At least that’s Eric Jhonsa’s belief, and he’s right. Many people will favor the Kindle’s larger screen, for example. As I’ve written before, e-books are like eyeglasses or hearing aids. Individual tastes and needs can vary.

But I’m not so sure about certain of Jhonsa’s other details. Granted, there isn’t a single modern bestseller among the top 20 paid apps for the iPhone, just as he notes. But the Kindle software on the iPhone can pick up the same bestsellers that the hardware Kindle can, and they don’t need to be separate apps. So why did he home on the app list?

Furthermore, as Jhonsa concedes in responding to readers’ comments, it isn’t as if everyone hates LCDs for extended reading. I don’t—I find the text to be more readable on my iPod Touch than on my not-so-contrasty Kindle. Nicholas Baker (right photo) is also a fan of LCDs for book reading. One way to reduce or eliminate eye irritation is simply to keep the brightness down

I’d also note that many more people are reading e-books on laptops and PCs than on dedicated e-readers. Yes, that could change somewhat as prices of dedicated readers decline. But then netbooks—small laptops—will benefit from Pixel Qi tech, which can combine the best characteristics of LCDs and E Ink.

That said, I certainly support Jhonsa’s main premise. The Kindle isn’t going away—it has too many fans who like it for reading.

Detail for latecomers: The word “Foolish,” in the world of the Motley Fool, actually means “wise.”

No matter what, a tablet for video could still be great for book reading. What’s more, books could still be part of Apple’s long-term vision. It could let Amazon and Google and others duke it out first. Then it could swoop in with its own major efforts.

Image: It’s Piper Jaffray’s conception of the tablet.

A message in Kindle for iPhone 1.2, also for Apple’s iPod Touch, says:

“With Kindle for iPhone 1.2, you can now tap and hold a word to create a note or highlight. Whispersync will back up and synchronize annotations with your Kindle device.”

The update also will recall, from session to session, whether you last used the iPhone app in  landscape or portrait mode.

not enough people read books

Is Pinter right? I’m of mixed mind. I agree with the premise that potentially there is a whole new audience out there for e-books—people who currently don’t patronize bookstores often, or at all. But how to reel them in? That’s the tricky part. Oprah’s pushing of the Kindle was A Good Thing despite my aversion to the machine’s DRM and proprietary formats. She reached non-book-buyers, not jut regulars. Trouble is, she didn’t provide sufficient follow-up to make her fans feel comfortable with the machines, so they could enthusiastically spread the word about the joys of e-reading.

So how to go beyond the regulars? First off, e-book-capable devices and the actual e-books need to be cheaper. The $200 Sony Readers and the like are progress, but many more people would buy at half that price. The good news—if we think of the welfare of the e-book business as a whole, not just that of the makers of dedicated devices—is that e-books are a natural for netbooks and iPhones and can piggyback on other apps. Lowering the price of the books themselves would help, too. The $9.95 price at Amazon for bestsellers still is not low enough.

Second, the industry should be get behind the idea of a well-stocked national digital library system to bring down the cost of legally reading books. People want free. The system could be well-integrated with schools and libraries and promote love of reading, period. Libraries of any kind, E or P, serve in effect as marketers for stores.

Third, although publishers have made progress at reaching readers who are members of minority groups, much more needs to be done.

Fourth, there should be more follow-up. Many of Oprah’s people faced major technical obstacles even with the Kindle, which doesn’t need to be hooked up to a desk computer. She should have arranged for more hand-holding for her fans and have promoted these services on TV.

Update, 12:44 p.m.: The Huffington Post piece appeared to me to come from a Post intern. But now it carries a different byline, Pinter’s, and I’ll go with it. I’ve made the swap in the TeleRead post above. No sure what happened. Perhaps the Post mistakenly slugged the item. The date on the Post piece, October 5, is still wrong, unless the Post dates material in advance.

(Via Kindle Review, which, as I write this, is still attributing the post to the itern)

The new Apple tablets will “expand the iPhone and iPod touch media concept to its next potential level: as a slate-like replacement for books and magazines, plus all of the media, gaming, app, and web functionality of the iPhone and iPod touch.”

So says iLounge in Ten New Details on the Apple Tablet, inspiring a spate of follow-up reports.  Apple “is currently planning to announce” the tablet “on or before January 19, 2010, and to use an iPhone-like hype buildup period to start selling it in May or June.”

iLounge also tells us:: ”Screen resolutions will obviously jump considerably from the iPhone and iPod touch 480×320-pixel displays, enabling easy reading of full-sized book and magazine pages, plus cropped newspaper pages. Expect something like 5-6 times the resolution of an iPod touch or iPhone screen (720p or thereabouts) and 7 times the touchable surface area.”

In addition, iLounge says: “It will come in two different variations: one with 3G networking capabilities, and one without 3G networking capabilities. Think of the 3G version as a bigscreen iPhone 3GS, and the non-3G version as a bigscreen iPod touch.”

