ArchiveOriginally published 2010
Tablets and E-Readers in 2010: Sony's Tablet, MeeGo, the Kindle Controversy and a Better Bookmark
The iPad launched in April 2010 and every other manufacturer spent the next eighteen months responding. This site covered the responses: Sony's tablets, a German tablet running an open-source phone operating system, Nokia's promise to support that system, and, on the reading side, a controversy over deleted Kindle books and a novelty bookmark born from e-reader backlash.
On this page
Sony joins the tablet revolutionMeeGo: the WeTab and the Nokia N9The Kindle controversyThe e-reader backlash bookmarkWhat the 2010 wave taughtCommon questionsSony joins the tablet revolution
Sony announced two tablets in 2011: a conventional slate with a folded-magazine wedge profile and a clamshell with two small screens, both running the tablet version of Android. This site's post noted the design ambition and the late timing. The wedge tablet reviewed reasonably and sold modestly; the dual-screen clamshell was a curiosity that did not return. Sony kept making tablets for a few years, produced some of the thinnest and best water-resistant slates of the mid 2010s, and then quietly stopped, as did nearly every maker outside the two or three that dominate the category today.
MeeGo: the WeTab and the Nokia N9
MeeGo was an open-source operating system for phones, tablets and netbooks backed by Nokia and a large chip maker. A German company shipped the WeTab, an 11.6 inch tablet running a MeeGo-based system, in late 2010; this site covered it with some excitement, because it was one of the few tablets not running Android or iOS. Nokia then shipped the N9, a widely admired MeeGo phone, in 2011, and promised continued support. Within months Nokia had committed to a different platform entirely, MeeGo was merged into another project and effectively ended, and the WeTab's maker stopped updating it. The N9 is remembered fondly as the best phone of a platform that was abandoned the year it launched.
| Product | Year | What it was | Outcome |
|---|---|---|---|
| Sony wedge tablet | 2011 | Android tablet with folded-magazine profile | Modest sales; Sony left tablets by the late 2010s |
| Sony dual-screen clamshell | 2011 | Two 5.5 inch screens, folding | Discontinued after one generation |
| WeTab | 2010 | 11.6 inch MeeGo-based tablet from Germany | Support ended within about a year |
| Nokia N9 | 2011 | MeeGo phone, swipe interface | Platform abandoned in the launch year; the phone remains a cult favourite |
| Kindle (2009 to 2010) | 2009 | E-ink reader with a store | The category leader; the deletion episode became a lasting cautionary tale |
| Novelty bookmark | 2010 | A gadget-styled physical bookmark sold as e-reader backlash | A gift-shop item; e-books and paper coexist |
The Kindle controversy
In 2009 the largest e-book seller remotely deleted copies of two novels from customers' readers after discovering the edition had been sold without the rights holder's permission. Refunds were issued, but the fact that a company could reach into a device and remove purchased books caused an outcry, made sharper by the titles involved, which were about surveillance and control. The company apologised and said it would not do the same again in similar circumstances. This site's post captured the unease at the time. The episode remains the standard reference for a problem that has grown since: films, games and books that are licensed rather than owned and can vanish when a store closes or a licence changes.
The e-reader backlash bookmark
Among the 2010 posts was a light one: a novelty bookmark styled like an electronic reader, sold to people who preferred paper and wanted to say so. It was a joke, but it stood for a real reaction. E-readers were predicted to end the printed book. Instead, e-book sales grew fast, plateaued in the mid 2010s and settled at a substantial minority of book sales, while print recovered. E-readers found a loyal niche among heavy readers and travellers; most people read on phones or on paper. The bookmark's owners were, in the end, not wrong.
What the 2010 wave taught
- A category can succeed while every follower fails. Tablets thrived; nearly all the 2010 to 2011 responses to the iPad did not.
- An operating system without a committed owner does not survive. MeeGo had good engineering and no one willing to stake a business on it.
- Ownership of digital purchases is a licence question, and licences can be revoked. Keep copies of what matters where you control them.
- Predictions of a medium's death are usually predictions of a new mix. Paper and screens settled into coexistence.
Common questions
Did Sony stop making tablets?
Yes, by the late 2010s. It made several well-regarded models in the early to mid 2010s before leaving the category.
What was MeeGo?
An open-source operating system for phones and tablets backed by Nokia and a chip maker. It was abandoned in 2011 after the N9 phone launched.
What was the Kindle deletion controversy?
In 2009 purchased copies of two novels were remotely deleted from readers because the edition lacked rights. Refunds followed, along with an apology and a lasting debate about digital ownership.
Did e-readers kill paper books?
No. E-books settled at a significant minority of sales while print recovered; the two coexist.
Is the WeTab still supported?
No. Updates ended within about a year of its 2010 launch.