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Amazon's Kindle Fire: Snappy consumption, impulse purchase device

By | November 13, 2011, 9:00pm PST

Summary: This review is about Amazon’s strategy as much as it is about the device. You forget the hardware and just consume.

Amazon’s Kindle Fire is a snappy tablet that hides Android’s warts, serves up the e-commerce giant’s various services and is built for consumption. And oh by the way, it’s highly likely that you’ll buy more stuff from Amazon while you’re at it.

This review is about Amazon’s strategy as much as it is about the device. The Kindle Fire is boiled down to seven tabs—newsstand, books, music, video, docs, apps and Web. Like Amazon’s approach with its Kindle franchise—notably the new Kindle Touch, which is also well done—the goal is to relegate the hardware to the background. When the Fire is unboxed it’s already set up to your Amazon account.

CNET: The Kindle Fire: Here to entertain us | Reviews around the Web | Amazon Kindle Fire screenshots |

It’s worth noting that there’s only one button on the Kindle Fire, an on-off switch. The Kindle Fire was separated at birth—actually the contract equipment manufacturer—from Research in Motion’s PlayBook. The PlayBook is bulkier, but the screen and profile is almost identical to the Kindle Fire.

Kindle Fire: Separated at birth from RIM's BlackBerry PlayBook. Credit: Larry Dignan

Where everything changes is the software. Amazon’s user interface hides Android well. In fact, if I didn’t click on settings you’d have no idea there was an Android 2.3 OS at all. You really can’t find the Androidness on the Fire. The Kindle Fire just works and felt snappy for the most part (there were a few kids’ books that seemed to cause some latency). Magazines are likely to be a killer app as well as comic books, video is handy for kids but adults may find the 7-inch screen small, apps work well as does the Web browser and the music player is well integrated. The Fire is built to entertain you. This fact hit me over the head when someone asked about email on the Fire—I didn’t even think about it. On email, Amazon is including an email client.

With that email note, it’s worth noting what the Kindle Fire can’t do:

  • It can’t take pictures.
  • It’s not a device to create content.
  • If you go to Android Market on the browser you wind up on Amazon’s App Store. Why? Amazon uses its App Store as a redirect because it wants to ensure app quality.

The only port you'll get is to charge. Credit: Larry Dignan

But like the e-ink Kindle, I’m good with those tradeoffs. In fact, Amazon appears to be going for the two and three Kindle households with its pricing. An e-ink Kindle can ride shotgun with the Kindle Fire and not break the bank. If the price point is right I don’t need a do-it-all device. I can live in Amazon’s world and for the most part already do. More importantly, the Kindle Fire passed my daughter test. Let’s face it a big part of tablet return on investment is handing it to your kids—8 and 5 year olds in my case—and keeping them occupied. Apps, video and kids books did the job nicely.

What Amazon’s Kindle Fire really excels at is blending the cloud with local storage. Barnes & Noble made a lot of noise about its tablet and 16GB of memory (Fire has 8GB), but for many of us this comparison will be a non-issue. My music was uploaded to Amazon’s Cloud Player and I haven’t stored much of anything locally. Cloud and local storage blends together well. That equation changes when disconnected, but 8GB can get you through cross-country flight without any issues.

Every category on the Fire has a store button on the right. I called the Fire a consumption device earlier, but on further review it’s really an impulse purchase device. Want the free video? Become a Prime subscriber. Want all your music from iTunes in Amazon’s cloud? Get the 20GB of storage for $20. Need that new song? Click. Ditto for movies. And oh yeah physical goods are there from the home button and I ordered some tea. Amazon isn’t annoying with the shopping pitches, but the ecosystem is all about e-commerce. With the Kindle Fire you’re in Amazon’s world. That world happens to be about commerce and services.

I couldn’t help but play with the Kindle Fire and chuckle at Wall Street analysts who have been fretting about margins. Amazon will get its returns—probably within a month from the time the Fire is purchased. It’s hard not to buy something. At $199, Amazon doesn’t need much to break even. And if you buy the lifetime value of a customer argument, carrying the Kindle Fire is really like toting an e-commerce kiosk.

