Should have just made an Amazon-optimized Android phone. Amazon's version of Android is terrible. Some of the gestures were cute but I think maybe a bit ambitious. I think there might have been a market for something a bit more normal.
Amazon Curtails Development of Consumer Devices
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Re: Amazon Curtails Development of Consumer Devices
#102I flew up in First Class on Virgin to Seattle next to a key lead on the fire phone. We had a nice long talk about the project and what happened. He vehemently defended the Fire Phone and touted its great and unique aspects while I examined it and admired the hard work he put in. 3D modeling, gyroscopic-driven interactions, an universal activity feed -- some interesting stuff was there... But there were some serious p…
Counterpoint: if you don't fail once in a while, it's probably not because you're awesome and infallible, but because you're not trying to do anything challenging and/or interesting.
That applies to everybody on the totem pole, from interns to CEOs.
Re: Amazon Curtails Development of Consumer Devices
#103> Still in the works is a high-end computer for the kitchen—code-named Kabinet—designed to serve as a hub for an Internet-connected home and capable of taking voice commands for tasks like ordering merchandise from Amazon.com. Will this be a competitor to the Google router?
> a high-end computer for the kitchen It's Honeywell all over again! https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Honeywell_316#Kitchen_Computer
They have one of those at the Computer History Museum in Mountain View. I'm not sure if it's one of the most awesome things I've ever seen or one of the stupidest, but either way, no Wikipedia article can do it justice.
Everybody who lives in the area (or who works for Amazon) should spend an afternoon going through that museum. It's full of thought-provoking artifacts like that.
Re: Amazon Curtails Development of Consumer Devices
#104"In essence, we were not building the phone for the customer—we were building it for Jeff" http://www.fastcompany.com/3039887/under-fire
There's something that rubs me the wrong way about that article. It feels like it's trying too hard to drive an agenda, instead of presenting facts and letting the reader decide.
I have no idea about the actual situation, but this article doesn't leave me feeling enlightened.
Re: Amazon Curtails Development of Consumer Devices
#105Earlier quoted context omitted.
The entire bull case for AMZN is always "Amazon reinvests all their cash flow into the business" and "Bezos is focused on the long term". Why are they calling it quits already? Because they are investing their cash in the business, not just spending it. Investing means knowing when an investment is doing poorly and not throwing good money after bad.
Are you telling me that Amazon has written off the smartphone business, one of the most quickly adopted pieces of technology since the original PC and which has made Apple one of the most profitable businesses in the world, as an idea not worth pursuing anymore?
Thinking back to the dawn of the (post-IBM) PC era, an awful lot of companies went under trying to win a race to the bottom against IBM and Apple.
Companies that refuse to indulge in "me, too" behavior in the smartphone era are probably making the right call.
Re: Amazon Curtails Development of Consumer Devices
#106Re: Amazon Curtails Development of Consumer Devices
#107"In essence, we were not building the phone for the customer—we were building it for Jeff" http://www.fastcompany.com/3039887/under-fire
what happened to customer obsession. leadership principles 101 bro.
This is exactly what the Fire Phone was lacking, and I think that the entire company can learn a lesson from it.
Re: Amazon Curtails Development of Consumer Devices
#108Is Kindle one of the "consumer devices" that's being curtailed? I thought it was doing well, but if I was thinking of buying one, I'd think twice after reading this article.
The link title is misleading, this is only talking about the Fire Phone
Re: Amazon Curtails Development of Consumer Devices
#109Earlier quoted context omitted.
That's certainly possible. Is that so hard to believe? The Kindle worked out, the Fire phone didnt. Maybe its just the phone models since they're still working on other devices. They also just became more valuable than Walmart. It seems like they know what they're doing, including cutting losses.
The Kindle worked out only after iteration. It was the same for Apple with the iPod and iPhone as well. Amazon has quit in the first inning because their phone wasn't an overnight success. If they were truly focused on the long-term they wouldn't be afraid to continue to invest in it.
Kindle worked out right out of the gate. They dramatically underestimated the demand for the first Kindle.
Certainly that first iteration looks like shit compared to modern iterations, but why would you expect otherwise?
Arguably Bezos' unlikely success with Kindle made people give him the benefit of the doubt when they should not have. That was my take away anyway, from when I was working on Fire Phone (I left my team because of that project, and my experiences with it greatly contributed to my decision to leave the company).
Re: Amazon Curtails Development of Consumer Devices
#110"In essence, we were not building the phone for the customer—we were building it for Jeff" http://www.fastcompany.com/3039887/under-fire
It seems not quite different from what Jobs did. The real difference is the degree of vision associated with reality.
jobs know how to entice before locking in. i give him that.
bezos tried to go all in.