The Kindle Refuses to Die

Sales soaring of the device iPad was to make obsolete

By Caroline Miller, Newser Staff

Posted Jul 26, 2010 11:19 AM CDT

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The Kindle Refuses to Die — FILE - In this Feb. 9, 2009 file photo, the Kindle 2 electronic reader is shown at an Amazon.com news conference in New York. Amazon.com, which has dominated the young but fast-growing electronic book market for the past few years with the Kindle, could get its first real threat Saturday, April 3, 2010,... (AP Photo/Mark Lennihan, file)

Looks like the advance obits for the Kindle, which was supposed to be killed off by the iPad, were a bit premature. The iPad is selling sensationally (3.3 million and counting), Daniel Lyons notes in Newsweek, but so is the Kindle (3.5 million this year). Why? Sure, slashing prices to $189 helped triple sales, but there's also the fact that the Kindle, if not as sexy as the iPad, is arguably better for reading books. Here's why:

It weighs less than half as much as the iPad
The Kindle screen is easier on the eyes and more visible outdoors, in sunlight.

It has a much longer battery life—more than a week, compared to a puny 10 hours
There's no contract and no monthly fee
There are 10 times more books available
The Kindle app runs on everything, not just Apple devices

Prognosticators are still predicting the Kindle's demise, unless Jeff Bezos wises up and develops a tablet, but for now, he's busy enjoying the fact that sales of books on the Kindle soared past hardbacks this year, too.
(More Amazon stories.)

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