iRead iBooks On My iThing

An article I recently wrote to offer a bookseller's perspective on the iPad and what it might mean to the book industry was recently posted on The Mark News.

It's entitled Will The iPad Kill The Book Industry?

It was a tough article to keep to about 1000 words because I have so much to say about ebooks and the iPad and the book industry.

In a nutshell, it's not a simple question to answer -- I truly believe that the answer is a bit more complex than a simple one line answer. Yes, the iPad and digital books will kill some parts of the book industry; but they'll also allow other parts of the book industry to grow. The editors I worked with in getting the article finalized helped me polish my yin/yang perspectives into one in which I'm positive about ebooks, yet also positive about books. But, rather that re-summarize, you should just go read the article itself.

And yes, I think I can be both without contradicting myself.

Of course, on the satirical side of the whole iPad discussion, I rather like Rick Mercer's spoof on Apple's new product . . . "the iSlab"