there is no doubt that the tablet format will be a winner. The problem is there are too many greedy people with their hands in the till. Unfortunately, this is "learned-behaviour" from Apple who demand a whopping 30% just for hosting it on their platform. Many App developers are also demanding a cut plus there fee for developing the software, This will never work. As publishers, we are keen to adopt a new platform that will enable us to continue publishing and sustain our high quality editorial and sales infrastructures. However, we cannot do this if we allow ourselves to be highjacked by these highway robbers or if we are forced to work for unrealistically low margins. I am convinced this is a temporary situation and other tablet manufacturers and app developers will appear with more reasonable solutions. One development that would hasten that transition would be standardisation. Where are our trade associations when we need them? We are allowing Apple to turn the whole industry on it's head with it's unjustified pissing match with Adobe. The real value in tablet publications is their ability to be interactive and use video and animation. We have all spent years amassing a large library of flash videos, only to be told that we will not be able to use it on iPad because they think it is unstable. This is rubbish - I have never seen a flash file crash yet. Why do I think this has more to do with Apple's greed than any technology platform. I am not intentionally anti-Apple, but you have to question their ethics. not only are they screwing publishers, but they are using a company with a sweat-shop culture to manufacture these iPads. Hon Hai (Foxconn) has had 11 suicides in as many weeks. If Google's motto is "Don't be evil", perhaps Apple is the antithesis.

The iPad is a hit with wealthy computer nerds. But if another company is able to produce a colour tablet for half the price without locking publishers into an exclusive, punitive online store, this competitor could well wrap up the e-publishing market throughout the 2010s. Let me clarify: the iPad will go on to be a roaring success as a versatile computing tablet. It just might not be so successful as an e-publishing medium.