Amazon is not going to let Apple's iPad steal all the thunder away from its Kindle. The online retail has decided to demonstrate how its electronic reader is better than the competition simply by pointing out the differences in screen quality. In a Kindle commercial aired on TV and uploaded to Amazon's Kindle channel on YouTube, the web giant shows a man and a woman lounging beside a pool in the sun.
The man is struggling to see the screen of his unlabeled iPad in the bright sunlight and decides to ask the woman how she is managing to read on her device. She replies with a wry smile, explains that it's a $139 Kindle, and says she actually paid more for her sunglasses. Satisfied, she returns to her reading, while the man sadly puts his slate device facedown on his lap. We can presume from the ad that the man's device is using an LCD screen, which is tougher to read in the sun, while the woman's is using an e-ink screen.
The $139 version of the new Kindle can wirelessly download books over Wi-Fi; the 3G and Wi-Fi version costs $189. Meanwhile, the iPad, which can be used for more than just reading books, goes for anywhere between $499 and $829, depending on which features you want. Despite's Amazon's obviously aggressive advertisement, the company also gains with the success of Apple's tablet since the company offers free Kindle applications for numerous devices, including the iPad.