Jobs backhands Mossberg on the iPad (and he’s right)

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eBookNewser has a fascinating little video interview between Apple chair Steve Jobs and Walt Mossberg of The Wall Street Journal/AllThingsD. It provides a great illustration into why Jobs is effective as a conceiver of computing devices, and the ways in which tech writers sometimes get netted in arcana. Look for the exchange starting at around 2:30, in which the two spar over the issue of battery life. Jobs estimates that the iPad will run for about 10 hours on a charge while being used as an ebook reader; Mossberg presses him on whether there’s a “battery cost” to the iPad’s backlit display, which is geekese for: Isn’t it better in theory to use the Kindle’s e-ink display technology, which draws far less power and allows the Kindle to hold a charge for a week or longer? Jobs’ answer is beautifully to the point: “You know, there isn’t,” he says, shrugging. “Because you just end up plugging it in. Or docking it or whatever you’re gonna do with it. It’s not a big deal. Ten hours is a long time. You’re not gonna read for ten hours.”

He’s right, of course. Who cares, under most circumstances, whether a reader holds its charge for 10 hours or a week? It has no functional importance. The thing runs down, you plug it in. It runs down again, you plug it in again, and repeat until the next gotta-have-it device comes down the pike. That ability — to see the device through the eyes of a user — is valuable for both executives and columnists. Mossberg’s one of the best columnists there is. But to the degree that he lost sight of how people use their computing devices everyday, he lost the round.