I’m watching with great enjoyment the Apple iPad announcement and especially all the analysis of the iPad vs. Kindle implications. 
That seems like the big issue. Google “iPad vs Kindle” some time. As I write this, two mornings after the announcement, I get 4.3 million hits on that. For example, PC Magazine calls the iPad a Kindle Killer, and Huffington Post asks Will Apple’s New Product Make eReaders Obsolete?
However, unless Apple blocks the Kindle app on the iPad–which would be crazy–then the real issue is the extra $5 for ebook features like color and better formatting. The iPad owner will get to choose between the $14.99 slick iPad version of the book or the $9.99 Kindle version.
I’m already running the Kindle app on my iPhone, and it works very well. The Amazon.com background synchronization gets me automatically to the last page read on any device. While I can read books on the physical Kindle, I can also keep them on my phone and have a novel ready any time I get 10 minutes waiting idly somewhere.
When I get the iPad (which I will, as soon as it starts shipping), that gives me a nicer and more comfortable place to read the same books I’ve already bought on my Kindle account. And transfer them to my iPhone for portability.
And, to make the choice more interesting, how much do you want to bet that the iPad reader app will be transferable to the iPhone and iPod Touch, so you can have that kind of flexibility with the Apple reader options, too? I think it’s obvious. Kindle buyers get more functionality. Apple-only buyers get a slick new ebook option. Everybody wins.
This is good for consumers, giving us more choices and better technology. And it’s also good for the Kindle accounts. Let the buyer choose.
(Image: taken from amazon.com)
Tim Berry is the founder and chairman of Palo Alto Software and Bplans.com. Follow him on Twitter @Timberry.
