Kindle vs. iPad Roundup

Since Apple’s iPad announcement last week, countless stories have been written comparing the tablet device with the Kindle and Kindle DX. Here’s a glimpse at what’s being said on the internet in the iPad vs. Kindle debate.

• Three Reasons Why the iPad Won’t Kill Amazon’s Kindle – The New York Times‘ Bits blog says that there are three major reasons the iPad isn’t a Kindle Killer: The Kindle is for book lovers, and the iPad is not. Amazon will continue to improve on the Kindle. The Kindle store will continue to thrive.
• iBook Therefore I Am – The iPad vs the Kindle and the Nook – MacLife covers what the iPad is and isn’t when it comes to books and traditional media. Suffice it to say that it’s not the savior of the publishing industry that people were predicting.
• Amazon Responds to Macmillan E-books issue – Shortly after the news of the iPad e-book pricing, Macmillan books disappeared from Amazon’s virtual shelves. They have since returned, with e-books priced higher than most readers are willing to pay. Amazon has made a statement saying that they have decided to allow the customer to decide whether or not to pay the price Macmillan is asking. (For more on e-book pricing and consumer attitudes, check out this poll on Lifehacker.com.)
• Steve Jobs compares iPad battery life to Kindle’s: “You’re not going to read for 10 hours” – In this 5 minute video clip, Apple CEO Steve Jobs comments on the shorter battery life of the iPad than the Kindle. His argument – “You’re not going to read for 10 hours…you just end up pluggin’ it in.” Fair enough, I guess, except that I read about two to three hours per day on my Kindle and don’t have to charge it for sometimes a month at a time. With all the other things you can do with an iPad, 10 hours of battery life may not cut it.
• Apple iBooks e-reader: First Take – From CNet.com comes one of the first reviews of Apple’s new iBooks e-reader application and store. They compare the app to other e-reader apps already available in the iTunes store, such as Classics, Stanza, and of course the Amazon Kindle for iPhone App. (In related news, the striking similarities of the new iBooks interface and the popular Mac software Delicious Library did not go unnoticed by its creator.)

I’m sure the stories comparing the Kindle and the iPad are only going to increase in the coming weeks as we get closer to the iPad’s late March release date.