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[Lord Dakoth]

As many of you know, the Kindle Fire is coming out November 15 (the day after the original post in this thread.)
For all of you who are not aware of the Kindle Fire, here is the Amazon product page.

For those of you who are too lazy to follow the link, the Fire is a tablet/e-reader with a 7-inch (17.8 cm) color touch screen, Android operating system, wi-fi capability (no 3G), internet browsing, a dual-core processor, 8GB storage, and most importantly, access to the Amazon Market and Amazon App Store (but not to the Android Market.)

Amazon will offer cloud-based browsing, storage, and content streaming. Yes, it will have Netflix.

The thing that people are raving about is that the Fire will cost $200 USD (basic iPad is about $500 USD.) Some people think that it will oust the iPad from its place at the top of the tablet market, many more think that it will at least be some serious competition.

Word on the street is that Amazon is producing the Kindle Fire at a loss of about $10 per tablet, but expect to make up the losses from people buying stuff from their tablets.

Who wants one? Who doesn't? Why or why not?


I want one, but I plan on waiting a month or two for them to work out all the bugs. A potential deal-breaker for me would be if I could only store Amazon-based content on the cloud. I don't want to re-purchase all my movies that I have on iTunes and on DVD just so I can watch them on my Kindle. If a model came out with removable SD storage, I'd snap it up in an instant.

[Jacob/Lee]

Oh look, not a spambot posting a topic like this for once.

Anyway, I'm living under an adamantine rock. I haven't heard of this wonderful device.

[freeformschooler]

I am waiting until e-readers stop being e-readers and merge with tablet computers to become this one single perfect sort of device.

[Levi]

How open is it?  Can I put my comics/books on it, or do I have re-purchase it specifically for this device?

[Flying Dice]

I have a laptop. I have books. I have no need for a tablet or an e-reader. Once tablets enter the realm of computer-level power and ease of interaction, I might get one. And maybe they'll develop a special skin for them that powers them using the thermal energy emitted from your hands as well.

[Lord Dakoth]

How open is it?  Can I put my comics/books on it, or do I have re-purchase it specifically for this device?

No idea. I'm guessing that any non-Amazon content will be restricted to the hard storage.

[woose1]

http://www.foxnews.com/scitech/2011/11/14/kindle-fire-review-good-product-despite-some-sacrifices/

The author of this seems to assume that $199 to $499 is a 'slight step up'. However, his points are valid, and the Nook Tablet seems to be a better deal. It's got Netflix and Hulu n' shit.

[Criptfeind]

Nope.

[MetalSlimeHunt]

The Kindle Fire: We want to sell iPhones too! Please, take pity and buy our clone product!

[woose1]

The Kindle Fire: We want to sell iPhones too! Please, take pity and buy our clone product!

It's not an iPhone, it's a tablet. And, it's not even meant to serve as a phone, only as an e-reader and portable movie player. And it's less than half the price of the iPhone.

Kindle Fire =/= iPhone
Kindle Fire =/= iPad
Kindle Fire = fancy-schmancy Nook that can play movies.

[RedKing]

Correction: It's a crappy tablet. Yes, it's cheaper than an iPad. So is a hooker. And the hooker has more features than the Kindle Fire.

Consider that HP is about to do a 2nd production run of the TouchPad, and those were going for $99 with 16GB storage, a 9-inch screen, and have the Amazon Reader app built into the OS. And you can set them up with a dualboot config of webOS and Android.*


*Disclaimers: Yeah, I work for HP. I generally hate our products. But I was honestly, pleasantly surprised with the TouchPad. It's a good device that didn't get a fighting chance. And we lost umpteen million dollars by selling them at firesale prices. If anyone's wondering why on Earth we'd do another production run when we lose money on them, it's because HP was contractually obligated to its suppliers to purchase X number of screens, processors, cases, etc. So they figured they might as well just go ahead and make another big batch to flush the components out of the supply chain. No idea if they're gonna keep the price at $99, given the crazy levels of demand that created.


EDIT: I should also add that with the Kindle Fire, you get no GPS, no Bluetooth, no camera, no 3G, and even the version of Android it's running is a custom build that forces you to buy your apps through Amazon instead of the larger Android Market. Essentially the Fire and the Nook are creating a seperate tier of "e-viewer" that's well below a full-fledged tabet.

Meanwhile, Asus is getting into the market with its new Android-based "Eee Pad Transformer Prime". Goofy name, but it's got some beefy specs. 10-inch screen, slightly smaller profile than the iPad 2, 1280x800 resolution, comes with 32GB or 64GB storage, a gig of RAM, and sports the first quad-core processor in a tablet to date. And a pricepoint around $500-600. Could be the first serious threat to the iPad for people looking for something comparable but not tied to Apple.

[JoshuaFH]

If I go to a store, and see some Kindle Fires on the shelves, can I turn to the salesperson and go "Sick Fires Bro!"?

[Darvi]

If I go to a store, and see some Kindle Fires on the shelves, can I turn to the salesperson and go "Sick Fires Bro!"?

On a related note, am I the only one reminded of that one XKCD strip?

[JoshuaFH]

If I go to a store, and see some Kindle Fires on the shelves, can I turn to the salesperson and go "Sick Fires Bro!"?

On a related note, am I the only one reminded of that one XKCD strip?

Man, I'm trying to remember the one you're referring to, but it just isn't coming to mind.

Additionally though, I want cashiers to go "You just got burned!" whenever someone buys a Kindle Fire.

[Darvi]

Spoiler: This one (click to show/hide)