No question, e-reading recently got a whole lot sexier. Apple’s iPad, the latest e-book reader, is sleek and shiny, and has definitely upped the ante. Not only can you read your favourite book (in colour), you can surf the web, play games, keep up with social networks, display photos, and so much more.

It’s estimated there are some 10 million downloadable book titles available and a dizzying array of readers to enjoy them on. On the first day of its launch, Apple’s iBookstore saw 250,000 downloads alone. Before the iPad, Amazon’s Kindle was the sweetheart of the industry with a whopping 90% of the market share. Sales of the iPad show it’s looking for a takeover, and many wonder if it will sink the Kindle altogether and leave all other readers in its dust.

But if the iPad is being used specifically as a reader, word on the street is that the Kindle, or other single-purpose reader, may be a better option. There’s the matter of eInk, the technology that makes the Kindle screen delightfully easy to read in any light. Take an iPad to the beach on a sunny day and good luck reading the screen. Then there’s the battery. The Kindle has enough juice for up to two weeks of reading. The iPad? Ten hours.

If the iPad hype and sales have shown us anything, it’s that e-books are teetering on the edge of becoming mainstream, and consumers want digital content and are willing to shell out for it. From that perspective, the iPad could become the tipping point for the e-book market, and publishers and authors need to focus on the implications and opportunities that will bring.