Amazon previews Kindle for iPad

March 22, 2010

With the online bookseller throwing its weight behind the tablet revolution, one wonders how the long the Kindle, a device that only reads books with a top price of $489, will remain on the market. With Apple already at $499+, and everyone else sure to come in below that, the day of the one-trick ereader has passed.

Amazon is offering a sneak peak at their upcoming Kindle for tablet computers, which is going to be a lot like Kindle for iPhone, Kindle for Mac and every other version of the ubiquitous ereader application.

Tablet computers, including the iPad are coming and with our free app you’ll be able to read more than 450,000 Kindle books. Like all Kindle apps, Kindle for tablet computers will include Whispersync technology, which automatically synchronizes your last pages read, bookmarks, notes and highlights across your Kindle and Kindle compatible devices, including PC, Mac, iPhone and Blackberry.

That said, the one-trick Kindle DX sells for $489. Apple’s entry-level, does everything 16GB iPad is tagged at just $10 more.

Further, given that every other tablet maker will price their products for less than Apple (assuming they want to sell more than two), there will be little if any oxygen left for Amazon, Barnes & Noble or anyone else selling single-function ereaders. Happily, this means that Amazon will go back to its knitting (i.e. selling books) and leave the hardware to the big boys.

So, the Kindle is dead — Long live Kindle!

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