Technology Bytes: Is the Kindle the First Victim of the IPad?

My favorite of their reasons:

• The price, clearly. The iPad is cheaper than anticipated, and TechCrunch points out that it’s only $10 more than a Kindle DX. And “ereader” is only one of the iPad’s functions.
• The sexy Apple experience. Yeah, that’s not what the Kindle was going for in the beginning. It tries to mimic a real paperback in electronic format, and it succeeds. But – and please know that I am one of those who love the feel of an actual book, flipping pages under my fingers – maybe that was just a stepping stone to get people accustomed to the idea. Reading a book on a Kindle, an iPhone, a laptop, it’s common now. The iPad makes the whole thing seem more advanced, futuristic, cool.
• Formatting, formatting, formatting. TechCrunch said it perfectly:

  With the iPad, out of the gate publishers can create whole experiences. Want to create something unique in the market to draw consumers? Publishers can go beyond e-books, and create an app using one of the world’s most popular SDK platforms.

The Nexus One is pretty sweet – would it exist if the iPhone hadn’t come first? Whether you like them or not, Apple products inspire innovation. What do you think the iPad will lead to?