Can the Kindle survive?

When Amazon.com's Kindle made its debut in late 2007, everyone was pretty excited about it. I certainly was and I recall trying to order one as soon as it was launched.

To my dismay it was not - and still isn't - available for the Malaysian market. That means Amazon.com won't send the device nor make Kindle content available for Malaysian customers.

Why the Kindle (right) is not available here when it's possible to get it in places like East Timor, Laos and Zimbabwe is beyond me.

As to be expected, people have found ways around it. They get their friends in the US to buy the device for them and then they borrow a friend's American credit card to purchase content or they buy Amazon.com gift vouchers for themselves.

Suffice to say, when a product is hot, people will find loopholes to get it in their hands.

A couple of years later and the iPad (left) makes its splashy appearance.

Is it a Kindle killer? That's a debate that's still raging on. Just Google the terms "iPad vs Kindle" and you will see plenty of views on this topic.

This question is actually a microcosm of the bigger issue of whether dedicated devices can survive in the long run. Some clearly can't. For example, nobody buys a standalone PDA anymore now that smart phones are commonplace.

The jury is still out on other devices though. For example, can standalone GPS survive in the long run? The same can be asked of MP3 players like the iPod. And even compact cameras.

On the surface, you'd think there's no way dedicated e-readers can survive. The iPad offers full colour, higher screen resolution, multimedia capabilities and it's got that "wow" factor going for it.

However, the Kindle hasn't gone the way of the Dodo bird. Far from it. It's a top seller on Amazon.com and Kindle books now outsell printed ones. There are some very compelling reasons for this. The Kindle beats the iPad on four key areas.

Readability

First and foremost is the Kindle's use of E-Ink, which gives the look and feel of paper. You have to really experience E-Ink in person to know just how much the screen resembles printed text. While the iPad's screen offers sharper images and better contrast, the Kindle's screen better approximates newsprint. And, unlike the iPad, the Kindle can be read in direct sunlight.

Battery

One of the things that's appealing about the iPad is its long battery life. You can use it non-stop for up to 10 hours. That's a lot compared to laptops which typically give you two hours. But it's not a lot compared to the Kindle which can give you up to 60 hours on a charge. That's because the Kindle's screen only uses power when it is changing pages thus saving a lot of power consumption.

Size

One major criticism of many other Tablets is their size. For some reason, many of iPad's rivals have decided on a much smaller form factor. When you are talking about a Tablet, which is to used for browsing the web and doing simple work like writing and so on, size does matter. When a screen is too small it's hard to browse the web and do work.

That's not the case when what you want to do is read a book. The Kindle is small but it's about the size of a paperback book and is lighter than one. Measuring only 0.34 inches thick and weighing 8.7 ounces, the Kindle actually makes the 0.5-inch thick, 24-ounce iPad seem bulky and cumbersome. As a laptop replacement the iPad is light and portable, but as an e-reader it's pretty heavy.

Price

Price is always a factor and in this department, the Kindle wins hands down. Because it's a dedicated device, it's price is considerably lower than that of the iPad. The base Wi-Fi version of Kindle goes for US$139 while the cheapest Wi-Fi iPad goes for US$499. Huge difference!

The future of publishing is digital

To me there's no question that printed books and magazines will indeed go the way of the Dodo bird and that the future of publishing is digital.

Most will probably be content to consume it on multipurpose devices like laptops, Tablets and even mobile phones. But book lovers will always prefer a dedicated device. And that is the demographic that Kindle caters for.

In an interview with Newsweek magazine, Amazon.com founder Jeff Bezos was asked whether it matters if people buy the Kindle device as long as Kindle books are sold (the Kindle bookstore is a separate business from the Kindle device).

This was his answer: "With the Kindle bookstore, wherever you want to read we're going to support you. And then for the Kindle device, we want that to be the world's best purpose-built reading device. It's not a Swiss Army knife. It's not going to do a bunch of different things. We believe that reading deserves a dedicated device, and we want Kindle to be that device."

The flip side to a prolific writer is a voracious reader. I love books. I buy them all the time but it's frustrating sometimes trying to get my hands on the latest books and having to wait for them to be delivered from overseas.

It's also not that convenient to bring along my books with me everywhere. With the Kindle I can keep up to 3000 books in one device. And that is why although I have an iPad, which I love, I have a Kindle too, which I also love.

OON YEOH's new social media book 'Like Me, Follow Me' is published by MPH. You can connect with him via Facebook and Twitter.