From a 1910 school book predicting technology in the Year 2000.

I put on my prognostication beanie and this is what it told me:

Apple is about to release a “media tablet”. It will run the about-to-be-released third version of the iPhone OS. It will have a 9″ or 10″ color screen and have the same type of onscreen keyboard that the iPhone has. You will also be able to connect Apple’s new, smaller, Bluetooth keyboard and use that. It will also have a single USB port so you may use a USB keyboard.

The new micro-payment features of iPhone OS 3.0 is perfectly suited for this new Apple “media tablet” to be a competitor for Amazon’s Kindle. Apple will begin selling digital version of e-books, magazines, newspapers, and even textbooks through the iTunes store. Want just one issue of something, just buy one. Want a monthly or yearly subscription? Not a problem.

Apple is poised to do for the printed media market what is has done for the music industry and (to a lesser extent) the film/tv industry. What’s been lacking is the existence of a well-designed tool and distribution system for the purchasing and consumption of electronic versions of printed media. Technically, it will be very easy for Apple to extend the iTunes Store to include electronic versions of printed media. The hurdle, as it was with both the music and film/tv industries, will be whether the content providers will embrace the inevitible shift to electronic consumption of their goods. It’s clear to me that those companies that do not are doomed to failure and extinction. The smartest and most forward-looking content providers are already figuring out ways to get their content on the iPhone and the Kindle. Apple’s new device will be the tipping point. Five years from now (perhaps even sooner!), students will think nothing of carrying around their textbooks, homework assignments, magazine subscriptions, and newspapers in something like Apple’s coming “media tablet.”

Develop and release game-changing, paradigm-shifting technology. It has become a simple but successful formula for Apple and I don’t see any reason why they would change their S.O.P. now. Everyone knows that the old media industry is dying. Newspapers are closing. Magazine subscriptions are in freefall. Its salvation lies with the difficult but necessary transition to electronic publishing. Many will not be able to adapt and will fail. Those that remain will emerge stronger.

Apple is about to save the printed media industry…at least those companies that are smart enough to get aboard the salvation train as it comes barrelling through the station. It’s coming. Are you ready?

I even have a pretty good idea for what they’ll call the device. It’s so simple and obvious, most people have overlooked the possibility. Let’s not forget that Apple already owns the name and trademark for “iBook.”

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