Remember the story of David and Goliath? The two seemed to be unlikely foes. David the shepherd boy, Goliath the giant. The Israelites probably cheered when Goliath was felled by David’s stone (how many did David carry with him?), and while the giant’s death scared the Philistines, it’s likely a few of them cheered Goliath’s demise. You know, bullies and all that.
Who doesn’t like to watch a good pissing match?
Shifting gears, product comparisons are a perfect way to compare product features to products that simply do not match, and let’s face it– most products comparisons don’t match competing product’s feature for feature.
Amazon’s latest departure from reality compares the new Amazon Kindle Paperwhite to an iPad. Amazon has never stated how many Kindles have been sold, while Apple announces quarterly sales and totals every quarter, so Amazon is clearly the tablet underdog.
Really, though, the Kindle is an e-reader shaped like a tablet. The iPad is the most used feature laden tablet on the planet. Why bother to compare Apples to oranges. Because Apple has everything to lose, and Amazon has everything to gain.
You can read a book on the Kindle Paperwhite in the noonday sun. Not so, the iPad. The Paperwhite weighs less and costs less than a new iPad mini, and battery life is rated at eight weeks vs. the mini’s 10 hours.
Kindle good. iPad mini bad.
Amazon’s advertising compares the Kindle Paperwhite to an iPad, in a point-for-point comparison where the iPad cannot possibly win.
Unless you talk about apps. None of the Kindle devices, tablets or e-readers, have many apps. They’re essentially media devices, good for consumption, but nothing more, nothing less. Amazon doesn’t usually mention in their Kindle advertising that iPad has a Kindle app, so your Amazon e-books can ride for free on an iPad, too.
No, it’s just better for Amazon to advertise a product and compare it to a market leader, a well known and ubiquitous brand, rather than allow the aforementioned product stand on its own merits in a true feature and usage comparison. Amazon’s products would simply lose in a full featured comparison.
That’s the problem with Apples to oranges comparison. Features are cherry picked to put a product in a favorable light against a more entrenched, popular, and well known competitor. But that’s Amazon. Cheap is better. So are cheap shots.