Motley Fool senior analyst Anand Chokkavelu explains how Amazon.com's (Nasdaq: AMZN) Kindle (a plain ole e-book reader) expects to compete with Apple's (Nasdaq: AAPL) all-things-to-all-people iPad.

When the iPad came out, the Kindle suddenly looked drab and outdated.

The iPad has so much more functionality than the Kindle. It's a Web-surfing, book-reading, email-sending machine. And, unlike the Kindle, it's in color!

But maybe the Kindle's not as behind as you'd think.

The Kindle is laser-focused on the best reading experience possible. It provides easy reading in the sun, low eyestrain, long battery life, and 60-second book downloading without any yearly contracts or monthly fees.

Amazon's CEO Jeff Bezos makes a compelling analogy. He notes that he has a camera on his smartphone. He probably takes more pictures on it than he does with regular cameras. But when he needs a better-quality picture, he takes out a real camera.

With the emergence of Apple's iPhone and Google's (Nasdaq: GOOG) Android-based phones, we have amazing multitool devices at our fingertips. There's an app for just about everything. But a jack-of-all-trades is usually a master of none, so there still may be room for stand-alone digital cameras and dedicated e-book readers like the Kindle.

And if you don't buy the argument, Kindle books bought on Amazon will also load on your iPad.

Long story short, don't count Amazon out.

Watch the video here: