Oh, look, there's Kindle Fire kicking Apple in the pants.

[Omgwtfbbqkitten]

Amazon announces $199 7-inch tablet called Kindle Fire -Destructoid

It might not have all the features of the iPad2 - no camera and no 3G - but I did say it would be on when a device came about that was competitively priced with the iPad, didn't it?

Well, its on now.

And just a week before whatever Apple's new reveal was.

Ouch.

I may be up for one of these. It would push me to get that portable 4G hotspot I've been wanting.

[Takelli]

Re: Oh, look, there's Kindle Fire kicking Apple in the pants.

I remember hearing about this on the news while I was at work.

They where saying they are actually selling it AT A LOSS. Surprised me a bit, but..... The sale of all the stuff that can be put on it will make up for the loss.

[Murphie]

Re: Oh, look, there's Kindle Fire kicking Apple in the pants.

Apple is apple. It will still come out on top due to people buying it because it it Apple. I'm sure this will make a respectable showing, but at the end of the day, it's not an iPad.

[Omgwtfbbqkitten]

Re: Oh, look, there's Kindle Fire kicking Apple in the pants.

Apple is apple. It will still come out on top due to people buying it because it it Apple. I'm sure this will make a respectable showing, but at the end of the day, it's not an iPad.

I'd just be careful with that kind of thinking.

Proprietary hardware, high prices and operating systems are things that have historically come back to bite Apple in the ass.

People aren't THAT beholden to products as status symbols. Most people go for function and price first and form long after.

Apple had both for a little while, now they just have form and its overpriced for that. Kindle Fire will take a loss initially, but the payoff will likely be worth that

[Murphie]

Re: Oh, look, there's Kindle Fire kicking Apple in the pants.

I'm not contesting that they will make money. You may feel that Apple products are overpriced, but it seems that a very large number of people are willing to pay that price just to own one of their products.

[Yellow Mage]

Re: Oh, look, there's Kindle Fire kicking Apple in the pants.

I concur that what Murphie is saying is quite unfortunately true.

[Takelli]

Re: Oh, look, there's Kindle Fire kicking Apple in the pants.

I'm not contesting that they will make money. You may feel that Apple products are overpriced, but it seems that a very large number of people are willing to pay that price just to own one of their products.

I honestly do think apple is over priced. I could live my entire life with out ever buying a single apple product. Sure, having an Iphone, or an Ipod would be nice, but I can use another smart phone for calls/internet, and a MP3 Player for my music.

But, I do have to agree with Murphie.... Sadly.

[Icemage]

Re: Oh, look, there's Kindle Fire kicking Apple in the pants.

I concur that what Murphie is saying is quite unfortunately true.

I have to agree to a certain extent, but BBQ does have a point.

Bear in mind that there are three basic "classes" of i-device users:

- Apple devotees who will buy anything made by the company (small but vocal minority)

- Early adopters who find the devices handy and useful

- Bandwagoners who are playing Keeping Up With the Joneses who get one just because it's the cool thing to do

The first group is basically impossible to peel away from Apple, but they're not a huge group (see: the Macintosh days when Apple very nearly went bankrupt). They're somewhat larger these days, but even so, brand loyalty to Apple isn't as ironclad as most people seem to believe.

The second group stays with Apple because of their design prowess in making idiot-proof technology. It's very, very hard to cause any i-device to malfunction because of how limited the user interface is, and how little control the end user has.

The last group only have the device as long as it's cool to have one.

Where Amazon gets it right is that the Kindle is just as idiot-proof as the iPad. What remains to be seen is if they end up with something analogous to the App Store to expand the capabilities of the device. But in essence, Amazon has their own group of devotees (smaller than Apples, however), and they've got similar core design principles to Apple, as anyone who has ever used a Kindle can attest to.

Is that enough to make the Kindle Fire cooler to own than an iPad 2? I have no idea. Maybe, maybe not. But I wouldn't write them off just yet (unlike, say, the HP Slate, which was doomed to failure from day 1).


Icemage

[Takelli]

Re: Oh, look, there's Kindle Fire kicking Apple in the pants.

The second group stays with Apple because of their design prowess in making idiot-proof technology. It's very, very hard to cause any i-device to malfunction because of how limited the user interface is, and how little control the end user has.

-This idiot broke a friends apple device by accident.- XD

[Omgwtfbbqkitten]

Re: Oh, look, there's Kindle Fire kicking Apple in the pants.

I have family that are Apple devotees, but then my sister and her husband are in photography, so that's not surprising. Even so, she still got an iPad which really serves no function in that direction, though I suppose it is indeed nice for showing off your work to friends and prospective clients.

My parents have no loyalty to hardware, they get what is functional and useful to them. My stepmother likely will not upgrade to a Kindle Fire as ehe has an ordinary backlit Kindle and lives on her laptop otherwise.

I also don't have a strong loyalty to hardware, but I am quite attracted to the iPad for what it does and offers, its just my better instincts tell me there are parts of the tablet that are priced at a premium that probably shouldn't be. Much like Sony, Apple thinks they can be proprietary and sell things like 3G chips and paltry amounts of storage for hefty sums.

When I can run out and get SD cards and 1TB HDDs and still be below cost on their premiums, I will wait for a better offer.

Kindle Fire brings some much-needed competition to the market, so while I may want that iPad a little more, I think this would certainly meet my needs for a while and help bring down the price of larger tablets

Imagine what this means for students and businesses, too. These are becoming needed in education and many lines of work now. This is great for students and will also help move the digital text book market and tear down that bullshit of the existing physical market (which we all know is a crock).

[Raydeus]

Re: Oh, look, there's Kindle Fire kicking Apple in the pants.

Meh, finally a tablet that interests me and Amazon wont sell it to me.

I r sad.

[Pipster]

Re: Oh, look, there's Kindle Fire kicking Apple in the pants.

Meh, finally a tablet that interests me and Amazon wont sell it to me.

I r sad.

Do you live overseas as well? I know i couldnt even get the first kindle due to having an APO shipping address, even though they would only pay for the product to reach New York...

[Feba]

Re: Oh, look, there's Kindle Fire kicking Apple in the pants.

This is great for students and will also help move the digital text book market and tear down that bullshit of the existing physical market (which we all know is a crock).

Textbook market is fine outside America.

Non-Americans are APPALLED when they hear about how expensive it is just to buy a fucking book in America.

Digitization won't help the case of Chronic Puppy Stabbing Evil Douchitude that pervades Ameican business.

[Empedocles]

Re: Oh, look, there's Kindle Fire kicking Apple in the pants.

Non-Americans are APPALLED when they hear about how expensive it is just to buy a fucking book in America.

Now I'm curious. Just how expensive is it to buy a paper book in the US?

For comparison: The retail price for a newly released console game here averages $120, whereas a decent-length novel (approx 600 pages) averages $35... so three books per game.

Is the ratio radically different in the US or something?

Edit: The reason why I'm asking in this fashion is that the value of the US dollar in America is different than the value of the NZ dollar in New Zealand. A retail comparison from someone who actually uses the currency everyday is much better than looking at prices online and comparing the exchange rate....

[Armando]

Re: Oh, look, there's Kindle Fire kicking Apple in the pants.

Not much of a reader, but I'm fairly sure they're referring to college/technical books rather than novels and the likes. Many of my engineering books cost $100-$150, but I can import paperback international versions for $50.