Amazon Fire Phone • Hacker News Board

Re: Amazon Fire Phone

#291

Post by mwfunk » Wed, Jun 18, 2014, 9:36 PM UTC

personZ wrote: post #259

sosborn wrote: post #246

Earlier quoted context omitted.

>They make the platform so Google has less concern about being cut out of the ecosystem. True, but let's not ignore that their core business is selling advertising. Before Android came along that business was at the mercy of Apple (in the mobile space anyway). >I mean we see the paradox on here constantly where people will gloat about how much more valuable iOS users are to advertisers, but then that Android is a pla…

Google's core business is making services that people like to use. That they monetize some of those services via advertisements is a function of the industry that they operate in: There was no market for a pay search engine, or even a pay consumer mail provider: Those genres had long been supported by ads, and users expected that. Anything else was a non-starter.

Their core business is that monetization, by definition. Making services that people like to use is what they do to feed that core business, not vice versa. They are constantly scrambling to find different ways to make money because they are a company run by extremely wealthy and intelligent people who would love for all of the great things they do to be in service of some core business other than selling targeted ads. So far they haven't had the same level of success in any of those other endeavors, but I completely understand why they keep trying.

Re: Amazon Fire Phone

#292

Post by [deleted] » Wed, Jun 18, 2014, 9:36 PM UTC

dark_night_tim wrote: post #274

mkr-hn wrote: post #248

If this is as smooth as my Kindle Fire (newest one), I might want one in 2-3 versions. I keep finding things on my first Android phone that could have been fixed with a little more polish. My Kindle Fire is perfect in every way. Amazon seems to understand how important it is to get expensive consumer electronics right and not leave a lot of rough edges.

Try a nexus 7...

[deleted]

Re: Amazon Fire Phone

#293

Post by evanmoran » Wed, Jun 18, 2014, 9:40 PM UTC

drcode wrote: post #206

IBM wrote: post #193

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Except it isn't being sold at a low price, and doesn't really offer anything valuable to the customer that differentiates it from the competition. The implicit deal was always the product is sold at cost so they can encourage sales on the store, why would anyone pay full price for this?

Fair enough, but I suspect the profit margins on this phone are pretty slim, given the hardware features. I think Bezos figured the high end hardware was necessary to initially break into the market.

Agreed. If they initially brand the Fire phone as a high-end device it will seem more valuable when they ruthlessly cut its price=).

Re: Amazon Fire Phone

#294

Post by vlunkr » Wed, Jun 18, 2014, 9:41 PM UTC

npizzolato wrote: post #221

jds375 wrote: post #172

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It's not about your finger being in the way necessarily, it's about usability. Supppose I'm eating lunch. It would be nice to read an article with my phone in one hand and hold my sandwhich in the other. Or if I'm lying in bed just reading. It would be great to not have to keep scrolling the phone with my other hand. I'd rather my phone just do it for me.

Can you not do all of that with one hand already? Reading while eating is actually harder if you need to tilt the device rather than swipe your finger. You could always place the phone on the table and just use your finger, or move the phone while you eat to keep it in your view without any of the tilting being interpreted as other things by the phone.

Or hold it with one hand and scroll with your thumb. Either way, not a compelling argument, you still need to use your hand.

Re: Amazon Fire Phone

#295

Post by vlunkr » Wed, Jun 18, 2014, 9:43 PM UTC

discardorama wrote: post #84

drcode wrote: post #59

The compelling feature on this phone everyone's missing: Let's say you have to browse through a bunch of stuff on your phone. The very moment you start doing this, you have a problem: There's a #%&! finger covering up the screen now! The idea behind this phone is simple: All browsing of information is done by tilting the screen, leaving the display completely unobstructed... sure, other phones have tried to do this b…

> Let's say you have to browse through a bunch of stuff on your phone. The very moment you start doing this, you have a problem: There's a #%&! finger covering up the screen now! Unless I'm wearing mittens, it's never been a problem in ~6 years of smartphone use.

Yes if that is a problem you probably need to rethink your app design.

