I wonder what the real figures are comparing, historically, how many people read ebooks on dedicated devices like the Nook or Kindle or Sony Reader or RocketBook, and how many read them on devices intended originally for other purposes, like PDAs, laptops, smart phones? My guess would be that the dedicated devices are a pretty small slice of the pie — but that people who do buy a Kindle would buy more and read more books on it than people with an iPod Touch.

Apple wants a multimedia device. They will also be more than happy to take a piece out of the push, downloadable periodicals/newspapers market, should such a market come to blossom. But mostly this slate is meant to watch iTunes TV shows and movies, the ‘LP’ style of music, and so on, as well as games.

I’d rather read comics on a color large screen slate, and it would do better for textbooks and technical books with tables and illustrations. But for novels and matter that’s text-only, I’d prefer a smaller size, and grayscale with better battery life.

As you say, Apple will charge dearly for this item, even though one version may be subsidized by carrier contracts. I haven’t seen any rumors of this device with a sticker price under $800 US, and $1000 US is also mentioned as the upper limit of the price range. It makes the Kindle DX look affordable — as an ebook device.