Amazon's price points will lead to two Kindle households. Credit: Larry Dignan

The other big theme with the Kindle Fire is that it’s also a platform play. By making it easier to suck out iTunes library to Amazon’s cloud—I uploaded my library in 2 hours—the company is making it easier to switch allegiance and hedge your entertainment bets. I argue that’s highly likely that there will be folks that own an iPad, a Kindle Fire and maybe a Kindle Touch. No matter how you slice it Amazon will garner more of your time. It’s a store that’s quickly becoming a hangout for entertainment services. However, the Fire isn’t necessarily an iPad killer. If anything the Amazon and Apple approaches will occupy the low and high ends of the tablet equation, respectively, and crush everything caught in the middle.

Overall, the Kindle Fire is worth the $199 and integrated well. The differentiation with the Nook will be its integrated music and video stores combined with cloud services.

Clarification: An earlier version noted there was no USB. There is a charger that can be used to turn the Kindle into a storage device to load content.

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Topics

Amazon.com Inc., Amazon Kindle, Amazon Kindle Fire, PlayBook, Fire, Corporate Communications, Web Technology, E-books & E-Readers, E-business/E-Commerce, Marketing, Personal Technology, Internet, Larry Dignan

Larry Dignan is Editor in Chief of ZDNet and SmartPlanet as well as Editorial Director of ZDNet's sister site TechRepublic.

Disclosure

Larry Dignan

Larry Dignan has nothing to disclose. He doesn’t hold investments in the technology companies he covers.

Biography

Larry Dignan

Larry Dignan is Editor in Chief of ZDNet and SmartPlanet as well as Editorial Director of ZDNet's sister site TechRepublic. He was most recently Executive Editor of News and Blogs at ZDNet. Prior to that he was executive news editor at eWeek and news editor at Baseline. He also served as the East Coast news editor and finance editor at CNET News.com. Larry has covered the technology and financial services industry since 1995, publishing articles in WallStreetWeek.com, Inter@ctive Week, The New York Times, and Financial Planning magazine. He's a graduate of the Columbia School of Journalism and the University of Delaware.

For daily updates, follow Larry on Twitter.

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RE: Amazon's Kindle Fire: Snappy consumption, impulse purchase device
Buzzbum 24th Nov
@Heenan73

"And no-one else can really do what Amazon have done. B&N don't quite have the firepower or imagination. "

Right, which is why Amazon is doing what BN did a year ago? And why they're jogging along behind all the other readers in innovation?

Amazon's got good marketing and a rabid fan base, but both will dwindle over time if they continue releasing cheap (re: inexpensive can be good, cheap means crap) products. The Fire is cheap. It's fragile, does less then half that other tablets priced at a similar price point do, and suffers from a number of minor-but-infuriating problems (no password or parental controls, utter reliance on wifi, terrible battery life).

"Even mighty Apple cannot compete, because should someone persuade them to sell an ipad-lite at a loss (unlikely), they'd not recoup as much through sales as Amazon, partly because they don't have such a universal rangeof products, but mainly because their products, like the ipad, all have premium prices: "

Wow, you have no idea how Apple's supply chain works, do you? They make tons on the margin of devices because they own the whole process, the make marginal profit off the content. They make extremely solid and user friendly devices and let other imitators embarrass themselves trying to compete at some magical "impulse buy point," when the sad truth is that nothing priced over $99 is ever really going to fall into "impulse" territory for 90% of consumers. Amazon contracts out the design and manufacture of things like the Fire, which is why they end up taking a loss on the device. Apple could put together a product with the same range of features and quality of the device and sell at $199 and still make $20-40 off them. They just won't any time soon, because fragmentation is a problem they've always concerned themselves with (and a problem with Android tablets, worse then ever now), and releasing something with the "same" range of features as the Fire would be like taking three steps back for Apple. They'd be releasing something with the same batch of limitations as the first iPod touch -- with a bigger screen and a worse touch-screen interface.
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RE: Amazon's Kindle Fire: Snappy consumption, impulse purchase device
kenosha77a Updated - 13th Nov
What happens to this "tablet equation" if Apple introduces a 7" iPod Touch with the cameras of the iPhone 4S? FaceTime + iCloud + Siri + a "Retina Display"?! And keep this 7" iPod Touch price point equal to or very near the Kindle Fire?

