“As if newspapers didn’t have enough to worry about, now they are about to get hit by the Apple train. Reports that Apple is ordering 10-inch touchscreens have been confirmed by Dow Jones, The Wall Street Journal, and Reuters. Many are speculating that these will be used for Apple’s new netbook but I think this device will be much different than what we’re used to seeing in the netbook space. As Apple has done with the Mac, the iPod, and the iPhone, I expect it to revolutionize this sector of the market,” Jason Schwarz writes for Seeking Alpha.
“There currently exists a major void of access with the Internet. I’ll call this void the newspaper void,” Schwarz writes. “Newspapers are the perfect size to read and they’re portable. The iPhone screen is not the perfect size to sit down and read a newspaper, I’m good for ten minutes of reading on the iPhone screen; anything more is too much for my eyes to handle. It’s great as a quick reference, but it is primarily a phone. My laptop has a good sized screen but the clunky keyboard and lack of universal WiFi access make it hard to use as a newspaper replacement. This new netbook/tablet/E-book reader/whatever you want to call it will fill a niche. Users will be able to take it on the subway, take it in the car, take it on the back porch, take it to breakfast, take it to the pool, take it wherever you would normally go to read a magazine or newspaper.”
Schwarz writes, “Apple has seen enough evidence that the netbook space is big enough for them to enter… In this recession, consumers are shopping price and Apple will benefit from having a sub $600 alternative. I would imagine that this device will come with a built in 3G Internet connection so that universal internet access is not a problem. It won’t have a keyboard like the other netbooks do, and it won’t be made to do much more than read the news from the Internet, watch television shows and movies, and play games from the app store. Once again, Apple is the true innovator or the technology revolution going on in this day and age.”
Read more in the full article here.
MacDailyNews Take: So, would it be carrier subsidized? And, if so, would the subsidy amount needed to make the device marketable be significant enough to require carrier exclusivity (For example, AT&T Mobility-only, as with iPhone)?
