It is an e-reader war like no other! The gold standard of the old school generation we have Amazon and their Kindles! Leading the packs for the new school of tablets and slates we have the Apple and the iPad. Both are at the top of their class and looking to succeed.
At the proverbial high on security and no leaked answers affair, Apple unveiled in January the iPad, the worst kept secret in most technology circles. After a week after the Apple event industry experts said it would be the demise of existing electronic book readers, including Amazon’s Kindle. Luckily, Jeff Bezos and co. had a better idea. Instead of attempting to show the world why their Kindle was better, which in some ways it still is, they decided to embrace the iPad. Amazon chose to not only jump on the iPad bandwagon, but also to be ready for the explosion scheduled to happen on April 3rd, by introducing an iPad version of their Kindle app.
Fast forward to present day, the iPad is here and so is Amazon’s Kindle App for the iPad. Get it for free from the App Store and your iPad transcends into a euphoric state for Kindle owners. Bright, Accessible, and much more sleek looking. Having said that, I can’t imagine why someone with $489 (current price for the comparably sized Kindle DX) would not gather up the extra $10 and get an iPad. The iPad does everything the Kindle can do, and so much more. With the Kindle App, every book you previously purchased for your Kindle is instantly available on your iPad, at no additional cost. This is a major selling feature for people whom have had a Kindle and were looking to upgrade their device. if you were to make the switch to the IPAD for a more versatile device, you should still retain all of your books. Kindle is working on a counter to the iPad, more on this later.
The Kindle App works much like iBooks. You have a list of books, which can be opened with the touch of a finger, and you also have the Kindle store. Unlike iBooks, the store is nothing more than a browser interface to Amazon.com. This is a disjoining feature, as it is not seamless and fluid. Instead you are bounced to Safari and in the browser loads the established Kindle App Store. Once you link the Amazon app with your Amazon account, you have the option to purchase books and send them directly to your iPad. After the purchase is complete, a button appears to send you back to the Kindle app. Your recently purchased book is available within seconds. Most (if not all) of the books have samples you can download, allowing readers to preview books before purchasing.
Is the Kindle App an iBook killer? Hardly. Take for Instance the Kobo E-Reader, Barnes and Noble and the Sony E-Reader. They both have amazing and extensive catalogue of books. Some even give you deals on books the other companies don’t give you. This means that some of your favourite titles will only be found in one of these stores. Good thing, Kobo books already had one of the first Apps available for the IPAD for their own bookstore. Lucky for iPad owners, the iPad is the only device that allows you to read books from multiple stores. Rumour has it that Barnes and Noble and a few other e-reader companies functioning on the Google Android System will be launching their own app to the Apple App Store, giving people more choice and variety and making extra money from people that do not have their e-reader device. Further rumor and speculation says that Sony is going to make an app version of their story for the ipad to not diminish any of their profits.
More on this article in the May Edition of our Good E-Reader Magazine! If you like the iPAD it was our feature story for the our magazine. It is still available, subscribe today, its only $1.99! Support the folks at Good E-Reader to break the latest news on Tablet Slates and E-Readers
Michael Kozlowski is the editor-in-chief at Good e-Reader and has written about audiobooks and e-readers for the past fifteen years. Newspapers and websites such as the CBC, CNET, Engadget, Huffington Post and the New York Times have picked up his articles. He Lives in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada.
