By Ira Nesseird
The shot heard around the world in the eBook reader revolution will come on April 3rd, 2010. On this unassuming day, Apple will release the much-anticipated iPad, and the world will forever be a changed place – not because of the iPad itself, but because its very release will propel talk of digital readers to a fever pitch.
The Apple iPad is perhaps not the game-changer that some industry observers had prophesized, but the company that pioneered the iPhone is among the few technology companies that can single handedly drive an entire industry to forever change the way it does business. Apple forever changed the cell phone industry, and stands on the brink of forever changing industries ranging from publishing to PCs.
To be sure, the 1st generation of Apple’s almost mythical iPad disappointed most onlookers dreaming of a tablet that would redefine personal computing. The iPad is not this magical device, but will serve to bring the very concept of a slate-like device that can serve as an eReader and much more into the hearts and minds of the masses.
As Apple CEO Steve Jobs alluded to in his keynote address to the technology world as the company revealed the iPad, the so-called Apple tablet was developed standing atop the shoulders of eBook reader pioneer Amazon. While Amazon and those companies that have followed in its footsteps have no doubt gained impressive traction in getting digital readers into the hands of many book lovers, most readers still reach for a paper-bound book.
Ten years from now, paper-bound books may well be the exception instead of the norm. The launch of the fabled iPad promises to attract main stream media attention to the technology world the likes of which have not been seen since the release of the iPhone.
The very idea of a digital reader will start making sense to more than just the technology-inclined, and the iPad along with already popular eBook readers including the Amazon Kindle and B&N Nook will forever be remembered as the devices that ensured that digital content will forever reign supreme.
Of course, this is all simple conjecture, but come April 3rd the world will begin to slowly but surely accept the idea of a digital reader, and widespread adoption will follow closely thereafter.
