I’ve had a kindle for about 8 weeks now - never even so much as touched an iPad since, living in the UK, I’m a second hand citizen in Appleland.
Nonetheless I feel qualified to comment on why I don’t think the iPad will destroy the kindle - the reason is simple:
The kindle is simply the best reading experience I’ve ever had.
After 8 weeks of reading on my kindle I can say that I now avoid buying books if they’re not available on the platform - reading is simply superb on the device. I buy a lot of books - they’re piled high on every surface of my home. And yet I am deeply in love with the Kindle experience.
I contrast this with the experience of reading on my iPhone or Mac. I have the Kindle app for both and Instapaper for the iPhone. The getting lost factor simply isn’t there for these platforms. Instapaper is about as close as I get with it’s tilt scrolling and I read a bunch of stuff on the bus - but for serious reading the Kindle kills it.
Tapping the screen on the iPad sounds interventionist to me - it will interrupt the page turning experience - the Kindle vanishes while reading - you forget you’re reading one. And it’s the form factor and weight of the thing that does it. It’s actually easier to read than a real book. The iPad - for all its desirability and swoon factor (I’m sure I’ll break down and buy one as I have with every other apple device) - will not be as good as the Kindle for reading books.
Wow - I never met the man but his books were never anything but brilliant.
Sadly Amusing
It’s possible that I think Berkun is insightful because his analysis here gives word to my vague feeling about why I probably won’t buy an iPad - it doesn’t do anything compellingly new for me. That said, this is still a great bit of insight.
Seth is always incredibly insightful but this little essay had one sentence that really struck home
They may have found a short-term solution, but the magazine is doomed precisely because the people they are pandering to don’t really pay attention and aren’t attractive to advertisers.
This is the key concept here. Over time advertisers are only going to pay for results - not impressions. And when that happens all those little tricks we hate so much will have to stop.
They may have found a short-term solution, but the magazine is doomed precisely because the people they are pandering to don’t really pay attention and aren’t attractive to advertisers.
Sadly I thought this was pretty funny.
The eighties is slowly slipping away from us - thank god god for Tron II
Big wheel in Nottingham
It’s funny because it’s true.
It never ceases to amaze me how the USA lives in a bubble. The NBA is irrelevant to the point of obscurity in most of the world yet front of mind for so many Americans.
