iPad
Can the Kindle compete on the iPad?
By Jim DalrympleMarch 22, 2010, 11:24 am PT
Amazon on Monday announced a new app designed specifically for Apple’s iPad and other tablet devices. It’s not a big surprise that they will have an app, but can they compete against Apple on the platform?
I think the answer to that is yes, at least in the short term.
I’m not a big fan of the Kindle, but according to Amazon, “millions” of people have purchased the device. Amazon also claims it sells six e-books for every 10 physical books. Those aren’t free books, either, so that’s a good number.
The Kindle obviously has a loyal following. Last year, Amazon released the Kindle app for iPhone, giving users the ability to read their Kindle books on that device. Certainly, a good move for Amazon.
However, the iPad is different. Unlike the iPhone, Amazon will compete directly with Apple when the iPad comes out.
One of the new features of the iPad will be iBooks, Apple’s own online e-book store. The application will be available free from the App Store when the iPad is released on April 3.
This will inevitably cause some concern for Amazon. Apple tends to dominate many of the consumer markets it enters, and make no mistake, they will work very hard to dominate this one too.
What Amazon has going for it is a strong, existing customer base. For the same reason Apple’s competitors find it hard to compete in the music and video space, Apple will find it hard to compete against Amazon.
However, I don’t think that will last long. Apple has one of the best mobile delivery systems ever built in iTunes. That is going to be key to e-book distribution for Apple and they have a proven track record. They can get it done.
It’s not like Apple is starting off with nothing. Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, Kaplan Publishing, McGraw-Hill Education, and Pearson have all signed on to deliver textbooks and Hachette Book Group, HarperCollins Publishers, Macmillan Publishers, Penguin Group and Simon & Schuster will deliver mainstream books.
It will be interesting to see how many books Apple can sell in the first couple of quarters.
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Can the Kindle compete on the iPad?
By Jim DalrympleMarch 22, 2010, 11:24 am PT
Amazon on Monday announced a new app designed specifically for Apple’s iPad and other tablet devices. It’s not a big surprise that they will have an app, but can they compete against Apple on the platform?
I think the answer to that is yes, at least in the short term.
I’m not a big fan of the Kindle, but according to Amazon, “millions” of people have purchased the device. Amazon also claims it sells six e-books for every 10 physical books. Those aren’t free books, either, so that’s a good number.
The Kindle obviously has a loyal following. Last year, Amazon released the Kindle app for iPhone, giving users the ability to read their Kindle books on that device. Certainly, a good move for Amazon.
However, the iPad is different. Unlike the iPhone, Amazon will compete directly with Apple when the iPad comes out.
One of the new features of the iPad will be iBooks, Apple’s own online e-book store. The application will be available free from the App Store when the iPad is released on April 3.
This will inevitably cause some concern for Amazon. Apple tends to dominate many of the consumer markets it enters, and make no mistake, they will work very hard to dominate this one too.
What Amazon has going for it is a strong, existing customer base. For the same reason Apple’s competitors find it hard to compete in the music and video space, Apple will find it hard to compete against Amazon.
However, I don’t think that will last long. Apple has one of the best mobile delivery systems ever built in iTunes. That is going to be key to e-book distribution for Apple and they have a proven track record. They can get it done.
It’s not like Apple is starting off with nothing. Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, Kaplan Publishing, McGraw-Hill Education, and Pearson have all signed on to deliver textbooks and Hachette Book Group, HarperCollins Publishers, Macmillan Publishers, Penguin Group and Simon & Schuster will deliver mainstream books.
It will be interesting to see how many books Apple can sell in the first couple of quarters.
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Discussion 11 comments so far
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Apple may not even give Amazon the chance to compete. They could easily reject the Kindle app for the iPad based on the "duplicates existing functionality" clause of the developer agreement.
That's true, they could do that. Doing that would cause another whole incident.
Duplicates existing functionality? Um, not exactly. My understanding is that iBooks will be an optional download, rather than compulsory software like Safari or the eMail app.
And in markets outside the US, it's not clear that Apple has finalized any worthwhile deals with book publishers at all; here in New Zealand (for example) we still don't know for sure whether iBook software will even be available at the iPad's launch date.
Apple allows Kindle software on the iPhone; Apple is (still) largely a hardware company; banning Kindle software from the iPad in foreign markets can only harm iPad sales, at least until Apple gets its publishing deals sorted in all markets.
Amazon will make a big mistake if they try to challenge the iPad straight up. The Kindle cannot compete with the iPad. The Kindle should not compete with the iPad. The Kindle is a single-use device. The iPad is not. Amazon may not want to concede this. Nevertheless, I think they have already ceded ground by creating a Kindle App for the iPad.
There is room for both devices, just as there is room for both Nanos and Touches. I like my Kindle. It's a great deal. It's nice to let my eyes relax after staring at LCD screens all day. It's nice letting the Kindle go for days and days without needing to recharge it. It's nice to pay once and have 3G web-browsing in perpetuity. Can it do what the iPad can do? Absolutely not. But that's ok as long as the Kindle does what it advertises. And it does do that. Very well.
The iPad can read every available file format, every available DRM format (just get the app for that). Because of this, the Kindle has no chance.
Even on the iPad, the Kindle app has to compete against the other bookstores.
Currently, even before the iPad is released, I am chomping at the bits for it. I have over 30 gigs of PDF-format books for it already. They are a pain to read on a laptop. They will be beautiful to read on the iPad.
Intersting, indeed. Maybe they’ll have some mutually benefitting arrangements. After all, Amazon owns Audible (at least last I cared to look) and isn’t Audible the source of iTunes audiobooks?
I think Amazon will compete quite well, especially with existing customers. Amazon has several nice features which Apple hasn't yet said if they intend to duplicate. For example, once you buy a Kindle book, you can download that book as many times as you want — no matter when you purchased it — to any of the devices tied to your account without tethering to a computer. Second, Apple hasn't officially said iBooks are coming to iPhone and if your place in the book will sync back and forth. I personally really like reading a larger screen at home or on a plane, and then be able to pick up where I left off on my iPhone on the subway or while waiting at the doctor's office. Unless Apple matches that functionality (or the Kindle app for iPad turns out to be seriously flawed) I'll probably stick with Amazon for the time being.
It already seems that Apple will be able to provide voice playback where Amazon seems to be restricted. If Apple can add other features such as book gifting and lending before Amazon does, I think they have a chance to build some momentum for the iBook store on the iPad.
The Kindle has voice playback.
I think it goes back to like, 'Windows vs OSX' on computers. Apple maybe keen on new market segment of people who are readers or new readers to use iPad and to convert a market who are now using different kind of hardwares and softwares to read. However, iPad is more than just iBooks. I think another hit by Apple who knew well on the smart consumers out there. In a new world of no boundaries, world of internet, WiFi, 3G, people are growing smarter everyday and growing along with technology is already part of their everyday life. Like me, never leave home without my iPhone, it is not a phone. Its Internet, fun and phone.
myPadMedia is not a subscription service: you will only be billed once, and that payment will entitle you to unlimited access to all the e-books that are part of the myPadMedia service. This is a detailed myPadMedia review that will hopefully help you decide whether myPadMedia is a good investment for you.————http://www.freeipaddownload.net