Revolution-starters: iPad vs. iBooks store

May you hereby know, in case you missed it, that today Apple announced its much-anticipated new device - the iPad.

The iPad is a half-inch-thick, 1.5-pound tablet device, with a 9.7-inch, LED-backlit, multi-touch screen; 1 GHz Apple A4 processor; 16, 32, or 64 GB flash drive; 802.11n WiFi and optional 3G; 30-pin dock connector; Bluetooth; microphone; speaker; accelerometer; compass; and expected 10 hours of battery life. (If you haven't yet seen the video of Steve Jobs' announcement and the iPad promo video, watch them at www.apple.com/ipad.)

The iPad will enable users to surf the web, access email, manage calendars, search maps, listen to music, and access iPhone, iPod, and iPad apps. All on a device that is a bit smaller - and a little thicker - than a clipboard.

So what makes the iPad anything more than a giant iPod touch?

At this point, it seems to be one particular native app that Apple has created specially for this device: iBooks.

iBooks is an e-book reading app. Users can download books to their iBookshelf from the iBooks store; open a book by tapping on it; view one page or two pages at once by orienting the iPad vertically or horizontally; flip through the pages by tapping either side of the screen or by swiping a finger across the screen; adjust the typeface and font size; jump to a page from the book's table of contents; and view any photos or videos that the author has embedded in the book.

Before the announcement, this new device was rumored to be a tablet that would be "the most important thing that Steve Jobs has done" and that would "revolutionize the publishing industry."

After the announcement, some commentators seemed underwhelmed. A nifty device? "Maybe." Revolutionary? "We're not sure how."

One could make the case that the iPod and iPhone were revolutionary devices. The iPod, while not the first MP3 player, transformed the digital music industry. The iPhone, while not the first smartphone, transformed the communication industry.

How did the iPod and iPhone achieve these momentous milestones?

The physical devices themselves were good, perhaps. There is something to be said for Apple's talent for simple, elegant, intuitive design.

But the best-designed device in the world would be useless, were it not for content to fill the device. "Form follows function," after all.

The revolutions sparked by the iPod and iPhone lay, not so much in the devices themselves, but in the information systems behind the devices. The revolution lay in the iTunes Store and the App Store.

The iTunes Store provided iPod users with access to [now] millions of songs - the content which made the iPod worth having. The App Store provided iPhone and iPod touch users with access to [now] tens of thousands of applications - the content which made the iPhone and iPod touch worth having.

If the iPad is to revolutionize publishing as the iPod revolutionized music and the iPhone revolutionized communication, it will be because of the iBooks store.

Of course, for the iBooks store to start this revolution, it will need content: books, magazines, newspapers. Apple cannot provide that content; it must come from third-parties - the authors and journalists and publishers.

And, of course, the iBooks store faces some stiff competition from other eBook providers like Amazon and Barnes & Noble and Google Books.

And, of course, the funneling of e-books through Apple's closed system will exclude those e-books that are available only from sources other than the iBooks store.

But, if Apple is indeed launching a revolution, it will be due to the iBooks store - the distribution system behind the iPad - and not to the iPad itself.