oreillyradar:

From Fred Wilson:

A central issue with the Internet, no matter what device and presentation layer you use to access it, is that there is an unlimited amount of content available … What is valuable is filtering and curation. Restricting access to content doesn’t work. Someone else’s content will get filtered and curated instead of yours. Scarcity is not a viable business model on the Internet.

This is why I’m pessimistic about iPad magazines and other trapped-content applications. — Mac

If this plays out as anticipated, Apple could be on to its second-generation iPad before a competitive tablet emerges. From ZDNet:

Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer has said that once Intel delivers its Oak Trail processors, Microsoft and its partners will deliver Windows slates that can be considered iPad competitors. So maybe we’ll see a Google OS vs. WinPad slate slug-fest by mid-2011? However, Apple probably will have delivered its lighter-weight iPad 2 by that time…And who knows what, if anything, will come of Microsoft’s ServiceOS (the browser-centric Microsoft research project, formerly known as Gazelle.)

Folio reports on Wired’s iPad app sales:

Wired’s iPad expectations have come back to earth. In July, the magazine posted 31,000 single copy sales for the digital replica, compared to 67,000 for the magazine, according to ABC’s Rapid Report. By August, the latest month tracked, Wired generated 28,000 single copy sales for the digital replica, versus 91,000 single copy sales for the magazine.

This is a good thing. Publishers need to understand the baseline so they can adapt and iterate based on reality. And while the iPad may not be the utopia so many hoped for (because utopia doesn’t exist … ahem), the iPad and its ilk are certainly viable distribution mechanisms. Now we need to get down to business. We need to learn how audiences consume content through these devices, what works and what doesn’t. I’m more excited by the prospects now then when the iPad was still a unicorn-and-rainbows dream.

Take this post with a grain of salt, what with the anonymous and undefined “source” (it’s not even a “source with inside knowledge” or a “Google source” … just “our source”). But if this is legit, the Google/Verizon tablet is going open a very interesting chapter.

Let’s say this thing sells for $199, which seems reasonable since that’s the most common smartphone price point (with an associated contract, of course). That’s a compelling price for a snazzy tablet, particularly when it’s matched up with the $499 iPad or the $629 iPad 3G. And if this story is correct — if HTC is the manufacturer — I expect good things on the design front. The Nexus One, which was also made by HTC, didn’t disrupted the carrier blockade. But there’s no denying it’s a beautiful device.

I wrote a piece a few months ago that was critical of Wired’s lock-in approach to its iPad offerings. And while I understand how an immersive experience can be a benefit, I still believe digital content — all digital content — needs to work with the web, not against it. Apparently, Hearst is of a similar mind (or a variation on it):

From PaidContent:

The Oprah mag app will allow readers to comment within the app’s articles, creating the opportunities for something similar to what Hearst envisions as a real-time chat among users.