SLAV Connects is a blog by the School Libraries Association of Victoria (SLAV), formerly named Bright Ideas when a collaboration between SLAV and the State Library of Victoria (SLV). Its aim is to share news from the Association and to encourage teacher librarians, librarians, school library staff, educators and all interested persons to actively engage with the school libraries, to share tools and experiences; to network on a global scale; and to embrace dynamic teaching and learning opportunities.
When Apple’s Steve Jobs said in 2008 that “people don’t read anymore” there was an outcry from a range of people across the world. Jobs, was of course, decrying the Kindle eReader as a stand alone device and it would be interesting to know how many people who have purchased the iPad have done so primarily looking for an eReader.
A recent article in the New York Times, Yes, People Still Read, but Now It’s Social takes a look at the phenomenon of social reading thanks to a number of eReaders enabling users to highlight and share passages in eBooks as well as being able to share thoughts and ideas via email, Twitter and blogs. Article author Steven Johnson says
Yes, we are reading slightly fewer long-form narratives and arguments than we did 50 years ago, though the Kindle and the iPad may well change that. Those are costs, to be sure. But what of the other side of the ledger? We are reading more text, writing far more often, than we were in the heyday of television.
And the speed with which we can follow the trail of an idea, or discover new perspectives on a problem, has increased by several orders of magnitude. We are marginally less focused, and exponentially more connected. That’s a bargain all of us should be happy to make.
The changes in the way we read are occurring rapidly. I’d like to know how many people across the globe who have purchased an iPad as a portable device rather than an eReader have downloaded (at least the free) books from the iBooks app. Will they read them? Perhaps. Would they have ever read them without such a device? I think not. The article is a brief one and well worth a read.
The 2009 SLAV Research Grant recipients Wilma Kurvink and her team Marie Turnbull, Bart Rutherford, Margaret Pajak, Meg Moores and Cameron McIntosh, at Wesley College have just completed a study into using eReaders at school. Wilma has kindly shared an edited version of her report with readers of Bright Ideas. A fuller account will be published in SLAV’s Synergy online journal shortly.
To be published in the next edition of Synergy
This project explored the potential of e-texts and e-readers as a viable technology to maintaining the linear text as a key modality in an educational setting, and for reducing printed materials and waste.
At the time of writing the research outcomes the Apple iPad was to be launched, promising a step closer to a seamless integration of e-texts into a device. By now many readers will have seen, or purchased the iPad and some of the information in the article will be outdated, and superseded. This serves to highlight how rapidly the publishing industry is changing as texts are changing into digital formats. Now it is possible to incorporate non text materials into linear text, which challenges traditional notions of material descriptions in library catalogues.
While comparisons with the iPad and its promise of multiple formats, and applications in a single tablet device are tempting, it exceeds the scope of the research. Our trial was conducted on e-readers that use e-ink technology, and the various operating systems they are coupled to. iPads and related tablet technology, have a backlit screen and encompass many functions, including games, video and email. The e-ink technology, and readers we trialled were solely dedicated to the delivery and consumption of linear text.
Trial summary and results overview
The project consisted of 3 strands of inquiry
A comparative study of 10 older and 21 younger readers was undertaken, examining the affective domains, and the associated experiences of reading in a new device. The devices trialled were Iliad and Cybook e-readers.
The testing of models of delivery and acquisition of e-texts to a device, examining the issue of Digital Rights Management in the acquisition process. Exploration of the potential integration of e-texts into the formal catalogue and purchasing systems in the college.
An investigation of how the e-Reader and e-text adoption would influence the publishers and distributers, inquiring into whether publishers and distributors would to adopt models that make purchasing and management practical for the school sector.
The trial took place between April 2008 and November 2009.
The research outcomes show that older readers were significantly more engaged with and accepting of the e-reader device than younger readers. The research also pointed to older readers being more established readers who viewed the e-text and e-reader combination as providing an extension of their reading. Although all younger readers were experienced readers, they related less well to the device overall, and were less inclined to continue to read with it. The research highlighted significant generational difference in the trial groups- both in relation to reading itself and how technology may impact or change it.
The trials revealed significant difficulty for schools in the purchase any e-text to be transferred to a device. Major issues were identified in the current deployment of Digital Rights Management as it is embedded in many of the transactions related to purchase. In addition limited access to titles both locally and globally are affected by restrictive practices in copy right and digital rights management.
The investigation demonstrated that the publishers and distributors had not considered the library sector as a significant player in the e-text expansion, and the school sector as even less so. The research also highlighted a lack of planning across the publishing sector to guarantee a technical delivery of e-text that was seamless across sectors and industry instead opting for multiple formats and delivery in a competitive environment.
