I was following the press conference about the Apple announcement. I think this thing is a cool toy, but it doesn't replace books, or dedicated e-book readers.
1. The battery life is 10 hours. A Kindle can go weeks of significant use on a charge. This is also a backlit screen, so reading on this is like reading on a computer screen. Backlit LCD screens also perform somewhat poorly in direct light or sunlight. On the other hand, this screen can display colors, which is better for magazines and newspapers than the Kindle's black and white e-ink screen.
The iPad itself isn't a killer app for e-books, and people who read a lot of books will not want to read a lot of books on this thing any more than they will want to read them on a laptop. They might be able to sell e-books to occasional readers over this device, if the price point is lower than a bookstore. There is currently a Kindle app and a Kindle PC program. Amazon will probably improve its front-end to compete with Apple on tablet computers, and try to sell e-books to people who haven't bought Kindle hardware.
Interesting to see what this will do to ebook pricing; Amazon presumably doesn't want to take a loss selling to people who didn't buy the profit-generating devices. It will either push down on the e-book wholesale price, to make a profit at $9.99 or it will go to $12.99 or $14.99. Publishers will be willing to forego or delay releasing on the Kindle to avoid slashing their prices, and since e-books are still pretty small as a market sector and Apple now provides an e-book competitor to Amazon, publishers' negotiating position may be strong. The days of cheap e-books may be ending. Apple is less reliant on books to sell the iPad (which is really a fancy netbook) than it was on music to sell iPod, so I don't think it will really be wading into the same kind of situation with publishing that it did with music. As has widely been discussed the relationship between e-books and books is different than the relationship between books and mp3s.
2. Amazon reader connects wirelessly over the cell network, for free to download books or go to the Amazon store. The ipad has wifi, and you can also get a 3g model that can be always-on the internet, if you buy a separate data plan. I already pay for internet at home, and I have a smartphone with a data plan. I probably would not be interested in a second mobile internet plan for this device. On the plus side, Wifi and 3g connect and download much faster than amazon.
3. This thing is a really slick netbook/portable video device. If it can stream Netflix and Hulu, it would definitely be a fun thing to carry around. If its video playback capabilities are as limited as the iPhone's though, it won't be as appealing.
1. The battery life is 10 hours. A Kindle can go weeks of significant use on a charge. This is also a backlit screen, so reading on this is like reading on a computer screen. Backlit LCD screens also perform somewhat poorly in direct light or sunlight. On the other hand, this screen can display colors, which is better for magazines and newspapers than the Kindle's black and white e-ink screen.
The iPad itself isn't a killer app for e-books, and people who read a lot of books will not want to read a lot of books on this thing any more than they will want to read them on a laptop. They might be able to sell e-books to occasional readers over this device, if the price point is lower than a bookstore. There is currently a Kindle app and a Kindle PC program. Amazon will probably improve its front-end to compete with Apple on tablet computers, and try to sell e-books to people who haven't bought Kindle hardware.
Interesting to see what this will do to ebook pricing; Amazon presumably doesn't want to take a loss selling to people who didn't buy the profit-generating devices. It will either push down on the e-book wholesale price, to make a profit at $9.99 or it will go to $12.99 or $14.99. Publishers will be willing to forego or delay releasing on the Kindle to avoid slashing their prices, and since e-books are still pretty small as a market sector and Apple now provides an e-book competitor to Amazon, publishers' negotiating position may be strong. The days of cheap e-books may be ending. Apple is less reliant on books to sell the iPad (which is really a fancy netbook) than it was on music to sell iPod, so I don't think it will really be wading into the same kind of situation with publishing that it did with music. As has widely been discussed the relationship between e-books and books is different than the relationship between books and mp3s.
2. Amazon reader connects wirelessly over the cell network, for free to download books or go to the Amazon store. The ipad has wifi, and you can also get a 3g model that can be always-on the internet, if you buy a separate data plan. I already pay for internet at home, and I have a smartphone with a data plan. I probably would not be interested in a second mobile internet plan for this device. On the plus side, Wifi and 3g connect and download much faster than amazon.
3. This thing is a really slick netbook/portable video device. If it can stream Netflix and Hulu, it would definitely be a fun thing to carry around. If its video playback capabilities are as limited as the iPhone's though, it won't be as appealing.
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