The Jesus Tablet

Today, Apple's announcement of a tablet device has many believing that they will finally show something that exonerates the tablet form-factor from being a niche product for all these years. There is, however, one group of people who expect salvation from this device: Print. With a possible 10" display and multi-touch gestures, I would love to have this device be on my coffee table. I already have a laptop there most of the time and this would be so much better. This brings me back to the problem of print. If the device is basically a $600 glorified e-reader which doesn't even do the job right because it doesn't have an e-ink display, then I don't want it. I don't read newspapers, I don't read magazines. I am subscribed to Wired Magazine, but I mainly read it online through their RSS feed. It needs to do more, it needs to blow me away and not just show me how much I can read. Print needs to understand that while I am ok paying for access to information, eventually it will make its way out. The gatekeepers are gone and any artificial ones they put up just prove that they don't understand and that they deserve to be irrelevant. With this said, I am more excited about what might be included in the new iPhone OS (4.0 maybe?) and on the new iPhone model they might announce tomorrow. If its $600 and amazing, I have the money. If it's more or just a glorified e-reader, I'll pass. If its subsidized and needs a mobile contract, then you can just forget I even spent any time thinking about the thing. I don't need more bills.