Even if your internet addiction is slightly more under control than mine, you've probably heard of Apple's forthcoming iWannaBeAKindleKiller. It's typical Apple - a sexy, sophisticated, super-hyped and scandalously-priced version of something we already have.  It's got Amazon backing nervously into a corner, offering authors a whopping 70% royalty on kindle books (with enough caveats to sink a canoe); rumours running wild about deals with HarperCollins to set the prices and add-ons of the ebooks; and Sports Illustrated's infomercial about the revolutionary format the tablet offers magazines.

I admit, the Sports Illustrated video had me earmarking part of my creditcard balance for one. I'm a sucker for gadgets, and much as I dislike Apple's business philosphies, the thought of that sleek little gizmo sitting in my bag was jumping gleefully on the I WANT button. The hype is that Apple's about to revolutionise the publishing industry, just as they did the portable-music and smart-phone ones. And yet...

I think they missed the mark, here. 

It's a beautiful looking device, certainly. And I still mostly want one. Though given the prices that Apple's products tend to be by the time they hit Australia, I'd likely have to sell a kidney to buy one, and I don't think it's quite worth 50% of my blood filtration capacity. But this isn't anything revolutionary.

They haven't taken a real look at the industry - at what the industry actually needs. The iPod was a cinch - the only basic functionality they needed was the ability to play music, and there were so many places to go from there. Multimedia capabilities are a natural fit with that - music isn't something that demands your full attention, there was plenty of room left in the concept for all the snazzy add-ons of the iPod, and later, iPhone. It all meshed nicely.

What they've done is taken that basic concept, and tried to stuff the publishing industry into it. But they didn't bother to approach it from the principles of basic requirements, like they did with the iPod. Books and multimedia are not a natural fit - you can't read while you watch a movie, or play a game. And, more to the point, a large portion of the population don't want to read on an LCD screen. It gives people headaches, makes their eyes strain. Yet Apple have completely ignored the whole e-ink aspect of the industry. E-ink's refresh rate is nowhere near the speeds of an LCD screen - it'd render movie and games impossible on the device. And rather than sink a lot of money into researching technology, they'd much rather take what already works - the iPod - and revamp it a little. They built a tablet. A sleek-looking, well-marketed tablet.

It'll probably sell well for those who want a sleek-looking, trendy tablet, or for those who really loved the sports-illustrated magazine commercial. But they're wide of the mark for a general-user e-reader. They need an e-Ink screen.

And it's not that hard - all they needed to do was get their hands on the transparent LCD tech that's out there, and slide the super-thin e-Ink screen underneath it. And done - you have your LCD touchscreen for games, movies, writing, etc. When you want to read a book, you turn the LCD to transparent, and the e-Ink shows through.

When Apple comes out with one of those, we can talk about a publishing revolution.

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