Apple might be one of the most 
dominant players in the entertainment and technology worlds, but to climb to that pinnacle, it adopted a business model that would make most strategists wince.
Rather than choosing one sector to conquer, the house that Steve Jobs built opted to fight a multi-front war. What’s amazing is that Apple has won so often on so many battlegrounds.
It was pretty much a foregone 
conclusion that the Kindle would be a hot seller in the fourth quarter. The combination of the holiday season and a new, lower priced device made it a certain hit.
But no one was expecting it to be this hot.
Amazon may be riding high in the eReader rodeo these days
with the release of the new Kindle, but it doesn’t own the market – and it’s feeling pressure from the competition once again.
Effective Wednesday, Borders will lower the price of its two eReaders, the Kobo and the Aluratek. The Kobo is falling from $149 to $129. The Aluratek will drop from $129 to $100, putting it in the sweet spot for consumers.
Although some parties thought the eReader would fall 
by the wayside when the iPad hit shelves, Amazon is making an emphatic statement to the contrary. The online retailer has unveiled a new, upgraded Kindle device as well as a new lower-priced model.
The new Kindle, like the old one, boasts a 6-inch screen, but uses a newer type of e-Ink – the same that’s used in the high-end Kindle DX device. It’s also 21 percent smaller, has twice as much storage (4 GB) and Amazon says it has an improved battery life as well.
The middle of the 2010 is not a good time for struggling 
gadgets. Both Microsoft and Plastic Logic have put in doubt the future of two highly touted devices – one that’s already on the market and one that hasn’t seen the light of day.
Both the Microsoft Kin phone and the Que ProReader device are on shaky ground. The Kin was launched just six weeks ago by the Redmond-based company and hoped to blend social networking with cell phones. The Que ProReader was (or is) an intriguing eReader introduced at CES this year that was specifically tailored to the business audience.
Barnes & Noble’s nook eReader has hardly been struggling
, but the company’s device hasn’t exactly been top of mind for most shoppers. The iPad and Amazon Kindle tend to leap to most people’s minds first. Today, the company is taking steps to change that.
It’s doing so in a way that makes a lot of sense: Cost. Barnes & Noble has announced a new version of the nook that eschews the 3G connection and only uses Wi-Fi. They’ve smartly priced it at $149.
Amazon has one. Barnes & Noble has one. Now it’s Borders’ turn.
The Kobo eReader, which has the full backing of the Borders book chain, has set a release date. The device will go on sale June 17, entering a market that was already crowded before Apple put itself in the ring a month ago.
Chris Morris: Journalist 