Conclusions
The e-reader and e-text trial undertaken by the Wesley College Library team demonstrated that the younger readers in the trial were less satisfied with the e-text and e-reader combination that the adult readers. Adult readers spent more time reading in the trial, and were more committed to continue with an e-reader. Younger readers were more critical consumers of the technology, more inclined to experiment with then and also found less reason to read an e-reader when a hardcopy was available. This tendency became less pronounced when it came to older students who saw benefits in using an e-reader/e-text combination in preference to using hard copy text books.
The implementation of e-texts combined with e-readers in a conventional library acquisition and cataloguing system is practically unworkable, mainly due to the amount of Digital Rights Management embedded not only in the acquisition and title transfer process but also in the restrictions placed by suppliers on the readers themselves and the number of devices that can be used to transfer titles to. It must be conceded that e-readers are most effective when they are personal devices which are personalised by their user. Article collections and e-book titles cannot be transferred from one e-reader to another, and over time an e-reader that belongs to a person becomes as idiosyncratic of the users interests as does their bookshelf at home, or the bookshelf and file in the office.
More advantageous for school libraries and academic libraries are the options of subscribing to e-text collections and e-text libraries such as can be done with Warners, and EBL for instance. These options can be offered in existing technical systems in schools, or could become a reality for many schools via consortia purchase. Equally, involvement by state education departments in developing e-text access for text book delivery may be advantageous from many perspectives, particularly from a sustainability viewpoint and to reduce the weight of school bags for students travelling to and from school.
The paper concluded that while publishers, and on sellers were still formulating models to publish and disseminate e-texts, a window of opportunity exists for libraries to reconsider their role in the mediation of e-text materials. To successfully take up the opportunity will involve cross sector collaboration to overcome digital rights management and copyright issues, as well as overcoming the technical difficulties that accompany the current modes of delivery. In addition, consortia models for e-text delivery to schools will need to be developed to ensure that school libraries can deliver access to all, regardless of the resourcing levels within individual schools. Ensuring equity for students to be at the heart of all quality library programs, and should drive this innovation.
To be published in full in the next edition of Synergy
The paper concluded that while publishers, and on sellers were still formulating models to publish and disseminate e-texts, a window of opportunity exists for libraries to reconsider their role in the mediation of e-text materials. To successfully take up the opportunity will involve cross sector collaboration to overcome digital rights management and copyright issues, as well as overcoming the technical difficulties that accompany the current modes of delivery. In addition, consortia models for e-text delivery to schools will need to be developed to ensure that school libraries can deliver access to all, regardless of the resourcing levels within individual schools. Ensuring equity for students to be at the heart of all quality library programs, and should drive this innovation.
This project explored the potential of e-texts and e-readers as a viable technology to maintaining the linear text as a key modality in an educational setting, and for reducing printed materials and waste.
At the time of writing the research outcomes the Apple iPad was to be launched, promising a step closer to a seamless integration of e-texts into a device. By now many readers will have seen, or purchased the iPad and some of the information in the article will be outdated, and superseded. This serves to highlight how rapidly the publishing industry is changing as texts are changing into digital formats. Now it is possible to incorporate non text materials into linear text, which challenges traditional notions of material descriptions in library catalogues.
While comparisons with the iPad and its promise of multiple formats, and applications in a single tablet device are tempting, it exceeds the scope of the research. Our trial was conducted on e-readers that use e-ink technology, and the various operating systems they are coupled to. iPads and related tablet technology, have a backlit screen and encompass many functions, including games, video and email. The e-ink technology, and readers we trialled were solely dedicated to the delivery and consumption of linear text.
Trial summary and results overview
The project consisted of 3 strands of inquiry
A comparative study of 10 older and 21 younger readers was undertaken, examining the affective domains, and the associated experiences of reading in a new device. The devices trialled were Iliad and Cybook e-readers.
The testing of models of delivery and acquisition of e-texts to a device, examining the issue of Digital Rights Management in the acquisition process. Exploration of the potential integration of e-texts into the formal catalogue and purchasing systems in the college.
An investigation of how the e-Reader and e-text adoption would influence the publishers and distributers, inquiring into whether publishers and distributors would to adopt models that make purchasing and management practical for the school sector.
The trial took place between April 2008 and November 2009.
The research outcomes show that older readers were significantly more engaged with and accepting of the e-reader device than younger readers. The research also pointed to older readers being more established readers who viewed the e-text and e-reader combination as providing an extension of their reading. Although all younger readers were experienced readers, they related less well to the device overall, and were less inclined to continue to read with it. The research highlighted significant generational difference in the trial groups- both in relation to reading itself and how technology may impact or change it.
The trials revealed significant difficulty for schools in the purchase any e-text to be transferred to a device. Major issues were identified in the current deployment of Digital Rights Management as it is embedded in many of the transactions related to purchase. In addition limited access to titles both locally and globally are affected by restrictive practices in copy right and digital rights management.
