Where do you think Apple will go with the iPad?

Is it just me or is most of what is being discussed in the digital media world with regards to ebooks purely centred around the iPad? Is there any other device in recent times that has attracted such attention, focus, debate or interest?

Today I read on ChangeWave all the stats from a survey of over 3,000 consumers that shows a huge wave of demand for the iPad. I'm sure we didn't need a survey to know that - I've mentioned the quote from last year's Frankfurt Book Fair's Supply Chain Meeting again and again on this blog ("it will be Apple, it will be cool, and everyone will want one").

It's not surprising to read Amazon, Sony, Barnes & Noble will all take a hit when Apple launches. That's because they went for a device that was predominantly an e-reader with wi-fi (or without for some of the Sony's on the market). The bells and whistles options haven't been great - music for some, notes for others, nothing that really stands out. Which is what Apple has done. They've created something more. Apple has the convergence of technology we've been waiting for. Of course there will be many lookielikies in the coming months. Everyone will want a piece of the ebook pie.

According to the survey, the belief is the iPad will capture an astonishing 40% of the e-reader market in the first 90 days after its launch. The survey further showed demand will continue to strengthen (it will be cool remember!) and once iBook is launched it will further enhance the offering, however from what I can gather Apple will be using the publishers epub files. That means if you receive epub files from your ebook vendor (or directly from the publisher) you don't need to buy from the iBook store. So in my mind iBook has to offer something more. The full multimedia offering.

The other concern relates to cost - if you can buy your $9.99 epub ebooks from Sony (who matched Amazon's pricing strategy for their lead titles), why would you buy from iBook at a higher price? The Apple agency model has been commented on by industry leaders and insiders for some time. With a 30% cut (assuming the information is correct), Apple might not be able to compete on price unless of course they go the loss-leader route like everyone else.

I'm not privy to digital rights or pricing information but I imagine the last thing Apple will want is readers buying books from other ebook vendors and reading them on the iPad. It defeats the purpose of the iBook.

Then again, I buy all of my digital music from iTunes because it's there and it's at the right price point - I don't need the whole album, I choose the songs I want, and I try out ones I don't really know but has been recommended to me based on a purchase or the Genius app. I listen to music all the time and wish the iPod I got for my birthday a few years back had a lot more memory (it only holds 1600 songs and I have thousands more that aren't coming across to the device). Music and reading are very different pursuits and take up different amounts of time. I go via iTunes because it's what I've done from the start. I didn't know any better and I've been a loyal customer from the beginning. Of course everyone wondered why I was buying music solely from iTunes ("buying" is the verb I'd like to emphasise here. One colleague wondered if I was the only person they knew that actually paid for music but that's a different discussion altogether!). So I linked into iTunes, I love the iPod, and I continue to search the site for new experiences. But with an iPad I already know the ebook vendors, I've purchased from several of them, I know their offering. Would I be loyal to iBook from the beginning if they don't match on price? We have the US$9.99 mentality. It will be interesting to see where Apple goes with their pricing and their digital rights strategies.

And of course Australian publishers won't want to go down that path at all. Their pricing policies have strongly centred around the cheapest print edition. But the consumer expectations for ebooks does centre around price. What will Apple do in this marketplace to meet consumer expectations set by their competitors? And how will publishers respond?

On another matter altogether, I loved reading today on Teleread about Apple iPad accessories and a wishlist. Apparently Jeff Bezos of Amazon reads his Kindle in the bath by sealing the device inside a special Ziplock bag. I've mentioned previously that I love reading in the bath but I'm not going to read an electronic device near water (I have enough problems getting the printed version wet!). If there was an accessory that I knew was safe and secure, would I try it? Will be interesting to see whether Apple comes up with something that can be used around water or food. Some sort of protective device sounds great. Then again, would I still use it in the bath? Hmmm, that's a question that I don't know the answer for.

Struggling with ebook reading

Battery life on the Sony PRS-700 – particularly when the back light is used – has been flagged as being problematic on this blog before. Together with not being able to read in the bath or reading long enough on domestic flights, it’s one of the Top 3 reasons why NOT to read an ebook. It really is one of the downsides of this whole e-reading experience.

When I think about the downsides there’s more: not being able to promote the book you are reading to strangers (I’m always fascinated with what people are reading and always check out the covers!), you can’t loan an ebook to someone the way you can a physical book (unless you loan the device with it!), and the gift book market really doesn’t offer anything to an e-book reader (here’s a beautiful photographic book on Paris that I’d love to give you to show off on your coffee table, oops, sorry, it’s in electronic form only! Still want it?). You can’t handle the content the same way and it can be pretty bland in black and white. Of course that’s going to change with the plethora of e-reading devices and tablets hitting the market, particularly the iPad, but for now your main e-readers are not offering colour and so you usually use the device to read fiction and suitable non-fiction (like biographies etc).