Would this hypothetical Apple product simply take more sales from the iPad tablet or would this product steal sales from Amazon's Kindle Fire?
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Staff
RE: Amazon's Kindle Fire: Snappy consumption, impulse purchase device
Larry Dignan 14th Nov
@kenosha7777 Then the two would compete. As it stands today, you have iPad at the higher end, Kindle Fire at the low end and all those tablets in the middle are collateral damage.
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RE: Amazon's Kindle Fire: Snappy consumption, impulse purchase device
dave95. 14th Nov
@Larry Dignan

That's like saying Amazon Music (10-13% share) and iTunes (77% share) competes. Sure they compete but it's clear Apple is dominating. The same would happen if Apple releases a 7" iPad Touch or smaller little brother to the iPad, with Siri, Facetime, 4s Cam, retina....Apple would own that space also. I won't be surprise if they eventually release a 7" iPad marketed towards teens and kids.
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Pincers of death
Robert Hahn 14th Nov
Totally agree about the collateral damage. If Samsung, Moto, and the rest haven't shut down their tablet production lines, they are guilty of turning perfectly good components into e-scrap. They won't sell 5,000 units per year when close substitutes are going for $299.
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dave: Whatever happened to the antitrust case against Apple?
toddybottom Updated - 14th Nov
Apple was accused of using their massive market domination (as you stated, Apple is dominating) to punish labels that participated in Amazon's MP3 daily deal. That was a year ago. I never heard if this was dropped. Do you know what happened with this case?
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Case or Investigation?
dave95. Updated - 14th Nov
@NZ

Haven't heard anything about that investigation since last year. If Apple is found to abuse their market position, then they deserve to be punished, just like Microsoft. wink

But let's keep in mind that the labels themselves played lots of favoritism towards Amazon over the years to try and cut down iTunes a notch (out of fear). The music labels have been giving Amazon sweet deals to prop it up to compete. Amazon received cheaper digital music sales and they were offered to sell DRM-free music before Apple.
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RE: Amazon's Kindle Fire: Snappy consumption, impulse purchase device
jonandkelly 14th Nov
@Larry Dignan I don't find the middle one collateral, damage, this may come as a shock to you guys but not everyone has drank the Apple koolaid. I have the Asus Transformer and the their new Prime looks very impressive.
combining a tablet and a fully functional keyboard with usb and sd card ports and charges as well are much more attrative options.

and to simple neglect the nook color and tablet is quite foolish IMHO especially since the Kindle Fire is more of a response to the nook color than it is to the iPad.
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Amazon Kindle Fire
dannymcd 14th Nov
@Dannym
Amazon need to remember that there are markets other than the US ones and millions of consumers taking decisions on what they will buy as Christmas presents. In the UK we will have to wait until after the holiday season for the pleasure of purchasing the Kindle Fire: I for one will not wait, taking my custom elsewhere (to one of the collateral damage products from, perhaps, Barnes and Noble or Nook). And with me goes all of the content purchases that I will not make. Multiply this by a large, aggrieved population and you are missing out on a huge number of sales. Worse, your market continuity in related purchases has gone. Once we deserters have moved and made an investment in alternative technologies and platforms, there is no going back. Is it me or is this the marketing blunder of the century?
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RE: Amazon's Kindle Fire: Snappy consumption, impulse purchase device
Heenan73 Updated - 14th Nov
Kudos to Amazon; chances are they'll recoup enough before Christmas to silence their Wall Street critics (isn't weird that critics, almost by definition, have no clue what the Man -or Woman - in the street is thinking?).

