 books without issue so far. They all include excellent instructions on how to make sure you reader is correctly set up before you checkout, but if you followed the instructions when you first setup your device you won’t be troubled.

The reader I settled on in the end was the Sony PRS-505, until it was replaced by the Reader Pocket Edition a month or two back this was the easiest to find reader in the UK and you may have seen it promoted in store at Waterstone’s. I’ve got absolutely no regrets.  It’s a solidly made piece of kit with a nice brushed aluminium finish, and it’s smaller than a standard paper back and weighs about the same as well. It has an amazing battery life and charges using a standard mini usb cable and allows you to expand it’s ample built in storage using either MemoryStick or  SD cards. Overall, this a real quality piece of engineering and a joy to use. It definitely beats carrying around a 900 page hardback like Neal Stephenson’s “Quicksilver“.

A month or two back Sony released the PRS-505’s successors, the Reader Pocket Edition and the Reader Touch Edition but for once I’m not looking for an excuse to upgrade any time soon. The Pocket Edition is the PRS-505’s most direct replacement and is priced accordingly (around £180), however it has a slightly smaller screen, plasticy case, no memory expansion slots, a smaller capacity battery and fewer buttons (it excludes dedicated buttons for paging forwards and back which may seem a small omission, but in my opinion is very important). The Reader Touch is more expensive (around £220) as it has a touch screen interface and lots of “advanced” features that I’ll never use. They both seem to be as good at reading eBooks as the PRS-505, so I’m sure they’re both great devices, but  I won’t be upgrading for a while yet.

Most people that spend a few minutes with it have been impressed, usually by just how good text looks on the screen.

Since I bought my Reader I’ve really enjoyed my reading on it, it’s hard to say whether I’m reading more, but I know I’m more likely to remember to take it with me when I go out in the mornings. Buying books has become  more satisfying experience as well as your order is delivered instantly. I’ve definitely bought more books since I started using my Reader.

If this all sounds too good to be true, then I’m please to be able to tell you it is. There is one big factor that will ultimately determine whether or not you’ll want to buy an eBook reader. It’s an obvious one, but I can’t say it enough (and I do, to anyone that shows an interest in my Reader), it’s all about the books. If you can’t get the books you enjoy then it’s a pointless purchase. Publishers are adding new books all the time and slowly but surely more and more authors books are becoming available but do yourself a favour and spend some time here and here and see what’s available. If the range of books will keep you happy, then you won’t be disappointed by the hardware.