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Amazon Unveils $199 Kindle Fire Tablet

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Re: Amazon Unveils $199 Kindle Fire Tablet

#201

Post by MartinCron »

pork wrote: post #149
babblefrog wrote: post #116

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Right next to the Amazon store ;-)

You jest, but I think an Amazon store could be a cool idea -- they simply stock a revolving selection of their best rated books from every genre.

In Seattle we have Amazon Fresh, which is home grocery delivery. I can generally get next-day delivery, so I can order groceries and anything else they have in the local warehouse (books, movies, whatever) and have it sitting on my doorstep by 6am the next day.

I can't imagine living my life without it. Seriously.

Re: Amazon Unveils $199 Kindle Fire Tablet

#202

Post by pork »

drivebyacct2 wrote: post #196
pork wrote: post #189

Earlier quoted context omitted.

In the minds of most people, Apple is sexy. They make stylish products that are easy to use. They have sexy stores and enjoyable ads on TV. The high price makes them status symbols. They are massively entrenched and can take advantage of network effects ("all my friends are ipad owners and they love it"). In the face of that, the only rational area to compete in is offering a functionally similar product at a much lo…

>Riskier move that has now spectacularly failed. Samsung's sales figures beg to differ. In an extreme, extreme way.

Yes, it's selling, but...

http://blogs.wsj.com/digits/2011/01/31/samsung-galaxy-tab-sa...

http://www.pcmag.com/article2/0,2817,2392422,00.asp

And that's not even considering the patent mess that has killed the product in Europe.

Re: Amazon Unveils $199 Kindle Fire Tablet

#203

Post by smharris65 »

pmsaue0 wrote: post #200

I love that instead of trying to be everything to everyone (a la android/ipad) Amazon is aiming to be really good at a few things, and thus drive price down. I'm not so interested in movies or ebooks, does anyone know of a tablet that just does email and web? and is cheaper because of it? BTW, Silk browser seems like a bundle of awesome ideas

Well, everyone's definition of "cheaper" may vary, but the Chromebook seems okay to me: http://amzn.to/q2FqQ9

Re: Amazon Unveils $199 Kindle Fire Tablet

#204

Post by pnathan »

ableal wrote: post #138
pnathan wrote: post #100

I am kinda waiting for the DX to drop in price. I really want that bigger e-ink screen, but it's not worth $379 to me.

See if my comment elsewhere here is of use to you http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=3048411 I find the smaller E-ink screens a great fit for comfortable reading of fiction, or non-fiction prose like biography or history, where one doesn't need to skip around much, and the font size adjustment may come in handy.

Nope! I do sequential reading on my Kindle books. My use case for the Kindle is "Books I want to read, but not good enough for hardcover, and not referency enough to be put on the PC for searching"

Re: Amazon Unveils $199 Kindle Fire Tablet

#205

Post by nroach »

miles_matthias wrote: post #174
schrototo wrote: post #48

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I don't think Apple has ever promoted its products as "luxurious". Jobs introduced the iPad as " a magical and revolutionary device at an unbelievable price ". I think that Bezos quote is actually very Apple-like, what with "people are going to love these" and so on.

From the clip I saw, Bezos looked awkward and nervous. He looked like the wind was already out of his sails, which doesn't help to create that rock concert environment if that's what he wanted. He paused a lot to wait for applause and got crickets. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=whOlvV3HYFM

That clip is disturbing. I understand that not everyone can replicate Jobs' reality distortion field. But, why is Bezos not excited about his own product? There should be a natural enthusiasm that is missing onstage there. And, it's not that Bezos can't do it when he tries! I've seen interviews where he was clearly invigorated about little stuff like shipping infrastructure and AWS details. So this should have been a no-brainer.

Maybe he's gotten a sneak preview of what Apple has in store for October and it's now too late to change course.

Re: Amazon Unveils $199 Kindle Fire Tablet

#206

Post by sliverstorm »

nodata wrote: post #109
cletus wrote: post #65

If Amazon want to not make comparisons with the iPad, something I'd strongly suggest, they should stop making statements like this: > The Kindle Fire will have a 7-inch display and sell for $199, compared with $499 for Apple’s cheapest iPad, Amazon executives said in interviews with Bloomberg Businessweek. Also, it's disingenuous. Of course a 7" "tablet" is cheaper than Apple's 10" tablet. Film at 11. That being said…

> and me having just bought a Kindle like 2-3 months ago, grrr I wouldn't be annoyed, the Kindle you have has a battery that lasts twice as long as the new Kindle, and it has a proper keyboard. The only plus for the new Kindle is it's a bit lighter.

Sleeker, too. As someone with a 2nd gen Kindle, let me tell you the smaller, slimmer 3rd gen Kindles have haunted me for some time. When they are already this small, shaving off an inch is a big difference.

Re: Amazon Unveils $199 Kindle Fire Tablet

#207

Post by ableal »

tszyn wrote: post #175
ableal wrote: post #138

Earlier quoted context omitted.

See if my comment elsewhere here is of use to you http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=3048411 I find the smaller E-ink screens a great fit for comfortable reading of fiction, or non-fiction prose like biography or history, where one doesn't need to skip around much, and the font size adjustment may come in handy.

Do you have an opinion about what size Kindle (e-ink) is best for Web browsing? You'd think the DX would be better, but what about the weight?

I wouldn't recommend trying web browsing on E-ink, unless it's through some Readability filter or similar. The screen updates are too slow for it, and the DX browser didn't render perfectly. I suspect the CPUs don't have the oomph for the modern web.

Note that my experience is on a 2010 vintage DX with no WiFi - it is limited to 3G on Amazon's dime. In Europe that's only Wikipedia and the Amazon store.

Re: Amazon Unveils $199 Kindle Fire Tablet

#208

Post by rayiner »

dmix wrote: post #29
smackfu wrote: post #18

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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.

If it can't access the Android app store (which I'd guess the Kindle Fire can't), then the customer won't be aware of that fact.

Re: Amazon Unveils $199 Kindle Fire Tablet

#209

Post by patrickaljord »

cletus wrote: post #166
smackfu wrote: post #103

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I disagree. Every time Amazon gets a sentence printed that says the Amazon table is $300 cheaper than the iPad, they win. They want to have them be mentioned in the same comparison, because that encourages the consumer to think "do I really need $300 more of tablet?"

To say this is to ignore the well-established history of retail upselling. When someone walks into a Best Buy and tells a salesperson "I want to spend $600 on a TV" the standard practice is to show them what they get for $600 and then you show them what more you get if you spend just a bit extra. People often walk out of these stores spending more than intended. By linking the Fire with the iPad, Amazon is (IMHO) mak…

> Not everyone will buy an iPad but some will when they see it plays games, has a richer app experience, has a larger display and so on.

The kindle fire can play games and has a rich app experience thanks to android. The only thing the ipad has going for it is the larger display. Time will tell if people care about that.

Re: Amazon Unveils $199 Kindle Fire Tablet

#210

Post by ableal »

Interesting detail: an official-looking "Java TM Powered" swirly cup logo on the bottom right of the Quick Start guide for the new Kindle: http://kindle.s3.amazonaws.com/KindleQuickStartGuide.pdf

(also in that PDF, a figure that shows the bottom side with micro USB socket and power switch, which was what I was looking for)

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