Digital Domain - Kindle vs. iPad - Specialist Against Multitasker - NYTimes.com: "Amazon calls the Kindle a 'purpose-built device,' leaving room for ancillary uses but preserving the idea that it has one central purpose. It’s much lighter than the iPad — not a small consideration when reading for any length of time. Wherever there’s sunlight, the Kindle’s text is easier on the eyes. And its battery life is measured in weeks, not hours. ... It’s not surprising that a 'purpose-built device' does a better job at its one task. The question is whether some years down the road — say, in the 2020 holiday season — customers will still be willing to buy single-purpose devices in addition to irresistible multipurpose ones."
The writer goes on to compare the prospects of the dedicated to eReader to those of the old dedicated word processing devices. But this analogy is flawed. Word processing is generally not a leisure-time activity, while reading often is. For me, personally, there is always the desire to break away from the business machine once business is done, and to find another environment. Also, as elucidated above, the dedicated eReader offers many advantages (size, weight, readability) over a tablet when it comes to books. These aspects were not part of the equation re: the dedicated word processor, which offered virtually no advantage over a desktop PC.
