Ever since the Kindle was released I’ve heard several technology pundits talk about how the iPhone could kill the Kindle by just adding some ebook features. The problem of course is that the mosts critical feature of the Kindle isn’t the fact that it has ubiquitous wireless access, it isn’t the Kindle store, and it isn’t the fact that it has a web browser, the most critical feature of the Kindle is its display.
I’ve harped on this note before but the fact is reading for long periods of time on a display that has a backlight is incredibly hard on the eyes. The reason the Kindle works is because you can read for long periods of time without the level of eye strain as you would receive if you were reading on a display similar to… oh, let’s say… the iPhone.
The iPhone is a wonderful device but it clearly isn’t the be all end all, there are things that it can’t do, being the best ebook reader is one of them.