"Saying the Kindle Fire is like an iPad for just $200 is a "dangerous comparison," said David Pogue. He said Amazon's budget-priced tablet does not have the "polish or speed" of Apple's touchscreen tablet."
Sadly, too many experts and bloggers online are reviewing the Kindle and giving the impression that its not like an iPad, "It's better than the iPad". Pretty much labeling it as the real Killer iPad.
That is why I didn't say "an iPad costs four times as much".
That is why I said "costing (up to) more than 4 times" as much.
Yeah, but why compare the Fire to a top-of-the-line tablet like the iPad costing of 4 times as much if not to make the Fire seem like more of a bargain. The closest comparison you could make would be the $199 Fire to the $499 iPad 2 and that is a stretch. If Apple made an iPad without cameras, Bluetooth, the slower processor of the original iPad and only 8GB of storage, I'm sure it would give the Fire a run for it's money in the price department while still having all the polish of an Apple product.
I hope one day soon we'll have the option of a streaming/subscription service with iTunes. I've saved a packet by switching to streaming with Spotify and LoveFilm (Netflix).
Clunky and unresponsive just about sums up most of the android tablets I've seen which is why the iPad is so much better and well worth the extra.
Yes, nothing like access to past seasons of TV Shows to really get me excited to drop my Dish account and miss all the shows I currently DVR, Not.
I was not addressing the utility of the machine. I was addressing usage patterns.
"it does 90% of what most people use the iPad for".
Correcting people's reading comprehension problems is getting boring.
Can't you see this is not a tablet. It's not a iPad competitor. Amazon is charging its customers 200 dollars to buy there content. Unlike the iPad there apps are just going to be the ones made for android phones just full screen. Unlike iPad apps which have extra API and tablet functions. What a slap in the face this will be to there customers when there iPad killers tiny screen lags while changing pages
90% of what people do on i7 desktops is surf the web, so by that kind of logic, it makes the Fire a reall deal compared to desktops costing up to ten times as much.
Indeed. For many people, that is very true.
They are even a bargain compared to full laptops in the $499 to $839 price range, which are in turn, for many people, a bargain compared to alternative tech purchases.
Lots of people will be duped into thinking they are getting an iPad for $200, and then once they actually use it, realize they are getting nothing but a cheapo clone which is terrible just like all the other iPad cloners and comes no where near the experience of the iPad.
The only flaw with that theory is that buyer's of the Amazon Fire who are too cheap to buy an iPad will have never used an iPad extensively and thusly won't realize that the Fire's experience is comparatively poor. Just as people bought up Windows PCs in the 90's in droves, despite being a poor imitation of the Mac, people may buy out of sheer ignorance or favoring cheap over quality.
Quote:
Originally Posted by bullhead
If Apple cuts the price of the iPad 2 so it fits under the iPad 3 like they do with older iPhone models, all the hopes of the iPad cloners like Amazon, Asus, Samesung, etc... will evaporate over night. Why get a barely functional cheapo clone when you can get the real thing for less or the same money? That even makes sense to the brain dead Microsoft buyers.
This is very true and I truly hope Apple isn't too full of themselves to not use this approach. If they trim the storage of the iPad 2 to 8GB I believe they could sell it for $299 when the iPad 3 hits for $499.
When tablets become commodities, we will be choosing what components go inside, just like with PCs today. Until then, we're stuck with paying for things we seldom use and could do without.
I'm sure this thing will break sales records at first the amount of hype it's been getting. But once people realize its not a iPad you can't do half the things u can do on a iPad and u need a 80 dollar sub to get the best value. They will trade up to a iPad.
You may be right in a very general sort of way but different people have different usage patterns and need different things. The Kindle Fire (once the bugs are shaken out), is potentially a great product for a certain group of people who don't necessarily need everything an iPad offers.
For instance I use an iPad and I use it a lot, every day, all day. I carry it with me everywhere.
However if I was to list popular uses for an iPad I would get quite far down the list before I get to anything that I personally use it for.
I don't use it to play games
I don't watch movies on it
I don't cruise the web on it
I don't use it for email.
And those are pretty much the main uses of the iPad.
Not everyone is the same, and I'm sure there is a gigantic market for the smaller feature set of the Kindle Fire. Those users might never miss the "other stuff" they can do on an iPad and might never upgrade to the iPad no matter how cheap they eventually get.
But if the Kindle Fire does that 90% poorly, then why not get a netbook that can do 100% poorly for only a little more than the Fire?
15 inch laptops containing similar guts start at around $250. I'm not sure that the low-priced netbook market is strong anymore. There are now alternatives that work better at the same prices, and alternatives that work better for higher prices. Apple's netbooks start at around $1000, don't they?
