An Amazon/Apple Deal?

Yesterday I attended an informative Webinar from the folks at Mequoda—a firm that specializes in helping publishers make money online. The topic was How To Publish on the Amazon Kindle, but they also covered all of the eReaders.  

During his presentation, Don Nicholas made a prediction that caught my attention. He said that when Apple announces its eagerly awaited Tablet later this month, they will also announce deals with Amazon and perhaps Barnes and Noble, to enable their e-reader software to run on the iTablet (or whatever it will be called). Whoa! Everyone has been thinking that Apple’s iTablet will be a Kindle killer. But here’s a better idea: coexistence and mutual back scratching – and happy customers!

This makes sense. Amazon already offers Kindle for the iPhone. Why not Kindle for the iTablet? The Kindle iPhone app is great. It lets me start reading on my iTouch and pick up where I left off on my Kindle. Amazon wants to sell digital content more than it does Kindle hardware. Apple wants to sell hardware and attract great apps and content.

Don Nicholas expects the Apple Tablet to be the first eReader that magazine publishers love. He expects that it will offer saturated color that will make the high res photography in magazines look great. And I can already imagine how cool it will be when that still image turns into a video!

I’m a Kindle devotee. I use it to read novels primarily. It’s wonderful to be able to carry a whole slew of books around in a lightweight eReader and then be able to download a new book, or newspaper or journal article on demand. I cuddle up on bed with my Kindle every night. I read it in the bathtub too (in its ZipLock bag I use just in case). But it would be nice to be able to have color illustrations and animation and the kinds of things that Apple is so good at.                                                                                                 iTablet?? Credit: Boy Genius

Now I really can’t wait for the Apple announcement! I hope Don is right!

Comments

[Nick]

I will be interested to see how eReaders are accepted by differing demographics over the next several years and how they're incorporated in classrooms (high school, college and perhaps as early as elementary school).