Apple tablet: The new newspaper?

Anticipation is mounting for this Wednesday's reveal of Apple's "latest creation," widely assumed to be a tablet computer. The device — which may be called the "iPad" — could, among other things, transform the experience of reading newspapers digitally with Apple's famed elegance and ease of use. The New York Times has purportedly created a business division devoted to accomodating the new device and Apple is said to be driving hard to line up similar deals, putting its product in direct competition with Amazon's popular Kindle e-reader. Will Americans respond? (Watch a report about the iTablet's impact on different forms of media)

Apple could give the publishers new life: Apple's tablet could be a huge help to publishers, say Dawn C. Chmielewski and Alex Pham in the Los Angeles Times, if only because it could "counteract Amazon's mammoth influence." And having access to Apple's iTunes customers won't hurt.

"Apple's rumored tablet may write next chapter in publishing"

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iTunes won't save publishing: Apple did transform the music world, says Mercedes Bunz in Britain's Guardian, but that's because it gave fans a new, one-click way to pay to hear their favorite artists. But journalism doesn't work that way. Putting newspapers or magazines on iTunes might give "distinctive and deep" stories a chance, but it "won't do for publishing what it did for music."

"What Apple can do for journalism"

Apple won't sell enough tablets to save anybody: "Despite all the hype and hoopla," says John Paczkowski in All Things Digital, Apple won't sell enough tablet computers to "have much of an impact." The device's rumored price — between $800 and $1,000 — is twice that of a basic iPhone and several times as much as most e-readers. E-readers, in general, may be the future of publishing, but people won't put down their books and grab a tablet if they can't afford to make the switch.

"Apple’s tablet: MacBook Airbus?"

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SEE MORE OF THE WEEK'S APPLE COVERAGE:

• Apple Tablet rumors: A comprehensive timeline

• The tablet wars: Microsoft vs Apple

• Apple Tablet: Would you pay $1000?

• The NYT's Apple tablet leak