If the Fire does that 90% poorly, it is not a good choice. But most of the reviews say it works about as well as anybody should expect. The question will be whether it works well enough to comfortably accomplish the tasks expected by the buyer.
Will it surf the net comfortably? Will it play YouTube properly? Will it play video stored on the HD smoothly? Can it be used comfortably as an email machine? Twitter? eBook reader?
I think it will replace a lot of old crappy desktop and notebook machines that never really worked well, and it will do as well, or better, than the old bargain basement crap that it will replace.
When tablets become commodities, we will be choosing what components go inside, just like with PCs today. Until then, we're stuck with paying for things we seldom use and could do without.
You mean like a camera (Facetime), more storage space, faster processors, Bluetooth and physical volume buttons on the outside? You're right, I seldom use those.
Yeah, but why compare the Fire to a top-of-the-line tablet like the iPad costing of 4 times as much if not to make the Fire seem like more of a bargain.
This is what I said:
"It doesn't work as well as a device costing (up to) more than 4 times its cost."
The "why would anybody say such a thing" question is left as an exercise to the reader.
It would seem that an App that allows you to stream or download your content to your iOS or Android device would have made more sense for Amazon. Why build a tablet and sell it at a loss when they could have just built an app?
You mean like a camera (Facetime), more storage space, faster processors, Bluetooth and physical volume buttons on the outside? You're right, I seldom use those.
/s (end sarcasm)
I wasn't talking about you.
+1 for sarcastic explanation of the "end sarcasm" tag. I liked the irony.
Sadly, too many experts and bloggers online are reviewing the Kindle and giving the impression that its not like an iPad, "It's better than the iPad". Pretty much labeling it as the real Killer iPad.
Comments
I was not addressing the utility of the machine. I was addressing usage patterns.
"it does 90% of what most people use the iPad for".
Correcting people's reading comprehension problems is getting boring.
But if the Kindle Fire does that 90% poorly, then why not get a netbook that can do 100% poorly for only a little more than the Fire?
Sadly, too many experts and bloggers online are reviewing the Kindle and giving the impression that its not like an iPad, "It's better than the iPad". Pretty much labeling it as the real Killer iPad.
That is why I didn't say "an iPad costs four times as much".
That is why I said "costing (up to) more than 4 times" as much.
Yeah, but why compare the Fire to a top-of-the-line tablet like the iPad costing of 4 times as much if not to make the Fire seem like more of a bargain. The closest comparison you could make would be the $199 Fire to the $499 iPad 2 and that is a stretch. If Apple made an iPad without cameras, Bluetooth, the slower processor of the original iPad and only 8GB of storage, I'm sure it would give the Fire a run for it's money in the price department while still having all the polish of an Apple product.
I hope one day soon we'll have the option of a streaming/subscription service with iTunes. I've saved a packet by switching to streaming with Spotify and LoveFilm (Netflix).
Clunky and unresponsive just about sums up most of the android tablets I've seen which is why the iPad is so much better and well worth the extra.
Yes, nothing like access to past seasons of TV Shows to really get me excited to drop my Dish account and miss all the shows I currently DVR, Not.
The vast majority of the content is also non-HD.
Yes, nothing like access to past seasons of TV Shows to really get me excited to drop my Dish account and miss all the shows I currently DVR, Not.
The vast majority of the content is also non-HD.
And according to Engadget, not very high in quality either.
A few other thoughts on the kindle fire ...
Seriously?
You just quoted the two least reliable video news sources, and the single most unreliable web-based tech news source.
Especially if Gizmodo likes it, you know it's bad.
They are contrarians at best and rarely correct about anything at all.
I was not addressing the utility of the machine. I was addressing usage patterns.
"it does 90% of what most people use the iPad for".
Correcting people's reading comprehension problems is getting boring.
Can't you see this is not a tablet. It's not a iPad competitor. Amazon is charging its customers 200 dollars to buy there content. Unlike the iPad there apps are just going to be the ones made for android phones just full screen. Unlike iPad apps which have extra API and tablet functions. What a slap in the face this will be to there customers when there iPad killers tiny screen lags while changing pages
90% of what people do on i7 desktops is surf the web, so by that kind of logic, it makes the Fire a reall deal compared to desktops costing up to ten times as much.
Indeed. For many people, that is very true.
They are even a bargain compared to full laptops in the $499 to $839 price range, which are in turn, for many people, a bargain compared to alternative tech purchases.
Seriously?
You just quoted the two least reliable video news sources, and the single most unreliable web-based tech news source.
