Will the iPad Kill the Kindle? That's a question that lots of people have asked me since yesterday's Apple announcement. In many respects, it's representative of a belief that all markets are zero-sum: that for one to succeed, the other needs to fail. But I don't really believe that. Tablets and e-readers may well end up serving very different markets.
Of course, there's one way in which the iPad is likely to replace the Kindle, and that is as the hot gadget for early adopters. The Kindle just isn't that new any more. Regardless, to most people, the two devices seem very different.
You could think of the iPad as a superset device; it does e-book reading, plus other things. But there are reasons that a Kindle or another e-book reader might provide a better reading experience than an iPad, at least for the next couple of years.
To begin with, the screens are very different. The iPad uses an LED-backlit LCD screen (and Apple makes a big deal of this being an “IPS" screen, which means it uses the wide-viewing angle technology used primarily by LG Display and IPS Alpha). That means a backlight is always shining in your eyes, which some people find tiring. It's clearly better than a Kindle in a dark room, but tends to be hard to read in bright sunlight.
Existing e-readers mostly use electrophoretic screens, which have no light source. Like paper, they rely on light bouncing off the screen, which makes them somewhat easier on the eyes. They are great in a bright room, or with direct light on them, but don't work as well in a darker room. They also have much, much better battery life than an LCD screen, as they use power only when changing the display, not when you are reading. LCDs may be brighter, and they undoubtedly offer better contrast than the grayscale screens of electrophoretic displays, but I've found e-readers easier on the eyes.
Of course, there's one way in which the iPad is likely to replace the Kindle, and that is as the hot gadget for early adopters. The Kindle just isn't that new any more. Regardless, to most people, the two devices seem very different.
You could think of the iPad as a superset device; it does e-book reading, plus other things. But there are reasons that a Kindle or another e-book reader might provide a better reading experience than an iPad, at least for the next couple of years.
To begin with, the screens are very different. The iPad uses an LED-backlit LCD screen (and Apple makes a big deal of this being an “IPS" screen, which means it uses the wide-viewing angle technology used primarily by LG Display and IPS Alpha). That means a backlight is always shining in your eyes, which some people find tiring. It's clearly better than a Kindle in a dark room, but tends to be hard to read in bright sunlight.
Existing e-readers mostly use electrophoretic screens, which have no light source. Like paper, they rely on light bouncing off the screen, which makes them somewhat easier on the eyes. They are great in a bright room, or with direct light on them, but don't work as well in a darker room. They also have much, much better battery life than an LCD screen, as they use power only when changing the display, not when you are reading. LCDs may be brighter, and they undoubtedly offer better contrast than the grayscale screens of electrophoretic displays, but I've found e-readers easier on the eyes.