A few of the other tidbits:

• “Apple has created at least three separate prototypes of its tablet computer. Let’s call it ‘iPad.’”
• “Version 1 was designed with a 7” screen, which was judged to be too small. The latest version has a 10.7” screen.”
• “It runs iPhone OS.
• “There have been reports that it looks like an iPhone. They’re sort of true. It looks like an iPhone 3G, complete with a curved back.

So what do you think, gang?

But I don’t see an e-book category, not even a subcategory within Apps for Fun and Games.

What the devil? Is this part of Steve Jobs’ master plan to con us into thinking that Apple won’t do e-books—-which I’m convinced it will, indirectly, though a multiuse tablet?

Come think of it, didn’t Apple promote an e-book app in a TV commercial?

Wait. There is an e-book mention within Apps for Everything, but it’s hidden within Apps for Keeping Current—merely a link to the popular Stanza app. I also see a few items within Apps for Students. But what about major AWOL e-book apps, including the one for Kindle e-books? If I were Amazon or eReader or B&N or Shortcovers, etc., I’d get on the phone now to the comatose marketers at Apple.

(Via Techmeme.)

Still, they are no iPods for e-books.

Basic specs—for both the $249 10-inch models and the $299 13-inch—don’t even mention e-book-reading capability.

Of course, if you really want to read e-books off the tablets, you probably can. I suspect you can convert texts of nonDRMed books to images that the tablets will treat like photos. I’d welcome further suggestions for prospective owners from TeleRead community members. How about JPEGbook? It works with the modest little Juicebox.

I’m also intrigued by the claimed ability to “easily access content on your PCs and the Web via a simple menu.” So could you run ePub-reading  software on your desktop and see the same image on your DreamScreen? I doubt it, but who knows about future models?

Perhaps screen resolution will improve as well. Current res for the 10- and 13-inch models is a mere 800-by-400, alas, though the DreamScreens do offer WiFi. Full specs for the 10-incher are online in PDF; for the 13-incher, go here. Meanwhile I’ll share an except from VentureBeat:

“The DreamScreen screens look beautiful, and the user interface is far easier than a typical computer. It’s almost like using an iPhone, except on a much bigger display and with side controls instead of a multitouch screen. The $249 DreamScreen 100 has a 10.2-inch display and is targeted for a bedroom nightstand or dresser. The $299 DreamScreen 130 has a 13.3-inch screen and is targeted for use on a kitchen counter or coffee tables.”

No, I haven’t seen one in person, and am still wondering if the res is really high enough for optimal enjoyment of e-books, despite VentureBeat’s enthusiasm for the screen, obviously with other uses in mind.

Also bear in mind that a zillion apps exist for the iPod from the Apple store, including e-book-related ones; so, if you’re still panging for an iPod tablet with a six-inch screen or larger—well, I don’t blame you.

Updated at 1:09 p.m.: To mention JPEGbook.

Related: CNET, Techmeme and Google roundups and Twitter search.

Details: 9.6-inch touch screen, virtual keyboard, high-speed  download packet access working with AT&T wireless, P.A. SEMI processor chip, $800-$1,000 price, February 2010 introduction.

Photo is from 9to5Mac, which picked up the item from Taiwan Economic News.

You bet I’d rather the price be lower, perhaps through a smaller display. I much preferred the rumor of two Apple tabs of different screen sizes, ten- and six-inches. Maybe, in fact, that’ll still happen.

In any event, we’re probably talking about a multifunction device—not just an e-book reader—which would make consumers more inclined to open their wallets.

Among my wishes: Blue tooth or another way of using an external physical keyboard. A stand to prop up the tablet would be nice, too. The results would be be similar to the TeleRead design I envisioned in the early 1990s.

Related: Google news roundup on the above, plus ‘Is this Apple’s e-book Trojan Horse?’

Then, shortly before the event, rumors started circulating that the camera would be a no-show—manufacturing issues pushed it back. And sure enough, when the “rock and roll” had faded, no iPod Touch camera was to be found.

Jobs told the New York Times that the reason for this was Apple wanted to concentrate on lowering the price and pitching the Touch as a handheld game console. “We don’t need to add new stuff. We need to get the price down where everyone can afford it.” (Though strangely enough, only the 32-gig and 64-gig Touch models—not the “affordable” $199 8-gig—support OpenGL, a graphics engine much beloved of gamers and game companies.)

So was the talk of a camera in the Touch just a wild rumor with no basis in fact? Not so fast, says AppleInsider. Citing unnamed sources close to Apple, AppleInsider suggests that leaving the camera out for launch was a last-minute decision forced by a batch of faulty camera parts—and as soon as Apple gets its hands on some good cameras, there might be a 3.5th generation of the two more-expensive Touches with cameras added.

CNN Money tech blogger Philip Elmer-Dewitt compares these two stories, wondering if Steve Jobs “spun” the New York Times. (An earlier version of the headline and URL wondered if Jobs had “lied to” the Times—undoubtedly hastily changed by CNN’s legal department.) I would be willing to bet that yes, indeed he did.

