Can Kindle compete with iPhone?

Starting out a skeptic, this writer bought a Kindle, and it has become his "indispensable companion."

And yet ...

So why am I so eager to see what Apple comes up with?

As much as I have come to depend on the Kindle, using it is also a maddening experience. For something that bills itself as a reading device, it's shockingly difficult to read. The background or "page" color, far from the creamy white of most paper books, is a murky gray. The type seems just a few shades darker. There's a glare on the surface that constantly forces me to maneuver the device to avoid reflections. Reading in direct sunlight is nearly impossible; lamplight is too dim.

Why bother buying one?

There are a growing number of competing devices either already on the market or soon to be launched: the Sony Reader, the Samsung SNE-50K and the Fujitsu FLEPia, which boasts a color screen, to name a few. So far none have dented the Kindle's dominance, at least in terms of brand recognition. But speculation about a new competing product from Apple is intense.

SNE-50K? FLEPia? On names alone, those are loser to the iBook (or whatever Apple names its tablet).

the implications already seem evident. Given the manifest weaknesses of the Kindle, this new device has the potential to dominate the category even more than the iPhone does cellphones. While I wouldn't buy either Apple or Amazon stock on the basis of one product, this would be a boost for Apple, a disappointment for Amazon.

I own shares in both companies and like them both. But Amazon isn't really a hardware company, and the weaknesses of the Kindle shows it.

If Apple comes up with the product many are hoping for, Amazon should focus on selling the books, and let Apple sell the devices. If not, an iBookstore could become the iTunes of reading. And that would be a blow to Amazon.