And no-one else can really do what Amazon have done. B&N don't quite have the firepower or imagination.

Even mighty Apple cannot compete, because should someone persuade them to sell an ipad-lite at a loss (unlikely), they'd not recoup as much through sales as Amazon, partly because they don't have such a universal rangeof products, but mainly because their products, like the ipad, all have premium prices: Sure they sell like hot cakes, but the secret of getting impulse buyers has always been competitive prices. It lulls the buying conscience into a stupor! Apple just isn't in this market, and daren't enter it.
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RE: Amazon's Kindle Fire: Snappy consumption, impulse purchase device
The Star King 14th Nov
@Heenan73 Good analysis. I think Apple needs to emphasise the PC like functionality of the iPad (productivity apps) to show its benefits over the Fire. If people just want a media consumption device, the Fire does a good job much cheaper. They can also emphasise iPad as a serious games console and allow it to easily connect to a TV, thus serving as an Xbox replacement.
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RE: Amazon's Kindle Fire: Snappy consumption, impulse purchase device
CyberGuerilla Updated - 15th Nov
@The Star King

The question is, doing so will leave people think: why don't I just get a low-end PC for a price cheaper than the iPad then?

Easily connect to a TV? Don't I have to shell out extra dough to buy that "Digital AV Adapter", when the Android tablets all come with HDMI or mini-HDMI out ports?

Games are a possibility now as we begin to see gaming controllers for the iPad.
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RE: Amazon's Kindle Fire: Snappy consumption, impulse purchase device
dave95. Updated - 14th Nov
@Heenan73

Right. The iPad was such premium that for almost 2 years, competitors struggled to match it on both features and price. For months we saw tablets after tablets get introduced at much higher price-point than the iPad, but yet it's the iPad that's at premium, to some. Most of those same manufacturers (Moto, Samsung) were forced to cut pricing and make design changes just to compete with the 10" iPad. How easily we forget.

"but the secret of getting impulse buyers has always been competitive prices."

And that's the very reason the iPad took off, competitive pricing.
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Who's XOOMin who
Robert Hahn 14th Nov
It doesn't do any good to tell them that. They have the phrase "Apple sells at premium prices" engraved on the back walls of their heads, and no amount of empirical evidence to the contrary will make them stop saying it. They actually think they are being profound by mouthing a canard from the 1980s.
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Eh?
strangefruit 14th Nov
@dave95.
Wrong on two counts. The premium refers to the large margin Apple makes on its products. And if you have read the articles about how Apple is able to invest in large stocks of material, you will understand why their unit costs are lower and their their margins better.
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RE: Amazon's Kindle Fire: Snappy consumption, impulse purchase device
FrederickLeeson Updated - 14th Nov
@dave95.

"saw tablets after tablets get introduced at much higher price-point than the iPad,"

Which Android tablets might those have been? If there were so many that you use the phrase "tablet after tablet"?

"And that's the very reason the iPad took off, competitive pricing."

How can you use the term competitive as an explanation for why the iPad took off? There were no Android tablets on the market when Apple launched the iPad - they had the field to themselves at first.
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RE: Amazon's Kindle Fire: Snappy consumption, impulse purchase device
dhmccoy 14th Nov
@Heenan73

We'll see. Perhaps people are stingier than you think. I'm not sure how you figure that Apple has premium prices most of the tablets, including 7" ones have had the same price. Even the cheaper ones were within a few dollars.

Apples phones range from free,$99,$199,$299, and $399. That's a price for anyone.

Amazon is hoping that people with only $200 to spend will spend even more later to make up the hardware loses? Let's say that's the case. Are going going to give this to your kid? Apple include in-app purchasing with two levels of passwords and people were up in arms about kid purchases. I can't wait to see what happens with Amazon.

It just doesn't seem like a good strategy is losing money on units by selling them cheap to people with little money and hoping those same people will suddenly open up their wallets.