Not that he had much of a choice. If he explained that a model with a camera would be coming out soon, it would chill the sales of the current 3rd-gen Touches as everybody decided to hold off and wait for the camera-equipped version. This way, he gets to launch another one of his trademark “one more things”—a few weeks or months after the fact.

The downside, of course, is that when Apple finally does come out with a camera-equipped model, there will probably be a lot of angry customers who believed Jobs’s “no camera” spin and bought the no-camera version. If this does happen, I would hope Apple will offer an upgrade program through AppleCare for consumers to send in their iPod Touches and get them back with cameras attached.

So if it is important to you that your next iPod Touch have a camera, I would not give up hope just yet—and I would not buy yet, either.

No special news for us ebook types. There was no mention of a tablet, much to the consternation of all those “pundits” who were floating the rumors. Once again Apple has proved that anyone who listens to rumors about them is foolish. A new Nano with a video camera and a 64GB iPod Touch, a possible upgraded CPU on the Touch and some price lowering, but I saw nothing to get excited about. ITunes has been upgraded to version 9 and the iPod classic upgraded to 160GB. Even the rumors about an iPod Touch camera seem to have been wrong. However the iPhone OS has been moved up to 3.1 and it is available today for both the iPhone and the Touch – ‘though when I try to upgrade my iTunes and my iPhone I’m told I have the latest software.

For the ebook crowd the best news is the lowering of the price on the Touch, which makes a great reader with its WiFi connection. 8GB/$199, 32GB/$299 and 64GB/$399.

… Examining active user sessions tracked by Flurry within the eBooks category, the chart above shows steep growth, over 300% from April to July. In July, Flurry tracked nearly three million active users in the eBooks category, or 1% of the US population. According to Apptism, an App Store tracking service, eBooks represents the second largest application category in the App Store with 14% share, only behind Games, which comes in at 19%.

With Amazon investing heavily in Kindle, iPhone has quickly emerged as a direct competitor in the eBooks category, further demonstrating the impressive reach of Apple across all digital media. …

Check, also, with Amazon Kindle Review for more data.

Having owned an iPod Touch for about a year now, I must admit it’s certainly been a “game-changer” for me. As long as I can get a wifi signal, I can check mail, Twitter, Facebook, listen to Pandora.com, open a terminal to my home Linux box or VNC to my Windows box, even hop on Internet Relay Chat. And of course I can download e-books anywhere I get a signal, too

More and more places are starting to offer wifi connectivity—some of them fairly unexpected, such as select Springfield Missouri city buses. Thanks to the handy gadget in my pocket, I’m able to stay in touch far more often (though sometimes it seems like a curse as well as a blessing).

The iPod Touch starts at $229 (or less for refurbs)—and unlike the iPhone, the iPod Touch does not come with pricy smartphone fees, or cell-phone contract lock-in to AT&T. And while I admit annoyance at Apple’s asinine app approval apparatus, I have no complaints about the way the device itself has performed for me so far.

I find it interesting the article says that 45 million iPhones and iPod Touches have been sold altogether—but this Wall Street Journal article says AT&T has reported 10 million iPhone activations. Of course, the iPhone has been sold elsewhere in the world…but even if we assume another 5 million iPhones, that still leaves 30 million iPod Touches sold—that’s twice as many.

Not everybody can afford a smartphone—but the iPod Touch offers most of the power of a smartphone, disguised as a music and video player. It’s a remarkably effective and simple combination, and may end up doing more for Apple’s market share in the long run than even the iPhone. And as the impending new-model upgrades show, Apple is certainly paying attention.

• Lost or stolen Kindle? Amazon says you’re out of luck—from Ars Technica.
• When the Apple tablet comes out, are you in?—from CNET News.
• Tablets computers are coming soon, says Nvidia—from the New York Times.
• Google’s plan for world’s  biggest library: Philanthropy or act of piracy—from the Guardian.
• All a cub reporter needs is a scoop and an iPhone—from the New York Times.

OK, the hot one here is the Kindle item. What do you think, gang? Should Amazon change its ways and work to make lost or stolen machines easier for owners to track down? Meanwhile DRM strikes again. From Ars:

… the other downside to losing a Kindle (besides unsuccessfully trying to frustrate the person who now has it) is the fact that users can no longer access their purchased Kindle books unless they use the Kindle iPhone app or purchase another Kindle. "Not only could I not read them if I had them due to their DRM," Smith told us, "but my purchased content is not even available to me through the Amazon site so long as I do not have a Kindle registered—I confirmed this to be the case with one of the two first-level customer service people."

Never mind that people have read Project Gutenberg books off full-sized PCs for decades. Or that the headline uses the Kindle-centric term of “Kindleless.”

Psst! That’s one word. I wonder how many other words the AP copyright cops will let me quote before I’m to pay. At one point the freebie limit was no more than four. Still true?

Mini-briefing for digital natives: “Extra, extra” refers to the extra editions that print newspaper used to put out when hot news broke. Some may still do.

(Via Eoin Purcell.)