Apple to Release Tablet PC Today: e-Books are One Target Market

Apple is releasing their tablet PC today.  According to NPR, they plan to include an e-reader.  As I mentioned in a previous post, I though that the tablet was the perfect medium for e-books, and would supplant the Kindle, Nook and other current e-book devices.  Only time will tell for sure.

The move by Apple is brilliant.  It already has a first class distribution model with iTunes pushing out applications and music for the iPhone and iPod.  e-Books are just a natural progression. 

From an XML publishing standpoint, EPUB is a relatively easy format to render. The DocBook XSLT stylesheets has an EPUB format built in.  I'm not aware of one for DITA yet, but I can't imagine that it would be too far behind, or difficult to build.

Tablet PCs - What does this mean for e-Readers?

HP previewed their new tablet PC at the 2010 Consumer Electronics Show.  Apple will release their version later this spring.  Sounds to me like this could supplant the Kindle, Nook and other e-Reader devices.  It might also be the impetus for EPUB distribution.  e-Readers are nice, but they're one trick ponies. 

From an education publishing perspective, this could really open the door to new revenue models for schools at all levels to distribute published content.  It also opens the door for new models for authors writing content. 

More on these ideas later.