Kid on christmas morning

I was anxious last night because I knew today could have been the day where Apple changed the ebook and publishing business forever. I looked forward to 1pm all day and the 6 hours before that couldn’t go by quick enough. I had hopes that the iPad would be some kind of e-ink, HD-color display hybrid that would make me immediately regret buying a Kindle. I’m relieved and disappointed at the same time.

Relieved that my Kindle isn’t obsolete 3 weeks after I bought it.

Disappointed that reading on an iPad will give me few benefits over reading on a laptop screen.

Kindle vs. iPad – Fight to the death only on Pay-Per-View

Elliot Jay Stocks said that ”the fact that it [the iPad] is going to kill the Kindle is now obvious.” I disagree with him. I bought the Kindle for its e-ink and open hard drive (I can put whatever I want on it). The iPad doesn’t challenge either of those so I think the Kindle will be fine. The iPad will be nothing but a bump in the road for Mr. Bezos.

The iPad will be more convenient to hold while I’m reading an ebook than my laptop because of the absence of the weird CPU/keyboard thing dangling off my laptop. The glowing backlit screen will be harsh on my eyes after 45 minutes of pure reading. I see myself reading on the iPad occasionally, but I bought the Kindle for a couple specific needs and the iPad doesn’t satisfy either of those.

I didn’t buy the Kindle to play games or check my email. That’s what my iPad will be for :-)