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Daring Fireball: Amazon's New Kindles

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Re: Daring Fireball: Amazon's New Kindles

#111

Post by unfed »

jurjenh wrote: post #86
dascripter wrote: post #3

One thing that I have a problem with is the complaints about the Kindle buttons. As much as I see people try and use the Kindle as a touch screen, I would not want it to be. I like the button press because I don't have to move my hand from holding the device. If I had to physically swipe my finger everytime I wanted to move to the next page I could see that being very annoying. The two reasons I really love my Kindle…

Funny that you complain about page turning... for hundreds of years, it has required an extended physical movement to turn the page. Amazing the times we live in, that page turning has become an effort that becomes annoying. Combined with our tendency to be less physical active, we are heading to a (physically) stationary future...

Reminds me the overweight people on the WALL-E spaceship

Re: Daring Fireball: Amazon's New Kindles

#112

Post by ceejayoz »

jonknee wrote: post #108
rjd wrote: post #50

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The screen size is important. If you've tried to use the web on a nook its lucky to be an average experience, generally its actually pretty horrible as its so small. The iPad as a slightly better experience due to size alone, but even still I don't like using safari. Anecdotally most people I know with iPads have stopped using laptops outright. Disclaimer here that the majority of owners are older. The interesting th…

The Kindle Fire has nearly the same resolution as the iPad--1024x768 for the iPad and 1024x600 for the Fire. The Fire is higher res (because it's smaller) so text will appear sharper. There is simply no reason that the iPad is a laptop replacement but the Fire is not. In fact, there is a good reason that it would be the other way around--the iPad requires a computer but the Fire does not. Open an iPad up new in box a…

I also think the iPad requiring hooking up to a computer is an odd requirement, but a) any Apple Store will do that step for you and b) I expect it to go away now that iOS 5 has over-the-air patching.

Re: Daring Fireball: Amazon's New Kindles

#113

Post by icebraining »

jurjenh wrote: post #86
dascripter wrote: post #3

One thing that I have a problem with is the complaints about the Kindle buttons. As much as I see people try and use the Kindle as a touch screen, I would not want it to be. I like the button press because I don't have to move my hand from holding the device. If I had to physically swipe my finger everytime I wanted to move to the next page I could see that being very annoying. The two reasons I really love my Kindle…

Funny that you complain about page turning... for hundreds of years, it has required an extended physical movement to turn the page. Amazing the times we live in, that page turning has become an effort that becomes annoying. Combined with our tendency to be less physical active, we are heading to a (physically) stationary future...

> Amazing the times we live in, that page turning has become an effort that becomes annoying.

Or it always was, and people just didn't have a choice.

Re: Daring Fireball: Amazon's New Kindles

#114

Post by icebraining »

zyb09 wrote: post #62

This is what I like to do on daringfireball posts: http://i.minus.com/iXy1JUUd4GGMz.jpg - and that's pretty much my opinion about them.

You do know that he (not them) called Daring Fireball a "Mac column"? What did you expect him to write about, oranges?

Not to mention that this post is a pretty bad example, since writing about a new tablet without talking about the one with the huge slice of the market would would be very strange.

Re: Daring Fireball: Amazon's New Kindles

#115

Post by waterlesscloud »

jonknee wrote: post #109
tomkarlo wrote: post #52

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I love the Kindle, and I've already pre-ordered the Fire, but I can't see how it's a decent laptop replacement compared to the iPad. First off, there's no 3G, which is one of the major reasons people like using the iPad as a portable computing device. Also, while it does have a browser and email clients, I'm guessing it won't have nearly the level of support from Exchange and other corporate email systems that the iP…

From what I've heard, the iPad WiFi models outsell the 3G models, so it can't be that important. Also, the premium you pay for 3G is more than half of what the entire Fire costs. (And for that matter, the 3G iPad premium fee is also just $9 less than the entire 3G Kindle, which shows you how much of a rip Apple's 3G premium is.)

Old school Kindle 3G usage is minimal, though. Downloading books, awkward web browsing.

iPad 3G usage is a whole different thing.

Re: Daring Fireball: Amazon's New Kindles

#116

Post by Steko »

InclinedPlane wrote: post #107
Steko wrote: post #87

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Did you even read the article? He's very complimentary of everything Amazon's doing here. Leave it to HN to zero in on the one critical thing he says and blow it up as HUGE BIAS TYPICAL GRUBER FANBOY.

Sure, he's very complimentary, in an "imma let you finish, but the iPad is the best laptop replacement of ALL TIME!" sort of way, which is to say rather derogatory at the same time. He tries to place the iPad and the Fire as distinctly different products serving distinctly different market segments: the iPad as the high-end "laptop replacement" the Kindle Fire as the low-end, low-cost, blue collar, half-assed substit…

"Sure, he's very complimentary, in an "imma let you finish, but the iPad is the best laptop replacement of ALL TIME!" sort of way, which is to say rather derogatory at the same time."

