Everyone in the industry is waiting for 7pm CET today – when Apple is about to announce their “next big thing” (Businessweek Article). I haven’t heard or read more rumors, strategies and consequences about a single device before – even the iPhone did not get that kind of amount of credentials. Why is that? Is it really a game changer? Can it succeed and change the mobile and media market as the iPhone did?
I think it will not! Even so I am an Apple enthusiast and love the gadgets they produce, I see only a few new things coming with that device and most part of that is already there for some time (even years):
- Portable Touchpad in a proper size: At the Cebit 2004 I already played around with a great device from Fujitsu, which was around 1500 € at this time and fully supported and promoted by Microsoft. A portable display that connects via Wifi to your PC-Device and could also be used as screen itself. It was meant to be carried around and used on the consumers sofa as remote screen. I am pretty sure at this time it was simply “too early”.
- Reading ebooks and epapers: There is the kindle and various apps for smartphones (e.g. kindle reader on iPhone) that makes it already comfortable to consume text-books and articles on your portable touch device. Furthermore I really do not see the business case that consumer would be willing to pay for content they could get via any website. I am here with Jason from Techcrunch who showed off potential opportunities for content in his article (read here): eBooks and content that was exclusively available on paper will get a boost by the new channel for digital distribution and we will probably see a lot of great kindle and iSlate devices to support it. Nevertheless it will not save the news corporations and magazines – they really have to invent themselves completely new and find a way to distribute their premium content with added value.
So my prediction is that we will not see a “game-changer” today, but another Apple device that will fit perfectly fit into the Apple portfolio and boost the eBook market – let’s keep it simple 
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