The investigation demonstrated that the publishers and distributors had not considered the library sector as a significant player in the e-text expansion, and the school sector as even less so. The research also highlighted a lack of planning across the publishing sector to guarantee a technical delivery of e-text that was seamless across sectors and industry instead opting for multiple formats and delivery in a competitive environment.
Conclusions
The e-reader and e-text trial undertaken by the Wesley College Library team demonstrated that the younger readers in the trial were less satisfied with the e-text and e-reader combination that the adult readers. Adult readers spent more time reading in the trial, and were more committed to continue with an e-reader. Younger readers were more critical consumers of the technology, more inclined to experiment with then and also found less reason to read an e-reader when a hardcopy was available. This tendency became less pronounced when it came to older students who saw benefits in using an e-reader/e-text combination in preference to using hard copy text books.
6 rated as excellent, 5 rated as very good, 4as good, 3 as acceptable, 2 as poor and 1 as very poor
The implementation of e-texts combined with e-readers in a conventional library acquisition and cataloguing system is practically unworkable, mainly due to the amount of Digital Rights Management embedded not only in the acquisition and title transfer process but also in the restrictions placed by suppliers on the readers themselves and the number of devices that can be used to transfer titles to. It must be conceded that e-readers are most effective when they are personal devices which are personalised by their user. Article collections and e-book titles cannot be transferred from one e-reader to another, and over time an e-reader that belongs to a person becomes as idiosyncratic of the users interests as does their bookshelf at home, or the bookshelf and file in the office.
6 rated as excellent, 5 rated as very good, 4 as good, 3 as acceptable, 2 as poor and 1 as very poor
More advantageous for school libraries and academic libraries are the options of subscribing to e-text collections and e-text libraries such as can be done with Warners, and EBL for instance. These options can be offered in existing technical systems in schools, or could become a reality for many schools via consortia purchase. Equally, involvement by state education departments in developing e-text access for text book delivery may be advantageous from many perspectives, particularly from a sustainability viewpoint and to reduce the weight of school bags for students travelling to and from school.
Thanks to Wilma and her team for undertaking and sharing this valuable research. A reminder that the full account of the research will be published in the next online edition of Synergy. A reminder to SLAV members that if you have mislaid your Synergy login details, please contact the SLAV office for assistance.
This free eBook written by Terry Freedman address the challenges facing anyone introducing web 2.0 into schools and then proceeds to showcase a number of web 2.0 projects that have been developed and implemented successfully into schools. Although written for a UK audience, there is an enormous amount that is applicable to Australian (and international) schools.
The are hyperlinks to the projects that have been developed so that readers can get a real feel for the teaching and learning that occurred within each project. Each project also contains:
Age range
Applications used
Description of the project
Project URL
Challenges that had to be overcome and
Reactions and outcomes (including quotes from students).
Full reviews of each project enables interested parties to assess if they could use or adapt projects for their own schools. Solutions to cybersafety are also addressed.
If you are wanting to address the use of (or lack thereof) web 2.0 tools in your school, The Amazing Web 2.0 Projects Book is an excellent beginning.
ReadCloud is a fascinating free site that may be useful for teacher librarians and English literature teachers.
ReadCloud offers free eBooks to either read online or to download and read later. All books are those out of copyright, so expect classics like Pride and Prejudice, Jane Eyre, Wuthering Heights, Great Expectations and War and Peace.
ReadCloud also offers online reading groups, and enables teachers to manage groups of readers, who can be added by invitation and kept private. Groups can add comments and make reading interactive and therefore more engaging and collaborative. There is also the opportunity to change the font of the text, search a dictionary and search the internet. This makes ReadCloud ideal for student use, however it could also be used for staff book clubs and private book groups.
The Apple iPad has landed. At 5am this morning (Melbourne time) Apple launched their latest creation, the iPad. It looks like a large iPhone or iPod touch.
It has a 25 CM display screen. One really cool demo covered the New York Times where users can read a copy that is laid out exactly like a real newspaper. It also has embedded video to add to the stories and menus to access other pages quickly.
A full size keyboard pops up when you use it in landscape. It has high definition video and lots of application for gaming. Photos can be added directly to Flickr and Facebook.
But the big thing for us guys is iBooks. The iBook store is on the iPad and Apple have already partnered with Penguin, Macmillan, HarperCollins, Hachette and Simon and Schuster. Interestingly some prices for books were pictured during the launch. Although in US dollars, Twilight and The Lovely Bones were listed at $4.99. That’s very appealing. Obviously a full colour screen so covers display as per the real thing. Fonts can be changed and enlarged to suit individual readers.
Bad news though; iBooks is apparently only available in the US upon the release in March. This is a serious problem for any Apple market outside the US, but understandable really due to publishing territories. Wonder when other territories will come onboard? No doubt this will happen though, as iTunes wasn’t available to other territories at one stage.