This is nonsense. It's a 21 paragraph, 1500 word piece and he spends exactly one on "laptop replacement", you're clearly the one hung up on those two sentences.

"He tries to place the iPad and the Fire as distinctly different products serving distinctly different market segments"

No he says they're attacking the market from different ends. Consumers in the middle would clearly have to choose between one or the other. That's distinctly different :p from what you're saying.

"That's not terribly complimentary when you boil it down."

Did you read the other 20 paragraphs? The article on the whole is very complimentary of Amazon's effort, his experience with the e-ink Kindle, even the ads (a lot of people seem up in arms that Amazon's keynote prices are for the ad-supported versions, compare Marco.org).

Re: Daring Fireball: Amazon's New Kindles

#117

Post by drivebyacct2 »

phillmv wrote: post #45
sliverstorm wrote: post #35

Earlier quoted context omitted.

What is it that makes the iPad a possible laptop replacement, but the Fire not? I don't think the iPad is that much more a real laptop replacement than the Fire. I think people bill it as one to themselves to help justify paying for an iPad.

It's not so much a real laptop replacement as it is a "computing device while on the go". Whereas four years ago you'd get a netbook, now… you kind of need a good reason not to get an iPad/Fire. It's a subset of computing. I have my main work laptop, which I'm not going to take camping or up to the cottage. In this space, a tablet is perfect but we used to settle for a "meh laptop".

I need a good reason to buy a netbook over an iPad? A proper SSH/NX client, full keyboard, full (and choice of) operating system, input/output ports, all for less money?

Re: Daring Fireball: Amazon's New Kindles

#118

Post by rodh257 »

phillmv wrote: post #40
vailripper wrote: post #7

I don't understand this:"The iPad is a credible laptop replacement for many people and with iCloud and another year or two of hardware improvements, that’s going to be true for more and more people. The Kindle Fire is a laptop replacement for almost no one. It’s a peripheral, not a second computer and it’s priced accordingly. " What is it that makes the iPad a possible laptop replacement, but the Fire not? To me, the…

Marketing, screen size and apps. Amazon for now, as far as I can tell, is positioning it as a "Amazon content consumption device" instead of a "lifestyle companion". Mind you, I don't disagree. I think you'd have to be a little ridiculous to own both a Fire and an iPad, and a 10inch Fire is likely inevitable in a couple of years. On the other hand, I'm about to buy the old Kindle and am aiming to maybe purchase an iP…

10 inch model is rumored next year. Also Amazon hinted that one will be coming.

Re: Daring Fireball: Amazon's New Kindles

#119

Post by InclinedPlane »

Steko wrote: post #116
InclinedPlane wrote: post #107

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Sure, he's very complimentary, in an "imma let you finish, but the iPad is the best laptop replacement of ALL TIME!" sort of way, which is to say rather derogatory at the same time. He tries to place the iPad and the Fire as distinctly different products serving distinctly different market segments: the iPad as the high-end "laptop replacement" the Kindle Fire as the low-end, low-cost, blue collar, half-assed substit…

"Sure, he's very complimentary, in an "imma let you finish, but the iPad is the best laptop replacement of ALL TIME!" sort of way, which is to say rather derogatory at the same time." This is nonsense. It's a 21 paragraph, 1500 word piece and he spends exactly one on "laptop replacement", you're clearly the one hung up on those two sentences. "He tries to place the iPad and the Fire as distinctly different products s…

He has a lot of very nice things to say, certainly, but the actionable thing he says is the most derogatory. How can the Fire and the iPad both service the same market if one is a laptop replacement and the other is not?

Yes he dresses it up with a lot of really nice sounding verbiage, but at the end of the day this is a "well, she's really good at {math,sports,engineering}... for a girl" sort of backhanded compliment. It's like saying that the Model T is a really, really nice car, almost as good as a Hispano-Suiza... but it's not a horse replacement.

Re: Daring Fireball: Amazon's New Kindles

#120

Post by rodh257 »

heresy wrote: post #92

Not available outside of the US (except for the crippled non-touch version). Poor, poor strategy. That's essentially gifting the market to iOS/Android. I sure as hell won't wait until Amazon deigns to offer one outside.

I don't think this is completely Amazons fault. The device is heavily centered around Amazon Prime and the various streaming content services they have. Most of these services are U.S. only thanks to requirements of the publishers. I'm sure Amazon would love to ship it worldwide, but it wouldn't be nearly as useful without the cloud services behind it.
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