One can’t have missed the buzz (to the extent its ridiculous) of Apple’s rumored tablet that is rumored to be unveiled in San Francisco on Tuesday, January 26.
In addition to the Jesus tablet (yes, that’s what some people call it) there are rumors about a similar-ish device from Microsoft, a color tablet device called Courier and of course HTC is cooking one with Google, maybe. At least that’s the word on the street.
What do you do with the too big iPhone? Just as the vision of the infamous CrunchPad, it would be a great device to browse the web laying on the couch. After all taking a MacBook Pro to bed or browsing it while laying on the couch is not only clunky and difficult, it is also likely to burn you. But there is only so much Internet you can browse while laying on your back or when curled up on a couch. So what would be even better usage for a browser that does not fit in your pocket?
It could, in theory(!), help media industry to strengthen their problematic (or rather non-existent) business model by getting people do subscribe content and read it from this rumored tablet. NYT knows that publishers are already hard at work:
“And it’s worth pointing out that many publishers are building content in the belief that when it comes to the tablet, it’s not if, it’s when.”
Not everybody know’s that the Swedish media juggernaut is going a step beyond customizing content to 10.1-inch multitouch screen: Bonnier and the infamous Bonnier R&D, and their design partner BERG, is cooking their own tablet-ish e-reader. Or at least a concept of a such device.
Will it work (assuming one of these companies will some day unveil one)? Well, yes and no. There’s a good change that it will be a partial solution. Changing behavior takes time and is hard, but I have seen a glimpse of the future and its the GQ’s iphone app which sets you back exactly €2.39. Yes, that’s real money that I’m talking about and not some shady advertising exposure metrics of uninformative CPMs. That’s not all, I was also quite happy to pay it for this fine piece of media that is a mix of text, photos, sound and video.
Guardian is another media publication that has a nifty iPhone App but there’s a significant difference. Unlike the Guardian, where a one-off fee is paid for unlimited access to content, in the UK GQ is charging £1.79 for each edition. This could work nicely with any of the super sized iPhones, tablets or next gen Kindles. Well, until some genius starts to give such content free and try’s to make it up with advertising. Giving content free is like wages, they are sticky only to one direction.
Photo by Gizmodo.