Re: Amazon Fire Phone

#296

Post by mkr-hn » Wed, Jun 18, 2014, 9:43 PM UTC

dark_night_tim wrote: post #274

mkr-hn wrote: post #248

If this is as smooth as my Kindle Fire (newest one), I might want one in 2-3 versions. I keep finding things on my first Android phone that could have been fixed with a little more polish. My Kindle Fire is perfect in every way. Amazon seems to understand how important it is to get expensive consumer electronics right and not leave a lot of rough edges.

Try a nexus 7...

A Kindle Fire was the only tablet I could afford at the time.

Re: Amazon Fire Phone

#297

Post by mstultz » Wed, Jun 18, 2014, 9:45 PM UTC

Consultant32452 wrote: post #210

dkrich wrote: post #203

Earlier quoted context omitted.

You're saying that Amazon will be the big winner in the long run because they can control the phone, and the products you buy on Amazon? If I'm interpreting that correctly, I don't see how that holds. People use smartphones/tablets/televisions to consume many things. Amazon products are just one of them. I don't think that just because controlling the entire product ecosystem would work to Amazon's advantage means th…

Google sells you a device so they can show you an ad encouraging you to buy a rake. In turn Google gets a sliver of the profits from selling a rake in the form of ad revenue. Amazon sells you a device so they can show you an ad encouraging you to buy a rake. Amazon sells you the rake, has it delivered in 2 days, and makes 100% of the profit. It's not that people will actively look for that integration, but that it ex…

I haven't purchased many things on my phone--if anything--excluding apps.

Re: Amazon Fire Phone

#298

Post by giovannibajo1 » Wed, Jun 18, 2014, 9:46 PM UTC

opendais wrote: post #249

Consultant32452 wrote: post #210

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Google sells you a device so they can show you an ad encouraging you to buy a rake. In turn Google gets a sliver of the profits from selling a rake in the form of ad revenue. Amazon sells you a device so they can show you an ad encouraging you to buy a rake. Amazon sells you the rake, has it delivered in 2 days, and makes 100% of the profit. It's not that people will actively look for that integration, but that it ex…

This is false in Amazon's case. Amazon sells you a rake made by a 3rd party who was put into FBA by a wholesaler and makes a reasonable cut of the profit in the process. Amazon has more control but also takes all the blame when things go wrong. Tbh, as someone who works at a business who does both the ads & selling stuff via Amazon as a manufacturer...Google actually makes more money off of us than Amazon does. I don…

When you say 5x, are you considering the acquisition cost for each product sold, or the annual budget?

Unless you only sell through Amazon, then a global comparison wouldn't be fair, because Google is semi-monopolist in ads while Amazon is far from it in retail. You should compare your average user acquisition cost with the wholesale margin left to Amazon; eg: how much does it cost to acquire through ads a user that buys products for $100? And how much of those $100 are left to Amazon?

Re: Amazon Fire Phone

#299

Post by adamio » Wed, Jun 18, 2014, 9:50 PM UTC

ars wrote: post #218

adamio wrote: post #207

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Extra steps are always best in an emergency... ~~~ Spider: Have a painful bite on the house! User: "Spider say cheese!" User: "Amazon Phone is this spider poisonous" Amazon Phone: Searching. This Spider does appear to be poisonous. User: "Amazon Phone call Uber 911" Amazon Phone: Calling Uber 911 Uber 911: Can you collect the spider to take to the ER? User: "Yes, I'll do that"

That isn't even remotely true. Many venoms have large delays, days even sometimes.

Which is why you should go to the ER or Doctor regardless

Re: Amazon Fire Phone

#300

Post by cnst » Wed, Jun 18, 2014, 9:50 PM UTC

It weighs 160g! Only has 1280x720 resolution. They want me to buy it at 649$? Are they insane?

Google Nexus 5 is already huge, but it still weighs only 130g, and at least it has 1920x1080 resolution and only costs 349$.

For 649$, I might as well buy iPhone 5s, which only weighs 112g. Yet it probably has the exact same battery life, due to the more efficient software!

Keep in mind, both Nexus 5 and iPhone 5s are almost a year old now, and this thing is a brand new platform with such unappealing specs? Gimme a break!