The iPad and the Kindle
Without having seen either screen I’m guessing the Kindle is much better for reading books. Better reading comfort and incredibly long battery life are the Kindle advantage.
Is that advantage plus the $230 you’ll save forfeiting an iPad purchase worth everything else the iPad offers including a book reader and Kindle app? If you don’t have an iPhone then I think the answer is no. If you do (who doesn’t), I think the answer is… how much do you read?
Is it realistic to own both? And an iPhone? I don’t think so.
It doesn’t look great for the Kindle. The thing that bothers me about the Kindle is that the $270 outlay gets you a device that’s pretty much useless until you spend more money at the same place, the only place you can buy books, Amazon.
Gruber writes:
I think Amazon is in the content business first, the device business second. A world where Kindle hardware sales pale in comparison to the iPad but where there’s a very popular Kindle app for iPad that competes against iBooks is not a bad situation for Amazon.
I agree but what reason does anyone have to buy books from Amazon over Apple’s (presumably) better integrated, more convenient (if only slightly) system? The more Kindle’s in people’s hands the more reason to buy content from Amazon, for both devices.
Amazon should sell the Kindle cheap. Cost or below. Sell it on its merits: simply the best book reading experience. Make money on what they always have, books, which can be read across devices including the iPad. Amazon’s history and success is in selling books, sell more Kindles, sell more books. The more Kindles the more reason there is to buy from Amazon.
