iPad
Normally, I wouldn't post a commercial for a product (which is essentially what the following video is), but the features displayed once they're finished gushing about how the sun won't shine if your don't go out and buy one are fascinating to watch.
Early reviews are coming in that it's living up to the hype, which is nice to hear, but I'm looking forward to seeing real-life in-the-field reviews of this thing. If anyone out there intends to be in line at the Genius store on day one, drop us a line and let us know what you think!
In many ways, this is the convergence device I've been talking about all this time -- the convergence of the laptop and eReader in a single device. This is the device the New York Times has staked its future on.
The eReader "iBook" function looks like it's not going to be so constrained to the Barnes & Noble store as early reviewers were warning. The tablet is ePub compatible, meaning it will read eBooks from several major publishers, further cementing that format as the industry standard for e-publishing.
The biggest surprise for me is that the pricing is competitive with a netbook or one of the nicer eReaders like the Que. Starting at about $500 (for a stripped-down WiFi-enabled variety) and ranging up to about $700 for one with more memory and 3G access.
I don't know if this will save print media or trounce the Kindle. But it is awfully pretty. And if you were planning to buy a laptop and an eReader, this device looks like the best bet I've seen yet for an all-in-one device.
I wonder how resistant to fingerprints that screen is...
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Pages to Type is a blog about books, writing and literary culture (with the occasional digression into coffee and the care and feeding of giant robots).