There’s been a lot of back-and-forth about Steve Jobs‘ recent comment about how most Americans don’t read books. I’d argue that Jobs voices a valid concern, but a couple of recent pieces serve as a reminder that Jobs is speaking as a businessman, not as a person with any particular interest in literacy, and it may be that he’s setting the stage to compete with the Amazon Kindle. John Markoff, probably the smartest tech reporter the New York Times has, suspects that Apple is working on its own reader; in TidBITS–still around! I was reading it back when I owned a Mac Classic II–Adam C. Engst makes the case for an iPod Reader:
The iPod already gives us access to Beethoven and Bob Dylan, to snapshots of our children, and to The Incredibles and episodes of Lost. Let’s add to that The Hobbit and Harry Potter, 1984 and Catch-22, and the complete works of Dr. Seuss. Book publishers have been waiting for a mass-market ebook reader for years, the newspaper companies are dying for a new online business model, and normal people just want to read on the train to work.
Hey, whatever saves publishing, I’m for it. (Thanks to Andrew for the link.)
markathitakis.com 