Will 2010 be the year tablet computing re-invents itself?

I’ve written about the Apple Tablet before and I’m pretty confident that we will see it 2010 – maybe event at the CES in January.

Before then it looks like we will also have the popular Amazon Kindle in the UK – James Clay writes on his blog that it will be available in the UK for shipping from October 19th and will retail at about £175. He also writes,

‘The Kindle as well as an e-Book reader has unlike the Sony e-Book reader has always on connectivity. Unlike laptops and netbooks the Kindle battery is designed to last weeks not hours!’

I still think eBook readers such as the Kindle have the potential to be a real game changer in education – but I wonder how well it will sell in the UK considering it is likely that we may be charged more than the US for the price of our eBooks? Will people just hold out for the Apple tablet.

On another note it also looks like Microsoft have been re-inventing their vision of a tablet PC. It looks impressive.

Comments

[Neil]

I don't think e-book readers will cut it. They will please a few - gadgeteers and the followers of Oprah (or would that be Jonathan Ross over here?) - but I think they will only be a niche product. After all, you can already read e-books on many phones, netbooks and PCs, so why would you want a specialist device?

Which would you rather spend on - a class set of Kindles (at £175 each) or a set of iPods touches (@£149)? No-brainer really. ANd you are never going to get a head to spend that kind of money twice.

Just reading a review of comments about an Amazon experiment to put Kindles in some US colleges - reactions rather mixed. See http://www.technewsworld.com/rsstory/68399.html?wlc=1255790503

[Fleur Phillips]

umm e-books fill a handy whole for a lot of users (of which I am one) I own both an iPod Touch and a Sony eReader, both doing completely different tasks, both well. I will admit though an eReader with wifi and keyboard leaves me cold, but that's because I don't feel the need to write in books, and I can fit enough books on the eReader not to need to download on demand.