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Originally Posted by Solicitous
The Kindle has one huge advantage over the iPad for ebooks, the e-ink screen. I know myself that regardless of how cheap the iPad becomes I would always buy an e-ink device for reading over a backlit LCD.
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Yes, but that's just you. You're making the mistake of thinking that the vast majority of people out there in the reading public give a crap about e-ink. The segment of the market that comprises true e-ink fanatics is bound to be very small, to the point that as far as Apple is concerned, it isn't even worth considering.
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I honestly believe the iPad will be a bit of a fad.
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Right, because the iPod turned out to be just a fad. Without trying to sound too overly dramatic, this device is going to change computing for a huge swath of the general consumer public. It won't be because 95% of them give a damn about reading a book on one: they won't, and Jobs doesn't care. The iPad is the absolutely perfect device for someone like my mom, or my brother, or my wife, or my neighbors, or any number of other general consumers out there who want to check Facebook and email and read the news, but who have no real need for a full-on computer.
But that's why it's going to have such an impact on the e-reader marketplace. It's going to sell for many reasons completely unrelated to reading books, but a good number of people who buy it are probably going to read a book on it, if for no other reason than they can. That means that within just three or four years, Apple will totally dominate the e-reader market. There will always be a niche market for people like you who absolutely must have e-ink no matter what, but e-ink will remain niche for the foreseeable future, and that's entirely because of the impact the iPad is going to have on the market.
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The iPad doesn't really have a recognised market.
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Sure it does: it's such a huge market that you're missing the forest for the trees.