Of course there is another downside that ebook readers will ‘get’ straight away! I’ve mentioned it before but it’s really problematic purchasing books online – not the process, it’s the ease of which we push the “buy now” button! It’s like being let loose in a candy shop. We are conditioned these days to search and discover what we’d like to buy using the web. A little typing and a few clicks here and there. Shopping experiences vary. The content that we are offered to assist with our purchasing decision varies greatly. We can find what we want from an online vendor - if we don't it’s a couple of clicks of the mouse elsewhere. You are at a competitor in an instant.

We aren’t carrying anything heavy. We don’t have a shopping bag filled with physical books. The file is electronic. It doesn't weigh anything. It’s easy. And we click that button again and again when we find books we want to read. And then when we find them. God help us. Particularly if the magic US$9.99 price is offered. It’s only $11 Australian dollars to read this and that. Better buy now. Good price. Cheaper than physical book. Click click click and the device starts to fill.

When you work for a library supplier you pretty much see most books come through the front door. Trolleys in our Operations area are laden with books – trade books, academic, reference, commercial products and non-commercial (independent publishers, organisations and self-published authors). They move in and out of our building, day in and day out. Masses of books. You see the physical item and you think oh Wolf Hall, that’s one hell of a tome. Will take me a month to read. If you are like me, you purchase it anyway. (Yet again, that involves going into our site and clicking on the order now button – simple, effective, and what’s more the purchase comes straight out of the pay-packet….DEADLY!).

You start to collect unread books. Last count there were 30 books sitting on shelves on my floor to ceiling bookshelf at home (which is magnificent to look at by the way!). However on the e-reader (not so good to look at!) there’s something like 46 books waiting for me to read them. They aren’t in colour. They are just files.

Granted a good number of those were freely available classics from Gutenberg, but they are ones I want to read….one day. I’m starting to collect more and more books and as I’ve mentioned before it’s not like being on iTunes and downloading a song. A song is a few minutes of enjoyment. A book can be days, weeks, months. I’m beginning to struggle with time management and balancing my reading list with the time I actually have to read.

And still I can’t stop myself. My e-book newsletters and new product alerts continue to come through on a regular basis. New books in e-book format, old books now available electronically. A few clicks and that book can be on my device.

I’ve sent a help message through to Mastercard previously via this blog. But as more and more publishers get their digital strategies moving, it will only get worse.

Somebody…..help….me…..soon. I'm....DROWNING!!!!!!!

The ipod moment is already here

Ebook articles often refer to the iPod moment. Is it just around the corner? There is much debate on the subject and the comparison is inevitable.

Ebook readers aren't mainstream here in Australia. They are still way too expensive and a luxury item (The Iliad sells for $1299 with the 'cheaper' version at $1099 and prices generally start from $500). Sourcing content can be problematic, particularly for new releases and don't even start me on the various ebook formats out there! It's bloody confusing.

As you know, I've been playing with ebooks for this blog - I have Mobipocket Reader and the Sony ebook portal loaded on the computer. Through Mobipocket you have access to Fictionwise and 13 odd ebook vendors. Sony just links to Sony but they did partner with Google to load 500,000 public domain books for free. You can access that content as well through Project Gutenberg. It's there for the taking.

Anyway, I have to laugh whenever I read about the iPod moment. I've only had an iPod for 15 months and promptly loaded iTunes onto the laptop, copying favourites songs from my extensive CD collection and spending a small fortune on new and old songs (especially those classics in my extensive tape collection!). The good thing about iTunes is you can listen to a song for 20 seconds or so and download it. Click, Click, Click it's all easy and accessible. The Genius application is a killer but at the same time it's introduced me to other music, which I've enjoyed. It's also cost a small fortune over time but as a music lover, it gets used frequently. As does the Mastercard.

Ebook portals offer pretty much the same process, but their preview functionality still needs work. US$11.99 for this book, specials, collections, free books. It's click, click and click and all that content is downloaded. Just like iTunes. Only dearer!

There's another problem. The average song time is 4 minutes. You can download 15 songs and have an hours entertainment. Books take time to read, particularly when you are a busy professional. So I have the dilemma, a few easy clicks, and I have the content (and an ever increasing Mastercard bill!). I already have more than a dozen printed books waiting to be read. I now have the same on the e-reader or in the ebook portals on the laptop (for those that won't transfer to the e-reader). I don't need more content. I need a time management system! NOW!

Oh, and if you can have a word in the ears of the nice people at Mastercard, I'd be most grateful....