Kara Swisher of AllThingsD’s BoomTown has a video interview with tech review maven Walter Mossberg, including capturing a conversation between him and Steve Jobs. AppleInsider has a summary for those who would rather read than watch.
Of particular interest to TeleReaders: battery life for playing back mp3s will be on the order of 140 hours with the display turned off. Jobs does not believe the 10-hour display time for reading e-books will be a major drawback compared to the Kindle.
Because you just end up plugging it in. You end up docking it or whatever you’re going to do with it. It’s not a big deal. 10 hours is a long time. Because you’re not going to read for 10 hours.
Jobs seems to have moderated his “people don’t read anymore” stance to “people don’t read for ten hours at a time”. Wonder if it’s still just as true?
(Moved to near top of blog. Posted ealier. – D.R.)
Quote: “Jobs seems to have moderated his ‘people don’t read anymore’ stance to “people don’t read for ten hours at a time”. Wonder if it’s still just as true?”
Jobs has a history of using misdirection with his competition, knocking what he plans to do next. And sometimes he is right in a narrow sense. He knocked netbooks, arguing that Apple couldn’t produce one in the same price range that wouldn’t be junk. And then Apple created a netbook competitor at a netbook price that doesn’t look like junk. But it isn’t a netbook.
His “ten hour” remark is interesting. That’s precisely the time I told myself before the announcement that would be the point where an LCD reader becomes viable. The Kindle’s many days of battery life isn’t that important. What matters is that we can get a full day’s use out of a gadget before charging it overnight. Ten hours is enough for that. You’d need whips and chains to get me to read most books more than 10 hours a day.
The other factors are a bit more ambivalent.
1. The inability of reading an iPad in bright sunlight is balanced by the Kindle’s inability to be read in dark places without an external light source.
2. A belief that a backlit source means greater eyestrain may be true but it also could be an urban myth. I don’t like reading books on a computer screen, but that’s because of the posture I have to assume and not the backlighting. I’ve also never noticed any strain reading my iPod touch, although I am careful to dim the lighting down.
The key issue is the price. How can Amazon sell their top-end Kindle for $489 when a much more versatile low-end iPad is selling for $499, just $10 more? They can’t. Anyone who wants a Kindle, but can afford to wait might want to delay two months or so until after the iPad is released. Amazon is likely to make some sharp price cuts about then.
We’ll also know better about the relative benefits of the two products by then.
Commenting on Mike’s comment:
The problem with the 10 hour is not that people don’t read for 10 hours at a time but they don’t always have access to a power outlet. I ran out of power with a Kindle 1 on a 3 day bus ride for example.
Also, the $489 Kindle includes whispernet. I realize there are lots of places where wi-fi is available, just not where I happen to be most of the time. Riding in my car, staying in a hotel, sitting on the beach or under a tree, at the local swimming pool, etc. Add the whispernet and the iPad is suddenly $130 more than the $499 quoted plus at least $15 per month. That is a far cry from $10.
I agree with him on the LCD eye strain. I have not noticed any but the reason I don’t like reading on my computer screen is the same as Mike’s. I cannot relax and put my feet up, or sit in the yard or wherever I please, because I am constrained to my office chair.