New Amazon Fire Tablet killing the iPad? We think not.....

[blucente]

Yeah but yeah but, allot of this going on. You've got to admit not bad at all.

We can't become blind to some healthy competition, eventually someone will develop a true heads up product to compete with the iPad but until then we have the kindle. Think about it, if you could develop a product that apple doesn't sell in but it's just enough like one and cheaper is genius. I think thats where the fire will dominate, anyone who wants an iPad can have the next best thing for more than half the price.

5.0

 

[iVan]

The killer factor in the "Fire" does not come from the lower price but from the fact that Amazon as Apple is the only other company offering a device tailored to the content it sells. No other tablet manufacturer besides those two except maybe for Sony can offer both device and content.

Although I love my iPad I find myself leaving it at home because it's a little too big and I fear breaking it. A cheaper, smaller device might tempt me for that reason and I do buy from Amazon frequently too. That's enough temptation to jump into the Fire...

 

[Cord]

I like it, I pre-ordered one on opening day, it will compliment my HP Touchpad 32 and iPad 64. The 7" will fit nicely inside the pocket of my parka this winter.

 

[uniquename]

I like it, I pre-ordered one on opening day, it will compliment my HP Touchpad 32 and iPad 64. The 7" will fit nicely inside the pocket of my parka this winter.

I have those two, and an archos 70. I love the size for reading (way lighter than the others) and portability. Each has it's place...the touch pads place was "cheap". I love tablets and competition. There are a couple android tabs that might have competed for sales if they were cheaper. None I would chose over the iPad at the same price point, and I am an android fan.

That said, having the archos means I don't need the fire. Now, the new kindle touch....


Also, I think amazon will make a fortune simply on the free month of prime that so many will forget to stop the auto renew on.

 

[VSorceress]

I think Kindle Fire will prove to be a great for folks who want to have an entry into the tablet world and at a really affordable price. To me it is not an iPad 2 killer, rather a true ipad 2 competitor for content consumption devices. Make no mistake, it will cut into iPad's market for those who want an iPad primarily for reading, light email, movie and music, as it I'll certainly cut into the other tablet manufacturers. How deep will remain to be seen.

Pricing, while the main reason it's not the only big one. The ecosystem with streaming media with amazon from tablet, PC and set top box is also something to look at.

Where I do stumble at, is the low amount of storage. I eat 8gb's for lunch with my ipad 2. Its really not alot of space when you think about music and videos that you want to load. We are not yet at a point to where you will get wifi capability where ever you go, and greedy 3g providers stifle users with data caps, so streaming 24/7 is not an option unless you are Donald Trump. I predict that this will be one area of frustration for people once they reach that limitation. Perhaps this will be something that will be addressed (or may already have) in the the next generation of this tablet.

It is also sad that there is no bluetooth capability. I can understand not having a camera, but bluetooth should be expected.

Sent from my iPad using iPF

 

[guthrien]

It's just like Apple, a giant push into the cloud with storage. It will never replace my iPad but for 200 bucks it can certainly compliment it. I'm looking forward to getting it, it's going to get hacked five ways to Sunday.

 

[thewitt]

Amazon is openly committed to prevent rooting of the Fire. They are running on a heavily modified version of Android OS and should present an interesting challenge to hackers.

They have buried all appearances of Android...

I've heard from another developer who worked on a prototype that they calculate checksums on application installation through their store app and if you try to modify an installed app the device shuts down... Made for some challenges during development.

Should be interesting.

-t

 

[guthrien]

I've not seen where they are openly committed to any such thing. They've given pr interviews so far where they said they will neither help nor hinder and said it was a users right to root a device. That's public record though, I've not read any secret developer talks.

http://www.tomsguide.com/us/Amazon-Kindle-Fire-NOOK-Color-honeycomb-Gingerbread,news-12700.html

There's just one easy to find news story discussing rooting and users freeing their device. This isn't Apple, god love 'em.

 

[thewitt]

I'll see if I can find the video again. It was with Bezos and he was very clear.

