Johannes Gutenberg is believed to have invented the movable-type printing press, about 770 years ago, launching a revolution in how humanity communicated and shared knowledge.
Steve Jobs, CEO of Apple Corp will unveil technology which, if it comes close the expectations raised by the advance publicity, will transform again how we share knowledge and how we communicate with sound, light, pictures and words. Jobs is calling it the biggest thing he's ever done, or so the speculation goes.
"Adding fuel to the already blazing bonfire of excited anticipation surrounding the tablet-sized product Apple is expected to announce on Wednesday, CEO Steve Jobs has being quoted as saying, 'This will be the most important thing I’ve ever done'.”
link: AppleInsider | Steve Jobs: Apple tablet "the most important thing I've ever done"
Those are high expectations for the company that brought us, first, the iPod and, then, the iPhone and appears to be so far out-in-front that its competitors can only brace for the shock and awe the new device will cause. Since I already carry a mini computer in my pocket that allows me to access almost the entire internet and all the data reachable via it and that lets me communicate by voice, pictures and sound as well as written word, there has to be something more to this than a "big iPod".
The iTablet, or iSlate, or whatever it will be called, will be more than a bigger and colourful electronic book reader, I believe, because it will transcend the hardware. Just as the iPod's greatest impact was on the way music is published and sold - there were many other media players on the market whose impact was insignificant - we should look for a new way to pay for the information we have received, until now, through newspapers and magazines. These media were not attracted to the dull, monochrome world of e-books but may be enticed by vivid colour and hyper-links to more immediate information and non-print content.
The iPod was a fatal blow for free music file sharing. Artists and music publishers liked it because, once again, they were able to sell music rather than watching it be stolen. Will we have a new varian on iTunes that lets us buy "newspaper" reports by the piece for a few pennies, or in their entirety, by subscription? There are those who think the Apple device will be a saviour for the troubled print media industry. In the way that iTunes and the iPod put more music in consumers' hands than ever would have been possible with vinyl records, tape or compact disks, the new device could put more information in our hands and pockets than we could have imagined until a few weeks ago.
One small, free application on my iPod lets me read and compare half a dozen versions of the Bible in a way that Gutenberg would probably have attributed to sorcery. Have Jobs and Apple surpassed this? We won't know if they are right tomorrow, that will take time to ascertain, but it will be an exciting and intriguing announcement to watch.