But the most important and fairly basic question that we as library professionals and educators have to ask is will the iPad bring more people to reading? I think the answer is yes and surely that is what we are all about, what we strive for in our work every day.
A view of the bookshelf and eReader
iWork, a suite of applications has been added to the iPad. iWork includes speadsheets, documents and presentations and is compatible with Microsoft Office. The spreadsheets look amazing and a numeric keypad pops up for data entry. These apps will cost (US) $9.99 each, whereas the iWork complete suite for Macs cost a$129.
As there will be a full sized keyboard dock for the iPad, it makes using the iPad as a regular computer so much easier.
The device weighs approximately 680 grams and according to my calculations is just over 1 centimetre thick. The iPad will come in 16, 32 and 64GB. There are WiFi and 3G models. The 3G are unlocked and should be able to use any carrier.
Pricing starts at US$499 for 16GB, $599 for 32 and $699 64GB WiFi models. 3G models add an extra US$130. The WiFi model will be on sale in 60 days, this availability is worldwide. We won’t have to wait here in Australia. The 3G model will be on sale in 90 days, but international pricing for plans or prepaid accounts will take until June or July to be locked in. As the 3G model has a Sim card tray, here’s hoping that we’ll be able to use the Sim card for mobile broadband access.
The pricing here is important in terms of the Kindle DX. Currently at A$489, the Kindle will face stiff competition from the full colour multi-faceted iPad. Will be interesting to see how the availability of book titles pans out on the iPad. Perhaps it is no surprise that a free Kindle app for iPhone and iPod touch was released today.
Apple’s specifications can be accessed here. A VoiceOver screen reader should mean that vision impaired people can use the iPad. It seems there is no camera for video conferencing or Skyping and the rumour of solar power was just that. The Engadget people covered the iPad launch event live, so for lots of news, photos and specifications, head over there. And here is a short video of the launch:
Questions about how the iPad may impact on school libraries are pondered here.
The 2010 Horizon Report has been released. If you are new to the Horizon Report, it looks at the future impacts of technologies on teaching and learning.
The six technologies to watch that have been chosen for this year’s report are:
Near term (within 12 months)
Mobile computing
Open content
Second adoption (2-3 years)
Electronic books
Simple augmented reality
Far term (4-5 years)
Gesture-based computing
Visual data analysis
Of particular note to school libraries is possibly mobile computing and electronic books. The Horizon Report adds that:
Network-capable devices that students are already carrying, are already established on many campuses, although before we see widespread use, concerns about privacy, classroom management, and access will need to be addressed. At the same time, the opportunity is great; virtually all higher education students carry some form of mobile device, and the cellular network that supports their connectivity continues to grow. An increasing number of faculty and instructional technology staff are experimenting with the possibilities for collaboration and communication offered by mobile computing. Devices from smart phones to netbooks are portable tools for productivity, learning, and communication, offering an increasing range of activities fully supported by applications designed especially for mobiles.
Electronic books have been available in some form for nearly four decades, but the past twelve months have seen a dramatic upswing in their acceptance and use. Convenient and capable electronic reading devices combine the activities of acquiring, storing, reading, and annotating digital books, making it very easy to collect and carry hundreds of volumes in a space smaller than a single paperback book. Already in the mainstream of consumer use, electronic books are appearing on campuses with increasing frequency. Thanks to a number of pilot programs, much is already known about student preferences with regards to the various platforms available. Electronic books promise to reduce costs, save students from carrying pounds of textbooks, and contribute to the environmental efforts of paper conscious campuses.
Some other important points made by the report are
Digital media literacy continues its rise in importance as a key skill in every discipline and profession.
Institutions increasingly focus more narrowly on key goals, as a result of shrinking budgets in the present economic climate. Across the board, institutions are looking for ways to control costs while still providing a high quality of service. Schools are challenged by the need to support a steady — or growing — number of students with fewer resources and staff than before. In this atmosphere, it is critical for information and media professionals to emphasize the importance of continuing research into emerging technologies as a means to achieve key institutional goals. As one example, knowing the facts about shifting server- and network intensive infrastructure, such as email or media streaming, off campus in the current climate might present the opportunity to generate considerable annual savings.
New scholarly forms of authoring, publishing, and researching continue to emerge but appropriate
metrics for evaluating them increasingly and far too often lag behind.
It must be noted that currently Higher Education authorities in the US are not promoting the Kindle due to its limitations for blind and vision impaired students. Thanks to Helen Boelens for this article.
With the imminent arrival of the yet-to-be-named Apple eReader+ and some of the debate surrounding the introduction and use of eReaders, it might be useful to do a comparison. That eReaders are like Twenty20 cricket. For our lovely international readers, please look at this Wikipedia site describing cricket and the one describing Twenty20 cricket. It would take me weeks to try to explain and then it still probably would be nonsensical! But a quick comparison would be to imagine that a game of football (or basketball or ice hockey or baseball) went for five days and sometimes ended in a draw. Then someone invented a shortened version of the game (Twenty20) that runs for a maximum of three hours, has no time outs and only a brief half time and has a guaranteed outcome. The scoring was high and quick and there was a lot of action. That’s the best way to think about this concept if you are a stranger to cricket.