-t

 

[Diane B]

I tend to agree with this. We have a lot of access to wifi in my small city but none once you leave DT or one of the stores or coffee shops offering it, library, etc. So--without much storage wanting to use it as I do my Ipad 1 with 64 GB--you'd be stymied. Price is the big draw. I carry a Touch mostly for music (my own and downloaded from Rhapsody) but to read, watch movies or video/podcasts, I don't want smaller--or to read my forums and blogs. I am curious about the streaming to TV. I do a good bit of that with Apple TV and Ipad via Air Play and will miss the ability to mirror my desktop that the Ipad 2s will have with IOS 5. If Fire can only do rented movies, I can do that now.

I do think competition is good, but for me, the apps are still the thing as I push my Ipad to do a lot more than simply use it for an ereader, web surfer and emailer so I'll be watching what Amazon offers. I'm betting that it isn't meant as a head to head competitor but as more of that media consumer that people thought was all there was to the Ipad initially--and what a lot of people want.

Diane

I think Kindle Fire will prove to be a great for folks who want to have an entry into the tablet world and at a really affordable price. To me it is not an iPad 2 killer, rather a true ipad 2 competitor for content consumption devices. Make no mistake, it will cut into iPad's market for those who want an iPad primarily for reading, light email, movie and music, as it I'll certainly cut into the other tablet manufacturers. How deep will remain to be seen.

Pricing, while the main reason it's not the only big one. The ecosystem with streaming media with amazon from tablet, PC and set top box is also something to look at.

Where I do stumble at, is the low amount of storage. I eat 8gb's for lunch with my ipad 2. Its really not alot of space when you think about music and videos that you want to load. We are not yet at a point to where you will get wifi capability where ever you go, and greedy 3g providers stifle users with data caps, so streaming 24/7 is not an option unless you are Donald Trump. I predict that this will be one area of frustration for people once they reach that limitation. Perhaps this will be something that will be addressed (or may already have) in the the next generation of this tablet.

It is also sad that there is no bluetooth capability. I can understand not having a camera, but bluetooth should be expected.

Sent from my iPad using iPF

 

[awarnshuis]

Exactly. No camera's, 3g. or microphone either!

SOunds like an iPad1 with smaller screen at half the price. A lot of people paid big bucks for the iPad1.
For the present, it's the content and app's that are critical .

It's far too soon to go rah-rah for the home team.

 

[Wookiee2cu]

The 8GB's of storage is rather small in my mind but I believe that all Fire owners get Amazon's cloud service free so it's not that big of a deal EXCEPT when you do not have a wifi connection. A co-worker placed a preorder for one and she's very excited. We chatted about it for a little while (I'm the gadget geek at my work) and for her needs it's a perfect fit. She doesn't play games except maybe solitare now and then, she will use it mainly for reading, surfing the net and an occasional movie when she travels. She has an older kindle and likes it a lot; she really likes the iPad as well but can't justify the cost considering she won't take full advantage of what the iPad has to offer. So the Fire is a perfect fit for her needs and I think she will be very happy with it. I think it will be a very popular device but as others have stated it's no iPad killer, they are two different beasts.

 

[jsh1120]

The 8GB's of storage is rather small in my mind but I believe that all Fire owners get Amazon's cloud service free so it's not that big of a deal EXCEPT when you do not have a wifi connection.

Mifi.

 

[Beryl]

I agree with the Mifi comment. I don't see 3G tablets with their premium price tags and lack of 4G support increasing in popularity. The GPS chip that comes with 3G is desirable but most people have that in their phones.

The 1Q12 Amazon tablet will be an iPad killer if it has a webcam & mic only if the price-point doesn't change much -- +$50 tops.

The Amazon Fire is going to sell very, very well but it is better compared to an iPod Touch 4th Gen. Both are around $200 and consumers will trade off between iPod features (webcam, mic, BT) and screen size.

 

[Beryl]

SOunds like an iPad1 with smaller screen at half the price. A lot of people paid big bucks for the iPad1.
For the present, it's the content and app's that are critical .

Agreed except at least the iPad 1 has a mic and bluetooth. I get Skype and Whistle phone calls all of the time on it and I dread using a wired headset when I'm in public using media apps.

The Fire has a leg up with Amazon media. If they throw in Amazon Prime (or give Fire users a discount on Prime), that will make it even more attractive.