Amazon has launched a new television ad on U.S. broadcast and cable networks that highlights the Kindle’s E-Ink screen’s ability to be read in bright light, especially versus Apple’s iPad:
MacDailyNews Take: Apple’s iPad does so much more, in color, that it’s ridiculous. If you want to read books in black and white in bright sunlight, get an eBook reader with an appropriate screen. If you want to do just about anything else (Web, Mail, TV Shows, Movies, iPod, iTunes, 250,000+ apps, Notes, Maps, Calendars, Contacts, Word Processing, Presentations, Spreadsheets, etc.), including reading eBooks in color, get an iPad. If you want to do it all, get both. Kindle is not really a competitor to iPad; the devices are just not in the same class. Kindle is a paring knife while iPad is Williams-Sonoma plus the rest of the entire mall.
This ad is a marketing mistake for Amazon, because most people will see it and say to themselves, “That’s cute, but iPad does sooo much more.” So, in the end, this is an ad for iPad. Now, Amazon does sell iPads
[Thanks to MacDailyNews Reader “Fred Mertz” for the heads up.]
I disagree. This ad represents their only hardware advantage. For this feature, the ad is 100% correct.
I’ll still take my iPad any day.
This is most basic advertising — identify the quality of your product that sets it apart from the competition and advertise that. There are exactly two points where Kindle may be arguably better than an iPod: first, weight, second, reading in very, very bright light. There may be a small number of people who find these two dealbreakers. This commercial is for them.
This doesn’t hurt the iPad. As Oscar Wilde said, “There is only one thing worse than being talked about and that is NOT being talked about.” Bad publicity never hurt Apple (see “Antennagate”).
nice add.
shame about the product.
Has anyone ever seen anyone reading books on a Kindle in bright sunlight? Most of the really booky people I know don’t go outdoors much. But this is Seattle so take that as you will.
THIS IS WHAT ASTROTUF LOOKS LIKE, IN CASE YOU WERE WONDERING….
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Sep 14, 10 – 09:53 am
Comment from: Jim
Ah.. Apple finally is getting a taste of it’s own medicine
Awesome commercial
Sep 14, 10 – 09:55 am
Comment from: Afif
Agreed, wonder what apple will have to say about this?
Not that bad an ad — I’ve been saying for years the right price point for Kindle is $99 and they’re getting damn close. But in truth the “bright sunlight” thing isn’t much of an issue. I suppose if you were stuck in the Sahara with no shade for 1,000 miles it might be better, but reality, who hangs out in the hot sun like that? Sane people use some covering and I’ve found that by simple adjusting my viewing angle the iPad is perfectly readable outdoors. Perhaps not as good as paper or Kindle, but far more useful than either.
How is it that so many of you simply don’t GET the Kindle? This ad tells the whole story: in some conditions – not entirely rare for those who can afford the Kindle AND the time to read it – the Kindle is the better machine AND is less expensive as well.
Now … we all know the iPad is so much more useful in so many other situations and in so many other ways. I have to admit, I have managed to read a mere handful of books each of the past several years. And I’ve HAD the time. ‘Druther play WoW! Apple doesn’t NEED to counter this. Most of the folk who think they can get by with the Kindle will come over to the iPad in a year or two. Or continue to enjoy their “elite” status – by owning (and using) both.
Reading books is so—oo 20th Century.
Books are Needed, necessary & will be so, but it is only maybe a small fraction of what we use an electronic device for, so Kindle is a one trick pony, late to the game with the automobile taking all the passengers.
I doubt Kindle will survive this decade ahead.
C1:
Sunshine in Seattle as typical as kindle in sunshine.
PUH-LEEZE. I used a Kindle for an entire week, and it was one of the worst user interface experiences I have ever had in my entire life. The hardware is horrible too (you’ve gotta move a little joystick around the entire page just to highlight a single word), and the e-ink display might be okay in bright sunlight, but it is super-difficult to read in any sort of medium-lit room. Amazon should stick to software, not hardware.
What you don’t get to see is the part where it gets dark and she asks him how he is able to read his ebook. He replies that he’s not. He’s sending email, checking his facebook, just ordered pizza and waiting to Skype with his girlfriend. He saved enough by not buying a laptop to buy both her kindle and her sunglasses but he just didn’t want either of them.
I’m willing to bet that many more people view this add on an iPad than on a kindle. In fact, no one will be viewing this ad on kindle. Also, the woman in the add is cute though, so if I wanna see more of her, naturally I go with the iPad. Therefore, thinking with both the big head and the bigger head leads one to Apple.
Weak, really weak!
If you want to read a book anywhere but outdoors in bright sunlight, get an iPad.
Because the Kindle is too cheap to have a backlight.
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I bet she also paid more for the designer flashlight she has to hold when she goes indoors.
No one asked you how much it was.
Nobody cares about your sunglasses, either.
Apple doesn’t have to reply to this specific ad…. their “magical” commercial says it all.
Kindle does email, Google, thousands of apps, GPS, productivity suites, movies, music, games, photos, all in brilliant color… oh, wait… it doesn’t do any of those things. My bad. But apparently it does eBooks very well. Especially outdoors by a pool… which is where I do all my reading…
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iPad, on the other hand, does all those things and eBooks too. Apple has the high ground here. A response of any type would be fighting down. Besides, how many kids are going to open a package and say “HEY!! A black and white Kindle e-reader! This is AWESOME!!” Not many would be my guess.
reading in bright sunlight damages your eyes
Effective marketing missle launch…but has Amazon considered the retaliation against the iPad’s numerous features?
Pearl Harbor was effective, too…until the Atomic bomb was dropped.
The advertisement is really American.
Cut!
That’s a wrap everybody. Nice work Cindy, your gorges as as always.
Okay, I need my iPad back. Got to check my email and my bank account to see if my Amazon check cleared.
Cindy . . . no . . . put that down, it’s mine. No . . . Cindy . . . your not suppose to be seen with that.
Your the Kindle girl.
Keep the sunglasses. Cindy! I want my iPad back!
The ad has a point. I am not able to see what’s on my iPad outdoors on a sunny day.
Let’s not get our nickers in a twist – the ad is funny and true. In this situation a kindle is better and if all you care about is an e-reader, then get a kindle. Will I ever trade MY iPad for a kindle? Not even when he’ll freezes over!
Reading straight text by the pool is such a small market. $139 for some reading on vacation, in a wet and/or sandy environment? Cool, but Amazon can have it.
Browsing the web? Checking email? Watching movies?
Need your iPad.
At the end of the day, owning an iPad is a desirable thing. When I take my iPad into college, my mates are awed, and people who I don’t even know comment on how cool it is, whereas if I had a kindle, people would say ‘why the f*** did you pay so much for that piece of s***’. I will admit that the screen sucks in sunlight though.
Paying more than $139 for a pair of sunglasses says a lot about our society. Those who would never do that would probably also question her other purchase.