Here we go:
The younger generation love the format, but the content is still pretty much the same. That is you get twenty overs of cricket, it is still six balls per over, the same number of batsmen and fielders. The format of the new style cricket is appealing as the whole match takes less than three hours as opposed to five entire days. eReaders appeal to the younger generation who love gadgets and have grown up with them; they can’t remember life without mobile phones. The content will still be pretty much the same; Pride and Prejudice, Harry Potter and Twilight will still contain the same number of words, the same story and the same themes and concepts. They may have some added extras, kind of like the extra number of boundaries hit during a Twenty20 game.
Many traditionalists that support both cricket and reading are probably not keen on the new formats.
Changemakers can see the appeal in the new formats. More younger people go to the Twenty20 cricket (just look at the attendance for the Victoria vs New South Wales match on Friday 15th January. Over 43,000 people for a non-finals game. Many of those attending may choose to play the game and to attend more traditional formats of the game. If many younger people use eReaders, then we should be joyful that they are reading; they are accessing books. They may then seek out the same or other books in other formats.
Twenty20 cricket and eReaders may well be the saviours of two traditional pass times that could have become increasingly irrelevant for today’s fast paced, net savvy, want-it-now generation.
You have to have either Pay TV (for the Twenty20 cricket) or an expensive eReader to access eBooks.
The youth market find both new formats to be an exciting alternative to the traditional formats.
I like all formats of cricket and books. All formats can appeal to some people and we need to be aware of what our students are thinking about this topic.
Any thoughts or other comparisons would be appreciated.
Apple is set to announce their next big thing on January 26 (now ‘slated’ for January 27). Variously called the iSlate, the iGuide or generically called ‘the tablet’, rumours abound what it will do precisely, but many writers seem to agree that it will at least do for books what the iPod did for music. However, a colour eReader with internet access, video, etc. is seen as being just the beginning. As Apple get so many things oh so right, what more can we expect? A few experts reveal their thoughts.
When it comes to the launch of new and exciting techno-gadgets, I–and perhaps, we all–have been spoiled by Apple. Yes, they’ve gotten it wrong on occasion, but so often, they get it so right. They’ve repeatedly raised the bar, and our expectations. Perhaps that’s why, when I first saw the unauthorized, leaked images of Amazon’s first Kindle on the web all those years ago, I thought surely they were the creation of an internet ne’er-do-well. I laughed, because I thought I got the joke. “Yeah!” I said. “That DOES look like it’s from 1980! Good one, you internet pranksters you.”
But so it was.
In the days of high-speed streaming video, 5-second song downloads, 30″ computer monitors, and a nation of media addicts, Amazon released this.
Amazon’s Kindle (along with all the other faux-paper e-ink readers) ignores the fact that all media is evolving–books included. These e-ink readers are nothing more than a cautious step between the old and the new. They’re too married to the formatting and failures of their paper predecessors to take full advantage of what’s possible. They’ll never be as good as paperbacks for quiet, un-powered reading. And they’ll never be as good as computers for multimedia content. Why offer a device that offers a poor version of two experiences?
By releasing an e-reader so hopelessly tied to the paper, Amazon gave Apple an opening to provide something better. If the latest swirl of rumors is true and Apple plans to release a tablet computer, or iSlate, early next year, you can bet your life it will put the Kindle to shame when it comes to digital content delivery. Any e-ink device simply will not be able to compete. I’m not going to reveal any names, but I have it on very good authority, for example, that–unlike the Kindle–the new Apple tablet will, indeed, have a color screen. Might it also … play video?! (Please pardon the sarcasm.)
Book publishers are feverishly searching for the best ways to pour their content into the new digital stream. And rightly so. I’ve argued here in the past that book publishers, as producers of a continuous stream of high-quality and edited content, are perfectly suited to capitalize on the new opportunities presented by the digital content revolution. Selling e-books has long been the most accepted method–and though I have my reservations–I wouldn’t necessarily disagree. I would argue, however, that the best e-books are certainly not Kindle e-books.
Book content should no longer be imprisoned by the limitations of paper. Digital books should include author interviews, instructional videos, pop-up definitions of esoteric terms, instant foreign translations, optional soundtracks, links to helpful web sites, and anything else publishers and authors can dream up to increase the value and effectiveness of their content.
What the rumored Apple iSlate represents for publishers and e-book readers is the ability to break free from the limitations of paper–which were so dutifully copied by Amazon and Sony–and provide book content to readers on a portable device with a screen big enough to be reasonable for reading long-form content.
