Sounds a fair old whack to Kate.
This is the number of iPads that Apple have said they sold on day one (see Saturday’s news post).
Kate’s more of an iPhone believer than an iPad believer (seems she’s with the San Francisco Chronicle on this), and hasn’t seen the device in action, so can’t really comment, and even those who have seen it can’t really know whether the device will change the book industry. As we’ve said before, Nosy Crow’s not particularly interested in pouring pages onto iPhones or iPad, but in creating new reading experiences that draw on the capabilities of the new devices, particularly for children who will be screen-literate – and will expect interactivity – from an an early age, as this clip demonstrates.
There are lots of comments and predictions out there, though. Here’s the view of Daily Finance, which focuses on the implications for the book industry.
More generally, there appear to be teething problems: The Times today ran a report on consumers wifi and other difficulties with the product.
Whatever the issues with the launch of this particular touch-screen device, though, these are interesting – and uncharted – times.
