Exactly what is the differentiation between a tablet and e-reader? This thing is aimed squarely at the BN Nook Color. Why is it being compared to the much more expensive and feature-full iPad?
Amazon Unveils $199 Kindle Fire Tablet
21–30 of 318 posts
Re: Amazon Unveils $199 Kindle Fire Tablet
#22The picture I saw seems to make it the same size and shape as the B&N Nook Color.
Re: Amazon Unveils $199 Kindle Fire Tablet
#23So I'm reading along... getting interested... sounds promising... purchase might be on the horizon... Amazon has painted over the rough surfaces of Google’s Android operating system Now I won't even consider buying it until the cyanogenmod port is in decent shape. Why do manufactures always do this to android? The custom UI looks nicer (arguable, roll with it), but always kill usability because they don't understand…
This is more than just a skin, like the handset manufacturers do. It's not supposed to be an Android device, it's an Amazon device.
bleh, thats even worse.
Re: Amazon Unveils $199 Kindle Fire Tablet
#24I'm guessing this means no free Kindle this November like Kevin Kelly was predicting. http://www.kk.org/thetechnium/archives/2011/02/free_kindle_t...
I bet if you add this new price point to the graph, you can plot a new curve that makes it not go to zero.
Re: Amazon Unveils $199 Kindle Fire Tablet
#25Apparently there will be a $79 regular Kindle as well: http://thisismynext.com/2011/09/28/amazon-launches-79-kindle...
Kindle Touch looks really similar to the Nook Touch, which is a truly excellent product. But Nook Touch still has a killer feature for a ebook nerd like me: it reads epubs. I'm assuming the KT will still be locked in to Amazon's ridiculous .mobi format, so I'm sticking with my NT for now.
Re: Amazon Unveils $199 Kindle Fire Tablet
#26Apparently there will be a $79 regular Kindle as well: http://thisismynext.com/2011/09/28/amazon-launches-79-kindle...
Great price point. It's basically in impulse zone: "This book is 6 dollars cheaper at Kindle price... if I buy 12 it pays for itself..." but note there's no physical keyboard. Without a touch screen, it looks like it won't do note-taking, which is a bummer.
But there's also a $99 touchscreen e-ink reader, so there you go. :) http://thisismynext.com/2011/09/28/amazon-touchscreen-kindle...
Re: Amazon Unveils $199 Kindle Fire Tablet
#27So I'm reading along... getting interested... sounds promising... purchase might be on the horizon... Amazon has painted over the rough surfaces of Google’s Android operating system Now I won't even consider buying it until the cyanogenmod port is in decent shape. Why do manufactures always do this to android? The custom UI looks nicer (arguable, roll with it), but always kill usability because they don't understand…
why do people get upset by this? Android is a nice baseline. Think of it as the tide that raises all ships. What's wrong with a manufacturer experimenting?
NB. I don't support lock downs or anything like that, of course. my point is that there's nothing wrong with them customizing and branching it off into something else. isn't that the whole point?
Re: Amazon Unveils $199 Kindle Fire Tablet
#28Bezos, on Amazon's refreshed e-Ink readers:
So meet the family. These are premium products at non-premium prices. People are going to love these products.
This is Amazon's mission statement for product development. They will not compete with Apple's "revolutionary, magical" phones and tablets; instead, they'll sell quality tablets and readers to the average person at great prices. This populist attitude has been missing from the tablet market since the iPad's release.
The Fire will be the first successful Android tablet because the user base already exists. With the last few Kindle generations, Amazon has groomed customers to pay for electronic content. These users will buy Kindle Fires and e-Ink Kindles in droves, buy more books, and tell their friends.
At this price, Amazon won't steal Apple's customers. They will simply introduce a new segment of people to the tablet market. Developers need to think about this as another golden ticket. Here's the iOS gold rush, part deux.
EDIT: changed "luxurious" to "revolutionary" after reading a comment below. I need more coffee.
Re: Amazon Unveils $199 Kindle Fire Tablet
#29So I'm reading along... getting interested... sounds promising... purchase might be on the horizon... Amazon has painted over the rough surfaces of Google’s Android operating system Now I won't even consider buying it until the cyanogenmod port is in decent shape. Why do manufactures always do this to android? The custom UI looks nicer (arguable, roll with it), but always kill usability because they don't understand…
They aren't making an Android table, they are making a Kindle tablet that runs some Android programs.
I imagine thats what they said in the boardroom.
But its still a layer ontop of Android.
Re: Amazon Unveils $199 Kindle Fire Tablet
#30A large USP of the Kindle is it's E-Ink display (leaving aside other ereaders from sony etc. for now). I have often recommended people to 'get a kindle' when asked about reading books electronically; this will no longer be the case. I think this new addition dilutes the Kindle brandname.
I don't understand this rationale at all. How does the Kindle Fire devalue the Kindle brand name? The Fire is a different product from the e-ink Kindles. You can still say "get a Kindle touch for $99" or "get a Kindle with hard keys for $79."
Audio is the core feature of the original iPod. Reading is the core feature of the Kindle. Reading from an lcd screen is a significantly worse experience than from e-ink. My point is that Amazon releasing the Kindle Fire is akin to if Apple released the iPod Touch (which had new features such as web browsing, youtube etc.) with degraded 8-bit audio.