Amazon has already taken a huge hit in their profits over this thing and sites are reporting that it is slow.
And remember, Amazon has a great return policy. Let's all keep an eye on returns.
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RE: Amazon's Kindle Fire: Snappy consumption, impulse purchase device
Caggles 14th Nov
@dhmccoy You say people won't spend hundreds of dollars on hardware so they can spend hundreds more on things to do with that hardware. I'd like to point out that this is exactly the concept that runs the entire video game industry. The Nintendo Wii was the first console in a decade to actually turn a profit for it's maker. The PS3 and 360? Sony and MS both took hits on those. It's the way it's always been. These video game companies depend on the extras - extra controllers, webcam-esque hardware, motion control add-ons and first-party games - to make up the difference. People drop between $300 and $600 on the console and THEN turn around and spend $70 per game, upwards of $80 per extra controller and even up to $150 on larger add-ons like the Kinect.

Suddenly $200 for the Fire and a couple bucks here and there for Amazon services seems much more reasonable.
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RE: Amazon's Kindle Fire: Snappy consumption, impulse purchase device
bkshort@... 14th Nov
@dhmccoy

Your premise seems to be that this is a tablet vs. tablet competition and that the Kindle Fire is just going to get the people who can't afford an iPad. But, they're not in direct competition. The Kindle Fire will appeal to people who want to be part of the seamless Amazon ecosystem (that's more people than you might think). In fact, it isn't inconceivable for households to own both.
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RE: Amazon's Kindle Fire: Snappy consumption, impulse purchase device
Champ_Kind 14th Nov
@Caggles - I guess you must love the idea of a walled garden, above and beyond even what Apple has. Amazon won't make the money on the device, they'll make the money on subscriptions to get content on the device. Apple will make money from some users through iTMS on media, but you can load your own or obtain it from other sources (Blockbuster, Netflix, etc).
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RE: Amazon's Kindle Fire: Snappy consumption, impulse purchase device
wasabitobiko 14th Nov
@dhmccoy it's generally referred to as a "loss leader" in marketing terms. And if you re-read the article, their bet and Mr. Dignan's astute assessment is that they will spend more money on impulse purchases, probably without budgeting for it (hence the impulse). I'm guessing this strategy works out quite well for them
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RE: Amazon's Kindle Fire: Snappy consumption, impulse purchase device
CyberGuerilla 15th Nov
@dhmccoy

"Apples phones range from free,$99,$199,$299, and $399. That's a price for anyone."

If those prices do not come with the forced monthly subscription fees I'll be convinced.
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RE: Amazon's Kindle Fire: Snappy consumption, impulse purchase device
Graham Ellison Updated - 14th Nov
@Heenan73 You're living in cuckoo land. No sensible business runs like this. The sad thing is Amazon are so secretive about sales numbers that we may never know the full story. But they won't make any money out of this device.

And the reason Apple aren't in this market is because it doesn't exist. Real business markets include actual bankable returns.
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RE: Amazon's Kindle Fire: Snappy consumption, impulse purchase device
Heenan73 14th Nov
@Graham Ellison Happy to agree to disagree; happy also to wager $1.00* that you eat your words within 6 months (probably much less).

*That's the Cloud Cuckoo Land dollar, of course wink
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RE: Amazon's Kindle Fire: Snappy consumption, impulse purchase device
Graham Ellison 14th Nov
@Heenan73 PM me directly at gmail and we'll have a proper wager. I must warn you, I'm not a gambler. By that I mean I never gamble.
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RE: Amazon's Kindle Fire: Snappy consumption, impulse purchase device
Mike0123 15th Nov
@Heenan73 Good analysis. Too many people have the misconception that it's the entry level 16 gig iPad2 at $499, that has the largest market share. In reality the 64 gig IPad2 with 3G is the best seller having a 33% market share. These sell at $829. Sophisticated iPad2 customers have taken an all or nothing approach. The Fire is clearly being marketed to the more price sensitive consumer who may not require the sophistication of the iPad2 and who consider the $499 entry level at still too expensive.
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RE: Amazon's Kindle Fire: Snappy consumption, impulse purchase device
Buzzbum 24th Nov
@Heenan73

"And no-one else can really do what Amazon have done. B&N don't quite have the firepower or imagination. "

Right, which is why Amazon is doing what BN did a year ago? And why they're jogging along behind all the other readers in innovation?

