Faster Better And Cheaper Or

Faster, better and cheaper OR…

By Rajesh Setty on Thu 28 Jan 2010, 12:01 AM – 7 Comments

I watched the keynote speech for iPad and was fascinated by what I saw. For those of you who missed it, you can now watch it on the Apple website at the link below:

http://www.apple.com/ipad/

This post is not about singing praises for iPad but simply to highlight how the iPad has been positioned to make the Kindle or any other e-reader irrelevant.

How did they do that?

First, by simply by making it clear to everyone that with an iPad you get (almost) everything that Kindle offers for no additional cost.And, you don’t have to carry another device to carry your digital books.

Second, by making it clear (in case it was not clear from the above slide) by stating it explicitly. Steve Jobs said,

“Amazon has done a great job pioneering this functionality with their Kindle. And we are going to stand on their shoulders and go little further.”

Third, by announcing current Publisher support and giving a sneak peek of future publisher support.

I am confident that Amazon and others out there are busy updating their battle plans on how to counter this.

Just shows that one cannot stop innovating wherever they are in their lifecycle. Time will tell how this will play out in the next few months and years.

I want to leave you with a quote from #ThinkTweet that I posted about ten days ago. Here it is:

P.S:

Just I was giving the final touches to this blog post, I noticed my friend Mari Smith echoing similar thoughts and couldn’t help smiling. The writing is clearly on the wall unless there is a new bag of tricks from Amazon

P.P.S:

For an alternate viewpoint (which I disagree) you can read a NYT piece by Brad Stone

Three Reasons Why the iPad WON’T Kill Amazon’s Kindle

You be the judge!

***** Update at 11:37 am (hat tip: Guy Kawasaki)

Please watch this quick video where Steve Wozniak (co-founder of Apple) shares his opinion about iPad. Most of his two minute talk is about how iPad will be a better eBook reader



 

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7 Comments so far, Add Yours

Brad Gosse  on January 28th, 2010

I think it will be hard for Apple to make this oversized iphone into a game changer. Only time will tell. I do want an e reader but not sure this is for me even though I am an Apple fanboy :)

Rajesh Setty  on January 28th, 2010

Thanks Brad.

For sure, we have to wait and see how this plays out. My theory (with limited knowledge of iPad and analysis that is less than a day old) is that iPad will be a replacement for a laptop for many people. And, an e-Reader comes with it. So, they don’t have to carry a third device (like a Kindle)

We have to wait and see for sure.

Best,

Rajesh

Srinivas N Jay  on January 28th, 2010

Students Perspective: The most exciting features are,

1. 3G

2. No Contract

3. $15/ month for 250MB

4. Price $629 for 3G 16GB Model

But, problem is, it won’t fit inside our pocket!

Reasons for buying iPhone, iPad and Macbooks according to students,

iPhone

1. Amazing Apps

2. Browsing Internet

3. Games

4. Social Networking

5. iBook Store (I am sure it will be available for iPhone too. Since it is not available yet I am putting it as last option.)

iPad

1. IBook Store

2. Reading Books

3. Movies (Depends on battery backup)

4. Everything else same as iPhone

MacBooks

1. Software Development

2. Music Editing

3. Video Editing

4. Browsing Internet

5. Games

6. Social Networking

7. Movies

So for students, iPad is neither as portable as iPhone nor as capable as MacBooks. I

f apple can provide more reasons for buying iPad compare to iPhone and MacBooks it will be fun.

I guess the new iPhone, which is due by june this year will be much faster, better and cheaper to compete against Android phones. So I am very excited to see want is going to happen.

Have a nice day.

Best!

N Jay

TesTeq  on January 28th, 2010

In my strong opinion iPad is a beautiful device for nobody (or for a multimedia eating potato coach). I cannot imagine a real creative work using this device. Notebook form factor is much more convenient for this type of activity.

Rajesh Setty  on January 28th, 2010

Thanks Srinivas for sharing your opinion.

TesTeq, thanks for the comments.

My personal feeling is that iPad will succeed.

Time will tell. I have been wrong many times :)

Best

Rajesh

Aniket Ray  on January 29th, 2010

When it comes to reading, shiny is bad.

It’s a strain on the eyes.

That’s why we already have matte finishing and technologies like e-ink.

I don’t understand how an iPad can be considered a viable e-reader. You would start getting headaches pretty soon.

Rajesh Setty  on January 29th, 2010

Aniket,

Before e-Ink readers became popular, people used to read eBooks on desktop and notebook computers. e-Readers are a recent phenomenon.

People spend insane amounts of time on Desktops and Notebooks browsing the web and they don’t get headaches :)

Anyway, only time will tell how this will play out.

Thanks for sharing your perspective.

Best,

Rajesh

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