Is The iPad Really A Kindle Killer?
After what seemed, for many people, like a very long wait, Apple has finally unveiled their tablet computer. It’s been given the name of iPad and has, somewhat predictably perhaps, been given a mixed reception. Some say that it’s no more than an oversized iPod Touch. Others predict that it will be the death of the netbook, the notebook and the e-book reader.
In particular, the iPad has, for some considerable time now, been hailed as the “Kindle Killer”. Which is, in one way strange as the Amazon Kindle and the Apple iPad are two very different devices, and yet, in another way, somehow inevitable. They are currently the two hottest gadgets on the market (or they will be when the iPad starts shipping at the end of March). Furthermore, they are brought to market by two of the largest and most successful corporations in the world.
The fact of the matter is that the Kindle is a specialist. It focuses on one thing only – letting people read (and buy) books very well. It accomplishes this very effectively. It is a great e-book reader and it simplifies the sales and delivery process for books very well indeed. On the other hand, the iPad is extremely versatile and performs a number of different functions. It’s superb color display makes it a good internet browser, it’s great for playing games and you can access and use the enormous library of iPod “Apps”. You can even use it as an mp3 player if you like.
There are a number of reasons why the Kindle is such a superb e-book reader. One of the most important is the technology used for the Kindle’s display. It uses an e-ink technology screen, which provides a very similar experience to reading text printed on paper and generates much less eye strain than a back-lit LCD display. Another important aspect of the e-ink display is the fact that it only uses power when refreshing the screen (turning the page) – so it has a long lifespan between charges. Unfortunately, the e-ink display is monochrome and has a fairly slow refresh rate. It’s pretty poor as a web browser and completely non-functional when it comes to watching videos.
The iPad’s great color display makes it ideal for use as a web browser, watching video or playing games. On the other hand, the back-lit screen produces more eye strain than the Kindle display and it has a relatively short battery life of only ten hours.
The iPad is, quite frankly, not a patch on the Kindle when considered as an e-book reader. However, even after its next upgrade (possibly early in 2010) the Kindle will not be suitable for anything other than basic and infrequent surfing. Neither is it out of the question that there may well be other devices which can outperform the iPad in selected areas. Which device you choose will be determined by your preparedness to sacrifice a small amount of performance for a lot of versatility and the convenience of a multi-functional device.
Check out the Amazon Kindle for yourself – and have a look at the huge range of Kindle accessories on offer.
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