I understand the arguments for the e-ink format: the non-back-lit screen is easy on the eyes, easy on battery life, etc. And since we spend upwards of ten hours a day staring at glaring screens–whether 30″ wide or glowing in your pocket– I can understand the argument for not wanting to read the latest vampire novel off yet another backlit screen. When I desire such a quiet reading experience I pick up the paperback. It is still the best at what it does. No electronic reader could ever truly duplicate the experience of reading off paper. So why try? When building a digital reader, build something different. Build something that offers book readers new material–and publishers a new revenue stream. With the coming of the iSlate, it looks like Apple may have finally done just that.
Another former Apple executive who was there at the time said the tablets kept getting shelved at Apple because Mr. Jobs, whose incisive critiques are often memorable, asked, in essence, what they were good for besides surfing the Web in the bathroom.
Here’s the thimbleful of information I have heard regarding The Tablet (none of which has changed in six months): The Tablet project is real, it has you-know-who’s considerable undivided attention, and everyone working on it has dropped off the map. I don’t know anyone who works at Apple who doubts these things; nor do I know anyone at Apple who knows a whit more. I don’t know anyone who’s seen the hardware or the software, nor even anyone who knows someone else who has seen the hardware or software.
The cone of silence surrounding the project is, so far as I can tell, complete.1
The situation is uncannily similar to the run-up preceding the debut of the original iPhone in January 2007, including many of the same engineers and software teams at Apple — such as those who built the iPhone Mail, Calendar, and Safari apps — disappearing into a black hole. The iPhone remained a secret until Steve Jobs took it out of his jeans pocket on stage at Macworld Expo. All of which is to say that what follows is my conjecture. Pure punditry, not one of those smarmy “predictions” where I know full well in advance what’s going to happen.
I have a thousand questions about The Tablet’s design. What size is it? There’s a big difference between, say, 7- and 10-inch displays. How do you type on it? With all your fingers, like a laptop keyboard? Or like an iPhone, with only your thumbs? If you’re supposed to watch video on it, how do you prop it up? Holding it in your hands? Flat on a table seems like the wrong angle entirely; but a fold-out “arm” to prop it up, à la a picture frame, seems clumsy and inelegant. If it’s just a touchscreen tablet, how do you protect the screen while carrying it around? If it folds up somehow, how is it not just a laptop — why not put a hardware keyboard on the part that folds up to cover the display? (Everyone I know at Apple refers to it as “The Tablet”, but so far as I can tell, that’s because that’s what everyone calls it, not because anyone knows that it actually even is, physically, a tablet. And “The Tablet” most certainly is not the product name.) If it’s too big to fit in a pants pocket, how are you supposed to carry it around? And but if it doesfit in a pants pocket, how is it bigger enough than an iPod Touch to justify existing? And so on.
But there’s one question at the top of the list, the answer to which is the key to answering every other question. That question is this: If you already have an iPhone and a MacBook; why would you want this?
The epigraph I used to start this piece — the bit about Steve Jobs demanding that a tablet be useful for more than just reading on the can — indicates that Apple will release nothing without such an answer. I agree that such an answer is essential.
Successful new gadgets always seem to occupy a clearly defined place alongside, or replacing, existing devices. The Flip filled a previously empty niche for a small, cheap, simple video camera. How was the iPod better than existing portable music players? It fit 1,000 songs in your pocket, with a fun interface that let you find them easily. Why buy an iPhone to replace your existing mobile phone? Because there was a clear need for a modern handheld general-purpose computer.
But how much room is there between an iPhone (or iPod Touch) and a MacBook (or other laptop computer, running Windows or Linux or whatever)? What’s the argument for owning all three?
“I’d use it on the couch and lying in bed” is not a good answer. You can already use your iPhone orMacBook on the couch and in bed. It strikes me as foolish to market a multi-hundred-dollar device that people are expected to leave on their coffee table.
“It’s a Kindle killer” is not a good answer. If you think Apple is making a dedicated device for reading e-books and articles, you’re thinking too small. As profoundly reticent as Steve Jobs is regarding future Apple products, when he does speak, he’s often surprisingly revealing. David Pogue asked him about the Kindle a few months ago:
A couple of years ago, pre-Kindle, Mr. Jobs expressed his doubts that e-readers were ready for prime time. So today, I asked if his opinions have changed.
“I’m sure there will always be dedicated devices, and they may have a few advantages in doing just one thing,” he said. “But I think the general-purpose devices will win the day. Because I think people just probably aren’t willing to pay for a dedicated device.”
He said that Apple doesn’t see e-books as a big market at this point, and pointed out that Amazon.com, for example, doesn’t ever say how many Kindles it sells. “Usually, if they sell a lot of something, you want to tell everybody.”
