Tech & Biz

iPad Vs. Kindle: Will Apple's iPad Kill Amazon's Kindle?

by Yuliya Talmazan | January 27, 2010 at 04:35 pm

2371 views | 10 Recommendations | 5 comments

As the new iPad was announced by Apple today during the live Apple press conference in San Francisco, it was made known that one of the programs that the iPad comes with is iBooks, which will enable iPad users to buy, download and read books electronically. Immediately, Internet went into a heated discussion over whether iPad will kill Amazon's e-reader Kindle. Right now, it seems the net is divided into those who think Kindle will be subdued by iPad and those who think Kindle will survive.

Here are the arguments from the "doom and gloom" side.

Functionality:

hodie: iPad renders Kindle obsolete - who doesn't prefer a 1.5lbs reader that you have to hold in two hands and cannot read in direct sunlight?

Cost:

jeremytfreeman: My pov on the ipad: if they can price it to compete with readers and netbooks they might have a win...I've wanted a kindle, but too much $

Looks:

iPad looks sick and perfect for traveling, its truly mobile. Thank God I passed on the macbook air and the kindle.

On the other hand, here are the arguments from those who think Kindle will not be out-battled.

Functionality:

mattjjensen: @yeadonsmith iPad has no functionality beyond that of an iTouch. The kindle has epaper screen and its battery lfe is it's functionality.

Filled niche and attachment to brand:

tinadearing: I thought the iPad name was a joke. Like the new soccer team being Melbourne Heart. Nothing will replace the Kindle in my heart.

Selection and connection costs on iPad:

melissadonovan: @kelvinkao I was putting off Kindle for the same reasons. I have 2 concerns for iPad: bookstore selection variety and connection costs.

New York Times have reacted with three reasons why iPad won't kill Kindle. They list backlit screen, distracting email and Twitter apps, battery life, and cost of iPad as the limiting factors that play against it. Plus, NYT says Amazon will continue improving Kindle with new features to compete with the iPad. Immediately, a counter-article was posted on NYT with arguments against Kindle, among them - static nature of Kindle and single-purpose use.

However, some bloggers suggest there is market for both gadgets, and the emergence of one will not have to kill the other.

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Uwe Paschen

at 17:30 on January 27th, 2010

The E-Books are still very limited and not very interesting for any one outside of North America or the Western World.

I think the e-reader may still do well if it can adapt and discover the large Asian, African and Eastern European market. Does are not interested in reading Opera or Shakespeare nor would they care much fro the New-York times.

The Zeit, Le Sahel, Al-Jazeera... Nitzsche, Fatima... but those can not be fund as e-books still today.

The next trouble would be languish, since the large majority of the Globe does not speak English, Spanish or French.

2review (not verified)

at 21:44 on January 27th, 2010

It depends on how you look at it base on your requirement. Current netbooks are the smaller version of laptops. So they are bigger than the iPad. Weight 0.68Kg. Thin 12.7mm Most of them dose not have touch screen but iPad dose. iPad is something like a bigger version of iPod Touch. So if you are iPhone iPod fan then iPad will be much better that current netbookswww.amazon.com/dp/B00365F6EG/?tag=appleipadstore-20

klenlee (not verified)

at 16:23 on January 28th, 2010

kindle is dead. Seriously. Are you stupid or something. Just compare the two specs objectively. Besides, Apple can probably make money even if they gave away iPad. They can make money on selling Apps/books through iTunes. And, all the small-time author/publishers are going to avalanche into iTunes to sell books and will increase the iBook contents far beyond Amazon can. Enough said. Game over.

Kindle will not go away (not verified)

at 08:28 on January 29th, 2010

"... Just compare the two specs objectively" have you???"Kindle is purpose-built for reading. Weighing in at less than 0.64 pounds, Kindle fits comfortably in one hand for hours, has an E Ink display that is easy on the eyes even in bright daylight, two weeks of battery life, and 3G wireless with no monthly fees — all at a $259 price. Kindle editions of New York Times best sellers and most new releases are only $9.99." - NYTIMES

hmejia (not verified)

at 08:54 on January 29th, 2010

iBooks is definitively costlier than Amazon; if Kindle reader will be still available in iPad, Kindle is dead; but if not why pay more for the same book? of course there is more things to do in iPad but nothing that you can do either in a laptop.