Amazon's got good marketing and a rabid fan base, but both will dwindle over time if they continue releasing cheap (re: inexpensive can be good, cheap means crap) products. The Fire is cheap. It's fragile, does less then half that other tablets priced at a similar price point do, and suffers from a number of minor-but-infuriating problems (no password or parental controls, utter reliance on wifi, terrible battery life).

"Even mighty Apple cannot compete, because should someone persuade them to sell an ipad-lite at a loss (unlikely), they'd not recoup as much through sales as Amazon, partly because they don't have such a universal rangeof products, but mainly because their products, like the ipad, all have premium prices: "

Wow, you have no idea how Apple's supply chain works, do you? They make tons on the margin of devices because they own the whole process, the make marginal profit off the content. They make extremely solid and user friendly devices and let other imitators embarrass themselves trying to compete at some magical "impulse buy point," when the sad truth is that nothing priced over $99 is ever really going to fall into "impulse" territory for 90% of consumers. Amazon contracts out the design and manufacture of things like the Fire, which is why they end up taking a loss on the device. Apple could put together a product with the same range of features and quality of the device and sell at $199 and still make $20-40 off them. They just won't any time soon, because fragmentation is a problem they've always concerned themselves with (and a problem with Android tablets, worse then ever now), and releasing something with the "same" range of features as the Fire would be like taking three steps back for Apple. They'd be releasing something with the same batch of limitations as the first iPod touch -- with a bigger screen and a worse touch-screen interface.
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RE: Amazon's Kindle Fire: Snappy consumption, impulse purchase device
Playdrv4me 14th Nov
It's pretty funny to me that people were so concerned about Amazon's margins on this thing. Amazon, in fact, pulled a fantastic trick here. They make *US* pay to carry around what essentially amounts to a colorful rolling infomercial. When using the device, you can't help but get more and more entwined in the whole Amazon eco-system. People that might not have used Amazon much for purchases in the past, might even start buying durable goods because "it's just there" already.

Nook schmook... The Kindle is where it's at.
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RE: Amazon's Kindle Fire: Snappy consumption, impulse purchase device
dksmidtx Updated - 14th Nov
@Playdrv4me

Yes - it is a 21st century digital Sear & Roebuck catalog (I know that dates me, but someone tell me I'm wrong). I've become an Amazon addict of late thanks to free two day shipping on most goods - in fact, replaced my daughter's broken vacuum cleaner for $3.99 overnight shipping on a SATURDAY delivery. It's not just digital media folks - this is a no-brainer for Amazon. And now I won't even have to wait for my computer to boot up...how sad...
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RE: Amazon's Kindle Fire: Snappy consumption, impulse purchase device
wasabitobiko 14th Nov
@dksmidtx I actually like Dignan's reference to an e-commerce kiosk..
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RE: Amazon's Kindle Fire: Snappy consumption, impulse purchase device
Synthmeister 14th Nov
@Playdrv4me
However, usually you either make big margins on the razors or the blades.
Apple makes 40% margins and huge revenue on the hardware but minimal revenue/margins on apps, e-books, music, movies, iAds.
Amazon makes minimal margins on both the hardware AND the apps, e-books, music, movies, and ads.

