I read an interview with Jeff Bezos and I remember him saying that he wanted to keep the Kindle hardware separate from the selling of ebooks. This kind of non-opportunistic actions is something rarely found in the corporate world. Whenever a company produces a successful device or media, they try to monopolize its content (Microsoft has done this many many times).

While the tablet isn't a Kindle killer, there is tough competition ahead for Amazon's e-reader. But Bezos is taking this in stride and making his Kindle more competitive. I'm most looking forward to the Kindle Development Kit, which will allow developers to build “active content” for the Kindle.

Yeah, and as for the apple or any other tablet at least being able to read Kindle books that is smart for Amazon. If a large percentage of books (which in many cases it has been, is or will be) are readable through Kindle on other platforms, it provides an extra income stream for Kindle. From what I understood there is an iPhone and iTouch app for it anyways as well. If the iPad auto works with apps bang. I think thats smart by both Apple and Amazon as well as any other oem who makes an e-reader.

Yeah gibbersome I like all the DK's that have been dropped on the space recently to. Much like android, Firefox, and even iPhone apps compared it is a very bright idea to have thousands developing rather than a set team in house of 10-100.

As I mentioned all those are applicable, but I think as a market affecting thing App store and FF prove this best. I remember when I first started using it why I did it was because it was fully customizable, where IE and even Opera at the time were locked closed and hard to do much custom fitting to them. FF however had themes apps and everything else even then. I think it is a major reason it is the market player it is now.

I am also still looking for my capable alll in one tablet e-reader type device as well. Hopefully this Apple hardware will get some mobile device maker to really do dome work on this platform.

Label this one "meh." I tried out the Kindle app for the iPod Touch (you need a Wifi signal to use it, which in my eye limits its flexibility) and found that, while they did have the Diary of Samuel Pepys at various prices ranging from free to $9.99 (I opted for the former), the Kindle reader software was severely lacking. Like their ereader itself, typeface size is artificially limited.

The Barnes & Noble app is only slightly better: their "Gigantic" size is just at the edge of legibility for me. However, there are smaller houses which are releasing classic books-- really the only kind I'm interested in-- with their own readers wrapped around them. They each have their pros and cons, but all of them are better than the major players, at least for aging eyes.

I would imagine that the measured size of their largest iPad Kindle typeface will be the same as on their iPhone Kindle app's, and that they'll merely use the extra screen real estate to display more tiny text. (Speech output? Fuhgeddaboudit.) Amazon has made some not very good decisions in the ereader design arena, and it's a shame that so many others are slavishly copying it (with one or two extra features) rather than striking out on their own. I just may take up mentaldisorder's challenge and write a good ereader app myself... for Project Gutenberg books, of course!

"I am also still looking for my capable alll in one tablet e-reader type

device as well. Hopefully this Apple hardware will get some mobile

device maker to really do dome work on this platform." - rapid1

I

think Android will be the ONLY real option for genuinely usable "touch"

computing solutions outside of Apple.  Archos has released a PMP

already running Android (Archos 5 Internet tablet), but Android as a

platform still has an enormous and growing issue of

consumer-friendliness and device profile fragmentation.  To deal with

the issue of clarifying what apps work well with their PMP (screen-size

wise), Archos introduced an optimized online store with apps that work

well with their form-factor. Apple's solution was to "super-size"

(pixel-double) its existing apps to service the new screen profile (the

first new size since the iPhone was introduced in 2007) and promise to

promote iPad optimized and iPad only apps immediately following the

launch.

If someone could release an Android-powered tablet for under $300

and host all the solutions Apple addresses (possibly using Google docs

or DTG), it could marginalize what Apple is doing. The ferocity of

competition between Google and Apple should heat up nicely... but

Apple's vertically integrated model may continue to be a point of

advantage, unless it can be used against them.

Regarding Amazon...  I think they need to get out of the ebook

market, before they lose too much money.  The idea that app creators

for their KDK App Store will be charged a fee for downloads over a

certain amount and the "deactivating" of Kindles who's owners make too

many returns seems indicative that their "free Internet access" model

simply is not sustainable. 

Amazon did a phenomenal job (like their

a9.com entry into search introduced us to Streetview), but they need to

focus on selling content, not devices with so little future they feel

the need to obscure their sales numbers so adamantly.  Getting Kindle content on a multitude of devices is a way to do that.

A ready-made solution for those (like Google) who may not want to build

(or maintain) those publisher relationships themselves (note Google's

spat and their complicated settlement with authors in the U.S.

regarding Book search results)

Wow