Why I think the iPad is a threat to the Amazon Kindle

I am not impressed by the iPad as a device, especially as an eBook reading device. The amount of eye strain it will cause just doesn't do it for me. But here's something it does do: it uses the ePub format.

Now let's remember that there's a small format war happening here between the Kindle and, well, everyone else. The Nook, the Sony Reader, the iRiver Story, and now the iPad all use the ePub format.

Like or not, the iPad is going to help jumpstart eBook reading, and when it does it's going to become a major player. In doing so, it's going to add a good bit of market share for the ePub format. And that, in my mind, is a threat to the Kindle.