The Ramifications of the iPad

The timing of the iPad, coming a few months after multiple new e-reader devices hit the market (Amazon's Kindle 2, the Sony E-Reader and Barnes & Noble's Nook), was excellent. The new generation of e-readers has established a new mainstream category of consumer electronic devices. The potential for e-readers wasn't foreseen at the time that other tablet computers came out. So, if nothing else, e-readers set the table for a touch-screen, tablet device to have a purpose.

Of course, Apple's iPad is more than just an e-reader. The other features, especially access to Apple's library of 140,000 (and growing) iPhone apps, gives the iPad room to grow in functionality. The other potential game changer is the launch of the Apple iBook store. This may do to electronic book sales what the iTunes store did to digital music sales (and, to a lesser extent, digital movies and TV show downloads).

In an attempt to figure out the iPad's place in the mosaic of personal electronic devices, most observers are drawing natural comparisons with the Amazon Kindle and other e-readers. The iPad, with its entry-level model priced just $20 more than the Kindle DX, adds a number of convenient features beyond what the Kindle has. This alone should ensure a robust debut in the marketplace for the iPad. Down the road we may see that the iPad not only leapfrogs other e-readers, but creates an entire new category.