“It doesn’t matter how good or bad the product is, the fact is that people don’t read anymore,” he said. “Forty percent of the people in the U.S. read one book or less last year. The whole conception is flawed at the top because people don’t read anymore.”
One could reasonably argue that the “people don’t read” comment, taken at face value, suggests that Apple has no interest in that market, period.
I, however, would square the two remarks as follows: Not enough people read to make it worth creating a dedicated device that is to reading what the original iPod was to music. (Everyone, for practical definitions of “everyone”, listens to music.) But e-reading as one aspect among several for a general-purpose computing device — well, that’s something else entirely.
The pre-Touch iPod was (and remains) an enormous success. It changed the music industry and rejuvenated Apple. But it was and remains a dedicated device; originally focused on audio, now capable of the sibling feature of video.
The iPhone, on the other hand, was conceived and has flourished as a general-purpose handheld computing platform. It was not introduced as such publicly, and is not pitched as such in Apple’s marketing, but clearly that’s what it is. The iPhone was described by Jobs in his on-stage introduction as three devices in one: “a widescreen iPod with touch controls, a revolutionary mobile phone, a breakthrough Internet communicator”. Thus, it was clear what people would want to do with it: watch videos, listen to music, make phone calls, surf the web, do email.
The way Apple made one device that did a credible job of all these widely-varying features was by making it a general-purpose computer with minimal specificity in the hardware and maximal specificity in the software. And, now, through the App Store and third-party developers, it does much more: serving as everything from a game player to a medical device.
Do I think The Tablet is an e-reader? A video player? A web browser? A document viewer? It’s not a matter of or but rather and. I say it is all of these things. It’s a computer.
And so in answer to my central question, regarding why buy The Tablet if you already have an iPhone and a MacBook, my best guess is that ultimately, The Tablet is something you’ll buy insteadof a MacBook.
I say they’re swinging big — redefining the experience of personal computing.
It will not be pitched as such by Apple. It will be defined by three or four of its built-in primary apps. But long-term, big-picture? It will be to the MacBook what the Macintosh was to the Apple II.
I am not predicting that Apple is phasing out the Mac. (On the contrary, I’ve heard that Mac OS X 10.7 is on pace for a developer release at WWDC in June.) Like all Apple products, The Tablet will do less than we expect but the things it does do, it will do insanely well. It will offer a fraction of the functionality of a MacBook — but that fraction will be way more fun. The same Asperger-y critics who dismissed the iPhone will focus on all that The Tablet doesn’tdo and declare that this time, Apple really has f*$ked up but good. The rest of us will get in line to buy one.
The Mac is, and will remain, Apple’s answer to what you use to do everything.
The Tablet, I say, is going to be Apple’s new answer to what you use for personal portable general computing.
Put another way, let’s say instead of a MacBook and an iPhone, you’ve got an iMac and an iPhone, but you also want a portable secondary computer. Today, that portable from Apple (portable as opposed to the iPhone’s mobile) is a MacBook. With The Tablet, you’ll have the option of a device that will more closely resemble the iPhone than the iMac in terms of concept and the degree of technical abstraction.
The Tablet OS
The original 1984 Mac didn’t abstract away the computer — it made the computer itself elegant, simple, and understandable. Very, very little was hidden from the typical user. Mac OS X is vastly more complex technically and conceptually, as it must be due to the vastly increased complexity and capability of today’s hardware. But Mac OS X has always tried to have it both ways: a veneer of simplicity that doesn’t cover the entire surface of the system. The user-exposed file system is a prime example. On the 1984 Mac, the entire file system was exposed, but the entire file system fit on a 400 KB floppy disk. On Mac OS X, the /System/Library/folder, one of many exposed fiddly sections of the file system browsable in the Finder, contains over 90,000 items, not one of which a typical user should ever need to see or touch.
The iPhone OS offers a complete computing abstraction. Under the hood, it’s just as complex as Mac OS X. On the surface, though, it is even more simple and elegant than the original Mac. No technical complexity is exposed. Hierarchyis minimized. It relegates the file system to a developer-level technology rather than a user-level technology. (Did you know the file system on iPhonesis case sensitive?)
But so while I think The Tablet’s OS will be like the iPhone OS, I don’t think it will be the iPhone OS. Carved from the same OS X core, yes, but with a new bespoke UI designed to be just right for The Tablet’s form factor, whatever that form factor will be.
One common prediction I disagree with is that The Tablet will simply be more or less an iPod Touch with a much bigger display. But in the same way that it made no sense for Apple to design the iPhone OS to run Mac software, it makes little sense for a device with a 7-inch (let alone larger) display to run software designed for a 3.5-inch display.
The iPhone OS user interface was not designed in the abstract. It’s entirely about real-world usability, and very much designed specifically around the physical size of the device itself. The size and spacing of tappable targets are designed with the size of human thumb- and fingertips in mind. More importantly, the whole thing is designed so that it can be used one-handed. Even an adult with relatively small hands can go from one corner to the other with their thumb, holding the iPhone in one hand.
