Will the Kindle Dominate the Race for Technological Supremacy, or Will it Be One of Apple’s Own?

With the release of Apple’s new smartphone-laptop crossover, the iPad, electronics technology has leaped into a new realm. The iPad has received mixed reactions from publications and consumers alike. The novel nature of the iPad means that its market is rather slim and there is no current consumer base for the product. The iPad closest technological competitor is the Amazon Kindle, despite the fact that the Kindle’s interface seems quite limited when compared with the iPad’s. Amazon embraced the launch of the iPad by creating a “Kindle for iPad” application for the iPad. The move allows Amazon to retain some of the Kindle business they might have otherwise lost to new iPad users.

But Amazon is reaching even further in the competition between the Kindle and the iPad. Lab 126 has recently posted dozens of job openings. Responsible for the technology behind the Kindle, Lab 126 recently posted dozens of job openings which may indicate that the lab is looking to expand the capabilities of the Kindle in order to appeal to a wider consumer base. {New York Times} Yet, New York Times writer Brad Stone argued that the Kindle’s design is “for book lovers, and the iPad is not.” The Kindle’s black and white screen and relatively simple interface are reminiscent of the (now) old-school book. The Kindle was not created to change the experience of reading a book but rather to make it more convenient in terms of space, weight, and book selection.

Besides the Kindle, the iPad’s other major competitor runs in it’s bloodline. That is to say, the iPod and Macbook are competing for money from someone’s wallet for the same capabilities that the iPad offers. While no significant blow has been suffered by either technology in the iPad’s first month, analyst Steve Baker says, “it’s way too early to see what long range impact on MacBook is going to be from the iPad.” {PCWorld} Baker acknowledges the obvious fact that one month is quite a short amount of time to garner any real statistical reasoning as to the impact of a new product upon already existing markets. But if consumer reviews begin to justify iPad technology, Macbook and iPod sales may drop as more embrace a consumer promoted product.

In the case of the iPad, its evident that only time will tell if the technology is a winner.