I think the Fire will sell well (assuming it works well--reviews are pretty mediocre), just like a restaurant will sell a lot of food at a cheap price. That doesn't mean the restaurant has a viable long term business plan.
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RE: Amazon's Kindle Fire: Snappy consumption, impulse purchase device
heathman 14th Nov
I would agree it is an impulse purchase. I ordered one this morning.... At $199 I was willing to take a chance just to play with it and see what all the hype is about. I doubt I will be getting rid of my Thrive but will be using them together for different things. This thing is much more portable for trips and quick access when I don't want to lug around my ten inch tablet.
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RE: Amazon's Kindle Fire: Snappy consumption, impulse purchase device
hoaxoner 14th Nov
@heathman
You missed the point. The Kindle Fire itself is not an impulse purchase for the author. The Kindle Fire makes buying on impulse from Amazon much much easier.
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RE: Amazon's Kindle Fire: Snappy consumption, impulse purchase device
heathman 14th Nov
@hoaxoner
Yup, you are right... Might have been a tad asleep this morning.

But at the same time for two hundred dollars it was an impulse purchase for me this morning.. Hopefully I won't be disappointed.
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RE: Amazon's Kindle Fire: Snappy consumption, impulse purchase device
hoaxoner 14th Nov
@heathman
Makes sense. It could very well be an impulse buy for a lot of people. I wouldn't rule out that as part of the strategy, but for the author, it didn't seem to be.
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RE: Amazon's Kindle Fire: Snappy consumption, impulse purchase device
fibreoptik 14th Nov
@heathman

LOL totally missed the point.
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Prime number
Robert Hahn Updated - 14th Nov
We must now admit that Amazon is every bit as capable as Apple at emitting a Reality Distortion Field.

Read the reviews of the Kindle Fire, now popping up all over the web. Every single one that goes into any depth describes how wonderful it will be with Amazon Prime. They then say how well the Kindle Fire will sell at $199.

Notice how the $79/year for Amazon Prime disappears in the presence of the RDF.
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RE: Amazon's Kindle Fire: Snappy consumption, impulse purchase device
admiraljkb 14th Nov
@Robert Hahn

The $79/year for Amazon Prime is a great deal without the Fire. I've had it for over a year, and free 2 day shipping combined with Amazon VoD streaming is a good deal. They continue to improve the value, and it is nearly to the point where it is a full Netflix replacement for less money than Netflix. If you are a current Prime subscriber, the Fire becomes a complete no-brainer purchase as you are already operating in the Amazonian "cloud".
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It's all good
Robert Hahn 14th Nov
If Kindle Fire sales are limited to those who already have Amazon Prime, Amazon will consider it a flop. For most people buying a 'Fire' the Prime subscription will be incremental. It may well be true that Prime is good value for the money (I think it is on shipment alone), but no one is arguing that it isn't. Only that for most people, the price of Kindle Fire will look more like $279 than $199. That still makes it a better deal than a 7" Galaxy Tab.
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RE: Amazon's Kindle Fire: Snappy consumption, impulse purchase device
dave95. Updated - 14th Nov
@admiraljkb

As a satisfied prime member, I wouldn't say their video selection is close to replacing Netflix. It's not even close to Netflix, plus the video quality streaming from the web are just horrid when comparing.

Robert Hahn brought up a good point though, missing from the equation is the $79/year prime member fee. My membership ends in two months and I will need to make the decision whether or not to keep it going (haven't really used it much last year). Amazon is only offering one month trail of Prime, which means Fire owners wishing to keep the following will need to cough up an additional $79 after a month of use:

Kindle Fire + Prime: Two-Day Shipping on millions of items, instant streaming of movies and TV shows for $79 a year with Prime instant videos and access to thousands of books to borrow for free, one per month, through the Kindle Owners' Lending Library.
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RE: Amazon's Kindle Fire: Snappy consumption, impulse purchase device
jonandkelly 14th Nov
@admiraljkb except Prime doesn't include the same content as Amazon's VOD which is their new relaseases. Think NetFlix watch instantly, put even less content. I have the Roku and we have prime in general and trust me the content on Prime is laughable.