Mac OS X apps couldn’t run on an iPhone display because they simply wouldn’t fit, and the parts that did fit would contain buttons and other UI elements that were far too small to be used. Running iPhone software on a much larger display presents the opposite problem: it’s not that the UI couldn’t be scaled to fill the screen, it’s that it would be a waste to do so.
A 7-inch display isn’t twice the size of an iPhone’s, it’s fourtimes bigger in surface area. I’m not sure even Shaquille O’Neal could hold a 7-inch iPod Touch in one hand and swipe from corner to corner with his thumb. Why would Apple stretch a UI designed to afford for one-handed use on 3.5-inch displays to cover a 7-inch (or larger) display that couldn’t possibly be used one-handed? If Apple’s starting with a hardware size where the iPhone OS can’t be used one-handed, then trust me, they’re designing a new interaction model.
Apple is not in the business of making monolithic OSes that they cram down your throat on as many widely-varying devices as possible. Apple is in the business of making complete products, for which they craft derivative OSes to fit each product. There is a shared core OS. There is not a shared core UI.2
If you’re thinking The Tablet is just a big iPhone, or just Apple’s take on the e-reader, or just a media player, or just anything, I say you’re thinking too small — the equivalent of thinking that the iPhone was going to be just a click wheel iPod that made phone calls. I think The Tablet is nothing short of Apple’s reconception of personal computing.
Apple expects to sell 10 million tablet computers in the product’s first year, according to a former Google executive.
Lee Kai-fu, founding president of Google China until September 2009, says in a blog post he heard the numbers from a friend.
He added that the Apple tablet (rumors now call it the iSlate or iGuide) will be launched this month at a sub-$1000 price point. He says the device’s 10.1-ich screen makes it resemble a large iPhone.
Lee’s Innovation Worksfund is an investor in iPhone-manufacturer Foxconn, although he denies that the information came from Foxconn or Apple.
Will you buy an Apple Tablet? Let us know in the comments.
The BBC have also reported that Apple shares have risen on speculation about the new platform and that Apple has booked the Yerba Buena Centre in San Francisco for 26 January (where the iPhone was launched).
Subject to copyright, can you imagine being able to read Andre Agassi’s autobiography Open that has key matches mentioned in the text embedded into the book? (Such as the 1990 French Open Final where he lost because he was so concerned his wig was about to fall off??)
How about reading Michael Jackson’s Moonwalk where he talks about a film clip where he dances like a robot (and the next day children around the world were imitating him).
Not being aware of that song and clip makes the text a little meaningless, but being able to see the clip makes the text so much more meaningful.
What does this mean for libraries, schools and school libraries? Is it the much heralded death-knell for books? Perhaps people will actually read more books when access is easier. However, access to eBooks means that the reader needs some type of machine to read them. Does this mean that access will actually be more difficult for many people due to cost? Will libraries, schools and school libraries provide these eReaders for patrons and students to help bridge the divide? Who would receive the machines? How would that be decided? Will libraries provide access to eBooks via their websites, much like the Overdrive system used by Yarra Plenty Regional Library and Brisbane Libraries that provides online access to mp3 audio books and eBooks? To overcome copyright issues, the mp3s that are downloaded by users are only available on the user’s machine for the normal loan period (say, three weeks) and then it becomes available for another user. Can you see libraries providing this service? What would the ramifications be for those of us in schools? Would the library become purely a service and a state of mind rather than an actual place? If so, what then happens to the community services that libraries provide?
There is certainly much to ponder here for publishers, booksellers and library staff. I would love any comments and thoughts. One thing is certain, more will become clearer once Apple make their announcement in a few weeks. At present, much of this is purely speculation. However, it seems to be an exciting and challenging time for those in the book industry.
The GiggleIT Project is a global collaborative publishing project hosted by the International Association of School Librarianship (IASL), working in partnership with the International Children’s Digital Library (ICDL).
Designed to help children around the world improve their English language literacy skills, the GiggleIT Project encourages students ages 10-14 to contribute their writings to an online book (eBook) celebrating stories and humour from their culture. Humour, just like tragedy, is a vehicle that can be used to promote cross-cultural understandings and collaboration for children and young adults around the world. Children’s work will be published internationally and will identify their culture through literature.
Written by children for children, the eBook will contain children’s stories, jokes and poetry. The project will inspire children to be creative and make cross-cultural connections with other children from around the world as they learn about humour from other countries, while improving their literacy skills.
A range of competitions, and teaching and learning packages, will motivate and stimulate reading and writing skills whilst supporting the teaching and learning with examples and worksheets which can be downloaded into handouts for the class.
Registration is free. GiggleIT sounds like a fantastic way for students to improve their literacy, have fun and collaborate with other students.
