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Is Amazon Ready for the Apple iPad?

By: Mel Joelle

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Days ago Apple unveiled the Apple iPad and in a prior post I mentioned how Apple's partnerships with print media and textbook companies will peg the iPad as a possible threat to the Amazon's Kindle. Kindle is trying to think ahead, and Kindle enthusiasts say that the iPad will not be a direct threat.

The Kindle is an e-book reader that is limited to storing and displaying monochromatic text. Newer versions of the Kindle do include web browsing capabilities, but there is nothing else really tech-y about it. There are reports surfacing about Amazon wanting to add gaming features to the Kindle to offset losses they are anticipating by Apples new e-book friendly device. According to Business Week, Amazon has enlisted the help of game developers to do just that. Is this a good move by Amazon? It might do more damage than good. The consumers that chose Kindle as their e-book reader of choice were probably not interesting in gaming. They value the device for its ability to allow them to curl up and read a good novel.

For the most part, the Kindle is marketed towards an older audience that really loves to read, and not necessarily the twenty-somethings that are looking for the trendy glitz of an Apple product. If the Kindle keeps advertising to this demographic, then the fact that the Kindle is just an e-book reader is one of its positives. As far as being a great e-book reader, supposedly the iPad does not match up due to its technology for viewing the text. Kindle's screen is easier on the eyes, it was made specifically for reading while the iPad has and LCD screen that lights up to highlight reading and other shared functionalities. However, I believe this is all relative. The Kindle has the advantage that it looks like an actual printed page, but younger audiences might want to see graphics and images when reading printed text that go along with it. The attractive graphic display will come into play when users are able to download Marvel Comics from the Apple App Store.

Where I feel there will be a sense of competition is in the newspaper industry. The Kindle can currently provide e-reader versions of USA Today and the Wall Street Journal among others, but many reviews say the format in which it is presented is lacking. Some users are angry about paying for newspapers on a subscription basis, but do not see the whole edition.

So how should Amazon get ready for the iPad? I think they should keep trying to optimize the product they already have. The iPad has been able to conjure up some significant deals with publishing companies, but people who buy textbooks and read Marvel comics don't necessarily want to download romance novels or travel books. Zeroing in on the right demographic and improving their newspaper and magazine reader formats will help the Kindle maintain its current leading market position.

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