Amazon VOD is another story but that's not included with Prime Membership
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Staff
RE: Amazon's Kindle Fire: Snappy consumption, impulse purchase device
Larry Dignan 14th Nov
@Robert Hahn I think initial adopters are probably Prime subscribers so it's a wash. Going forward the Fire will drive Prime subscriptions. That said the video selection that's free isn't so great to be honest. Amazon should probably throw cloud storage into the mix of Prime.
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Three Stooges Meet the Wolfman
Robert Hahn 14th Nov
Yeah, the video selection is worse than the 'free movies on demand' provided by the cable companies. In any case, if the surveys are to be believed, not that many people are into watching TV on 7" (or 10") screens. I can send FIOS programming to my iPad now, but I never do it.
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RE: Amazon's Kindle Fire: Snappy consumption, impulse purchase device
dsf3g Updated - 14th Nov
A DVD ripped at a decent quality setting takes up about 1.2-1.5 Gb of storage. That means that you'll only really be able to put three or four movies on this thing (assuming you've got other apps and media stored locally on the device). I disagree that that's enough for a cross country flight (and back). It may be enough if you know exactly what you want to watch, but that's not alway the case. When I finally collapse into my seat after getting up at 4:00 AM, checking my bags and going through security I may be in a "Schindler's List" mood, I may be in a "Rambo" mood, I may be in a "Talladega Nights" mood or I may be in a "Do the Right Thing" mood. But I won't really know beforehand which I'll be in. And let me tell you: if I'm in a "Talladega Nights" mood... "Schindler's List" just ain't gonna cut it.

With a 16GB micro SD card full of movies, OTOH, I can be sure to load it up with movies to fit all my moods.

I really think that the lack of expandable storage is the Kindle Fire's Achilles heel.
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Dude, read a book
itpro_z 14th Nov
@dsf3g, you have been posting this same comment on every article about the Fire. I have a few thoughts on this.

First, almost all of my DVD rips are about 700 MB, not 1.5 GB, and they look pretty nice even on my big screen. Perhaps you need a better ripper?

Second, perhaps I am in the minority by I just don't get excited about watching movies on a small screen. Even my laptops 14" screen feels pretty confined. Sure, I do watch a movie on it every now and then when traveling, but it just is not a great experience for me. I would rather pass my time while traveling reading or playing games than watching movies on small devices. To each his own.
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RE: Amazon's Kindle Fire: Snappy consumption, impulse purchase device
dsf3g 14th Nov
@itpro_z

What software do you use to rip your movies?
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RE: Amazon's Kindle Fire: Snappy consumption, impulse purchase device
daboochmeister 14th Nov
@dsf3g - HandBrake on Linux (pretty sure it's available for Windows, not sure on Mac) - same as itpro_z, i get 700MB (or less), and get just about 0 artifacting, at h.264 quality 23 or 24 setting (higher is worse). On this kind of device, you can down the audio as well, don't need high bitrate.

Animated movies (kung fu panda etc.), heck, i get 'em in for 300MB or less.
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Most of the other reviews I've read
Monkeypox 14th Nov
squawk about performance; they say the Fire isn't smooth, but klunky. Did you have any issues Larry?
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RE: Amazon's Kindle Fire: Snappy consumption, impulse purchase device
LoverockDavidson_-24231404894599612871915491754222 14th Nov
The tablet is decently priced and will give Apple a run for their money. But its still a tablet.
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RE: Amazon's Kindle Fire: Snappy consumption, impulse purchase device
John238 14th Nov
With the Fire can your children accidentally purchase things on Amazon without your permission? Does it automatically have a one-click purchase for many things?

I know that with my Droid I need to be logged into Amazon for apps from the Amazon appstore to work and because I am logged in I can (or rather my children can) one-click purchase apps without needing to input a pin.

So is the Fire set up to be a time bomb when handed to children who may not realize that they are running up bills?
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RE: Amazon's Kindle Fire: Snappy consumption, impulse purchase device
Graham Ellison 14th Nov
@John238 Yep, that's the headline story destined to scare the hell out of every parent, just waiting to kill this device in the media.

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