Three Reasons Why the iPad won’t Kill Amazon’s Kindle – new York times ” (blog)

It may be suddenly fashionable to say so, but the new Apple iPad tablet won’t kill the Kindle from Amazon. Here are three reasons. My colleague, Nick Bilton, has weighed in on this topic from the opposite side. Please add your thoughts in the comments section below.

Kindle book is for lovers, and the iPad is not.

Sure, the Kindle’s potential market may have shrunk today, since the two-books-a-year folks will now choose the more versatile iPad.

But the Kindle (and other devices with E Ink screens) will continue to be the best device for lovers of long-form reading, period. (And they do love it; check the forums Kindle for the passion of Kindle owners.) The iPad’s backlit screen, higher price and more limited battery all make it a poorer choice for curling up with a novel.

Also, there’s the distraction factor. When you read a book, you just don’t want to have e-mail, Twitter and the ESPN Web site beckoning from the browser. The absence of those services on the Kindle — sure, it’s also a flaw — actually make it better for focused leisure reading.

Amazon will continue to improve on the Kindle.

Kindle with color? With a Pixel Qi screen? A Kindle tablet to rival the iPad? They indication that Amazon plans to continue releasing new Kindles in the months and years ahead comes from the Web site of its design division, Lab126, based in Cupertino, Calif. And count a whopping 46 new job postings on the Lab126 career board in the last two months alone.

The Kindle store will continue to thrive.

Amazon smartly separated its Kindle hardware division from its Kindle e-book store and has since released or announced Kindle apps for the iPhone, PC, Mac, and BlackBerry. Despite the fact that many consumers will now choose an iPad over a Kindle, Amazon will likely undercut Apple on e-book prices. (If publishers band together to withhold cheaper e-books from Amazon in favor of pricier ones on the Apple, there could be some legal issues — more on this later.)

Commenting on the Apple announcement today, an Amazon spokesman, drew Herdener, said this: "Customers can read and sync their Kindle books on the iPhone, iPod Touch, PCs, and soon BlackBerry, Mac and iPad. 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."

Bottom line: books, music and movies — its worldwide media business — constitute half of Amazon.com s overall revenue. Jeff Bezos and Company have a huge stake in protecting what business as it inexorably shifts from analog atoms to digital bits.