Before a new e-reading device makes its way to consumer wish lists, tech journalists start asking, could this be the (insert name here) killer tablet. The name most often wedged between the parentheses is the iPad.  Unless some developer/manufacturer leaps five years into the future, it appears that the best any of them can do is simply compete with the iPad.

For a brief time, bloggers made comparisons between the iPad and Kindle and pondered who would kill whom. As time move on, it became apparent that the two were content to coexist. They do, after all, serve different functions even though there is some cross-over. For example, both devices are e-readers. However, if you want to lean back in your easy chair and enjoy a novel, the Kindle is the better choice. Laura Owen of paidContent.org reports on Amazon’s  promotion deals, showing that Amazon is further defining the e-reading experience with its book discounting deals.

Apple’s iPad is the defacto e-reader when it comes to interactive books. One of the more celebrated titles is ‘Our Choice‘, written by Al Gore and developed by Push Pop Press. This multimedia reading experience could only be enjoyed at this time on an iPad. We’ll leave the merits of global warming to the scientists. Regardless, it’s a delightful visual read.

We shouldn’t forget that there are other players on the e-reader field. Barns & Nobel’s Nook has produced a type of cross-over between the Kindle and iPad with its color touch screen Nook. An Engadget review will give you some more of its features. Other contenders include the Sony eReader and Kobo.

If there’s going to be a ‘killer’ in the tablet marketplace, let the manufactures kill themselves off and not another. Hewlett-Packard appears to be doing a good job with its TouchPad. The device recently went on sale for $99, down from its original price of $500.

Stop looking for the next killer tablet. Instead, let’s hope that the manufactures wake up to the potential of creating a device tailored to the millions of potential consumers sitting on the sidelines waiting for something just for them.