Pot stirring and mud slinging is just a part of modern journalism. It might be annoying but it may sometimes do as much good as harm, by bringing the Kindle name to the attention of people who might not otherwise have heard of them.
Case in point:
A few months ago I'd never even heard of e-ink. When the iPad was announced the media hoopla caught my eye and I started looking into the whole matter of dedicated readers. Since then I've bought an e-ink reader (iRiver Story) an iTouch, and a Touchsmart tablet computer. I enjoy reading on all of them. I may not even ever buy an iPad. Who know, perhaps I might - but who should care but me?
My guess is that the iPad won't kill anything, but it will be a solid part of a general expansion in e-reading in general - which covers not just books but a huge range of online reading. I don't see e-ink devices as capturing a big share of the overall market (which I think will be dominated by light tablet/netbook style machines) but there's no particular reason why they might not hold onto a viable niche of their own. I do think that some of them will fade away though - there's too many at the moment that do too narrow a job and don't do it especially well or at a sustainable price.