Especially if Gizmodo likes it, you know it's bad.
They are contrarians at best and rarely correct about anything at all.
Lol agreed. Gizmodo liked windows vista. Whos he going to quote next kindleinsider.com
Lots of people will be duped into thinking they are getting an iPad for $200, and then once they actually use it, realize they are getting nothing but a cheapo clone which is terrible just like all the other iPad cloners and comes no where near the experience of the iPad.
The only flaw with that theory is that buyer's of the Amazon Fire who are too cheap to buy an iPad will have never used an iPad extensively and thusly won't realize that the Fire's experience is comparatively poor. Just as people bought up Windows PCs in the 90's in droves, despite being a poor imitation of the Mac, people may buy out of sheer ignorance or favoring cheap over quality.
If Apple cuts the price of the iPad 2 so it fits under the iPad 3 like they do with older iPhone models, all the hopes of the iPad cloners like Amazon, Asus, Samesung, etc... will evaporate over night. Why get a barely functional cheapo clone when you can get the real thing for less or the same money? That even makes sense to the brain dead Microsoft buyers.
This is very true and I truly hope Apple isn't too full of themselves to not use this approach. If they trim the storage of the iPad 2 to 8GB I believe they could sell it for $299 when the iPad 3 hits for $499.
If Apple made an iPad without...
When tablets become commodities, we will be choosing what components go inside, just like with PCs today. Until then, we're stuck with paying for things we seldom use and could do without.
I'm sure this thing will break sales records at first the amount of hype it's been getting. But once people realize its not a iPad you can't do half the things u can do on a iPad and u need a 80 dollar sub to get the best value. They will trade up to a iPad.
You may be right in a very general sort of way but different people have different usage patterns and need different things. The Kindle Fire (once the bugs are shaken out), is potentially a great product for a certain group of people who don't necessarily need everything an iPad offers.
For instance I use an iPad and I use it a lot, every day, all day. I carry it with me everywhere.
However if I was to list popular uses for an iPad I would get quite far down the list before I get to anything that I personally use it for.
I don't use it to play games
I don't watch movies on it
I don't cruise the web on it
I don't use it for email.
And those are pretty much the main uses of the iPad.
Not everyone is the same, and I'm sure there is a gigantic market for the smaller feature set of the Kindle Fire. Those users might never miss the "other stuff" they can do on an iPad and might never upgrade to the iPad no matter how cheap they eventually get.
But if the Kindle Fire does that 90% poorly, then why not get a netbook that can do 100% poorly for only a little more than the Fire?
15 inch laptops containing similar guts start at around $250. I'm not sure that the low-priced netbook market is strong anymore. There are now alternatives that work better at the same prices, and alternatives that work better for higher prices. Apple's netbooks start at around $1000, don't they?
If the Fire does that 90% poorly, it is not a good choice. But most of the reviews say it works about as well as anybody should expect. The question will be whether it works well enough to comfortably accomplish the tasks expected by the buyer.
Will it surf the net comfortably? Will it play YouTube properly? Will it play video stored on the HD smoothly? Can it be used comfortably as an email machine? Twitter? eBook reader?
I think it will replace a lot of old crappy desktop and notebook machines that never really worked well, and it will do as well, or better, than the old bargain basement crap that it will replace.
Sadly, too many experts and bloggers online are reviewing the Kindle and giving the impression that its not like an iPad, "It's better than the iPad".
I have not seen one single review which claims that it is better than an iPad. I'd love to read them.
Can you provide any cites?
When tablets become commodities, we will be choosing what components go inside, just like with PCs today. Until then, we're stuck with paying for things we seldom use and could do without.
You mean like a camera (Facetime), more storage space, faster processors, Bluetooth and physical volume buttons on the outside? You're right, I seldom use those.
/s (end sarcasm)
Yeah, but why compare the Fire to a top-of-the-line tablet like the iPad costing of 4 times as much if not to make the Fire seem like more of a bargain.
This is what I said:
"It doesn't work as well as a device costing (up to) more than 4 times its cost."
The "why would anybody say such a thing" question is left as an exercise to the reader.
You mean like a camera (Facetime), more storage space, faster processors, Bluetooth and physical volume buttons on the outside? You're right, I seldom use those.
/s (end sarcasm)
I wasn't talking about you.
+1 for sarcastic explanation of the "end sarcasm" tag. I liked the irony.
Sadly, too many experts and bloggers online are reviewing the Kindle and giving the impression that its not like an iPad, "It's better than the iPad". Pretty much labeling it as the real Killer iPad.
who said this? where are the citations?