In accordance with all the hype, earlier today I sat at my desk, anxiously clutching my empty wallet in anticipation of the revealing of the great and powerful Apple tablet.

Feverishly updating a Twitter keyword search (which received no less than 200 new tweets every 5 seconds) and cursing whenever I lost audio from the livestream, I developed a somewhat comical system of refreshing no less than three simultaneous liveblogs of the event while retweeting ridiculous quotes like:

Geek.

Changing the publishing game?

Nevertheless, I was really interested to see how the e-reader capabilities of the iPad stood up to the Kindle and Skiff. What were the implications for the dwindling print publishing industry and how could this type of device help monetize digital content?

Off the top of my head:

• Publication-specific apps similar to the one created for the New York Times. The idea is to combine the best of print and the web by allowing readers to save stories and view integrated video.

• The basic online pay-to-read model being pushed by News Corp’s Rupert Murdoch.

• iBooks. If they follow the iTunes model, you should be able to subscribe to a single publication and/or purchase available articles/stories from multiple publications as you see fit. For instance, I’d like to be able to purchase (really cheaply) the fashion spread from the latest issue of Numero as well as the feature article from last month’s issue of Dynamic Graphics to create my own custom magazine.

I’m not sure it’s going to “save” so-called old media, but portable-izing digital content is certainly a step in the right direction.

Did you watch the presentation? What did you think?

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Interesting reads I’ve come across on the web:

Though not really surprised, I was FLOORED by the H&M Clothes Trashing report. Seriously? I know they’re not exactly high priced items, but even if they were, is it really more cost-effective, and more importantly, environmentally ethical to destroy and dump bags of unused clothing?

Social Media Business Strategy Great article about implementing a social media business strategy on Mashable. Remember, set your objectives and listen first!

Startup therapy:  Ten questions to ask yourself every month Thought-provoking questions for current and wannabe entrepreneurs & freelancers. They get harder as you go.

Independent Magazine Publisher Magazine launches. Yesss! Can we form a club or a support group or something?

Updating the Babysitter’s Club The Babysitter’s Club is making a comeback with a prequel and “updated” versions of the first two books, but can we please leave the outfit descriptions (especially Claudia’s) the same? Pretty please? In the meantime, this graphic novel version of the BSC has win all over it.

Writer Lauren Sherman at The Fashion Beat recounts the Ten Moments in Fashion that Changed the Business (this decade). Anyone else remember pre-Rachel Zoe, when you had to explain what a stylist was because people had never heard of such a thing?

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