Amazon Kindle On Fire

I followed the Amazon announcement today, and I got quite excited; for a moment or two I was seriously thinking of ordering a Fire...except that I already have an iPad.

But if I didn't already have an iPad, I would think seriously about getting the Fire.

Except I don't really use the iPad to read books and watch movies, which seems to be how they are positioning it. That, and for web surfing, and I don't use the iPad a whole lot for that either! Clearly, I'm not the target user.

I do use the iPad for those things sometimes, and especially when traveling, but I don't travel that much.

For me, I've discovered that the tasks I use the iPad for the most, the reason I'd miss if it was taken away, is for note taking/ audio recording. And I'm not sure that the Fire can do that. Does it even have a microphone?


Okay, so I'm sure I'm not the typical buyer, let's see what the experts think. Darrell Etherington thinks that the Fire doesn't compete with the iPad at all:

Kindle Fire details reveal no iPad competitor | Darrell Etherington | Gogaom
The problem is that Amazon hasn’t really unveiled much with the Fire besides a fairly basic delivery method for sales of its digital offerings. Limited storage means Amazon’s cloud services are almost a necessity for buyers, and yet the lack of 3G means that accessing content when you’re away from home will be difficult. The lack of both camera and microphone also mean that people can’t easily use this for taking or sharing mobile photos, or as a phone replacement with VoIP apps.

The good thing about experts; if you don't agree with one, you can always find someone that agrees with you: Noting all the limitations, and even that the Fire may be a more closed environment than the iPad, Molly Wood thinks the Fire will still kill the iPad:

Kindle Fire an iPad killer? Yes. It's the price, stupid | Molly Wood | CNET
Again, all true facts about the Kindle Fire, none of which matter. In these troubled times, and possibly even before, you need look no further than the $99 TouchPad buying frenzy for the lesson of the tablet market (and maybe every other electronics market, ultimately): it's the price, stupid.

I honestly have no idea who's right, but I agree with Andrew Leonard's comments; either way, it's a great time for gadgets!:

Amazon's Kindle Fire and the golden age of gadgets | Andrew Leonard | Salon
Actually, I have no idea whether the Fire will be a hit or a dud, whether it will deal a death blow to a stumbling Netflix or have any impact at all on the amazing Apple. The only thing that is clear to me is that an astounding amount of innovation and rapid-fire product development is going on right now in the space where consumers intersect with digital entertainment. Music, movies, books -- when you want them, where you want them, at ever lower prices.

If you get one, let me know what you think of it!


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