Commentary
iPad Looking More Like Kindle-Killer
- by Mark Walsh @markfwal, April 1, 2010
Judging by the initial round of reviews for the iPad, it looks like the Kindle could be the first casualty of the Apple tablet's arrival. The iPad is getting high marks as an e-reader, making its threat to the Amazon device seem less abstract than it's been up to now. Since the Kindle has been the yardstick for evaluating other e-readers to date, reviewers often mentioned how the iPad stacks up against it in that regard.
The dean of consumer tech gurus, The Wall Street Journal's Walt Mossberg, found the iBooks, Apple's book reader and store, "easy to use" after reading a couple of books on the iPad. "I consider the larger color screen superior to the Kindle's, and encountered no eye strain," he wrote. USA Today's tech columnist Edward C. Baig, called the iPad a "formidable electronic-reader rival" to the Kindle. PC Magazine's Tim Gideon likewise gushed iBooks "look fantastic and titles are easy to purchase and download."
That isn't to say the critics didn't find fault. They pointed out that the iPad is heavier than the Kindle, has a smaller catalog than the Kindle at launch (60,000 compared to 400,000), shorter battery life, and is nearly twice as expensive ($499 versus $259 for the cheapest models of each device). But the iPad's biggest trump card is that it's a multi-purpose device compared to the single-use Kindle.
So while Amazon might upgraded the Kindle to include a color screen or drop the price further, it can't change that fundamental difference. If someone gets an iPad, they're not likely to want a dedicated e-reader as well. And someone in the market for an e-reader is now more likely to consider coughing up more for an iPad they can also use to watch TV and movies, go online and play games.
But Amazon did Apple the favor of establishing a consumer market for e-readers and e-books and now Apple is swooping in with the iPad to take it away. Steve Jobs should send Jeff Bezos a thank-you note.
Mark Walsh can be reached at walsh@mediapost.com
If it wasn't for Kindle we wouldn't have an I Pad. And there are 50 Tablets being released for sale in the next 2 years. Including from Asus that will underprice Apple and offer full web enabling meaning flash and everything you currently get on a LapTop or NetBook. People want a mini computer on their tablet not a reader or I Touch. This market is just starting. The I Pad is also going to be an I Phone killer. Many current uses for I Phones will migrate to Tablets/IPad such as TV/Video, most News/Magazine reading, Gaming etc.
believe it or not there are million of people that just want a kindle, they just want to read books, there is a market (and a large one at that) for single function devices, especially ones like the kindle with a super long battery life and ease if use ...
Aside from the multi-use attributes, the key difference here is the user experience. Apple's OS was matured on the iPhone/iPod Touch and is now ported to a device that can support e-books.
Sure there are going to be competitors to the iPad, just as the iPhone and iPod have competitors. But Apple has once again stolen the move on its rival and is poised to be the market leader in another emerging technology.
I said 8 months ago that this was coming. I posted in my blog and have espousing it to everyone I know especially in academia. This is a watershed moment in media as the iPhone was in telecommunications. I got laughed off of TechCrunch when I posted my comment. My superiors all said it was a nothing device. Now they want to get one asap. Amazing. Please visit our site and see
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I understand that Amazon is offering a Kindle reader for the iPad, so I'm betting Bezos is pretty happy about selling ebooks on any device and the thank-you note will go in the other direction.
I'm now thinking that the Kindle was merely a tool to advance the ebook transition. The AMZ business is about transactions. That's why the Marketplace has been such a winner for them. The gear to create the Kindle wasn't that revolutionary. They looked at all those damn warehouses and said this business would be so much more profitable if we hasten the switch to ebooks. If no one else is moving the ball forward we'll cobble the Kindle together ourselves. So what if they lose the machine battle. They will have won the war by moving the transition up by 2 or 3 years. Think how much that will change their cost structure.