Kindles await with dread April 3, when the long-awaited Apple iPad will officially go on sale in the U. S. Like the Kindle, the iPad serves as an electronic reader, although it does a number of other things as well. It's clearly a competitor, but officially that's not recognized by the Kindles in command. They are keeping their tiny mouths shut and figure that this "Don't Ask, Don't Tell" policy will limit the amount of attention given to the iPad.
But unofficially, rank-and-file Kindles are talking . . . and talking. See examples below.
Conversation overheard between two Kindles, sipping double tall low-fat lattes in a Manhattan Starbucks: "That iPad is a hunk of junk. The joke is on the buyers. The launch should be on April Fools' Day!"
And a number of Kindles have taken to Twitter to let their views be known. Here are a few sample tweets from them:
"The iPad produces interactive books. Big Whoop! Who wants all those bells and whistles?"
"To read is to develop in your own mind images about the story, background, and ideas presented by the author. No interference wanted."
"When folks go to read, they want quiet and solitude, not a lot of annoying noise from a yakky computer. Go away, iPad."
Stay tuned. Spoof reporter Gail Farrelly, assigned to the Kindle beat, will continue to report on continuing developments in the Kindle-iPad wars. Farrelly commented, "The Kindles are tiny but have giant-size egos. Whew! I wouldn't want to cross them."
