I'm still very much looking forward to my new iPhone 6 this Fall, but I have to admit, I'm glad to see somebody at least trying to do something different. Apple's biggest breakthroughs have been underpinned by new ways of interacting with devices: mouse and window with the Mac, multitouch with the iPhone (and perhaps trackwheel with the iPod, but that's more of a stretch). And yes, I know they didn't exactly invent these technologies, but they figured out how to implement them elegantly, which in some ways is more important. So it's interesting to see companies experimenting with new ways to interact with devices, even if not all will be successful in their first iterations, if ever. It sure beats people struggling and failing to successfully copy Apple, which is most of what we've been watching for the past 30 years, and still constitutes the majority of what's happening now.
And now introducing…...the soon to be free with amazon prime membership Fired phone. I love how this company is sticking its nose into streaming tv, tablets and now phones….all based on Amazon wanting you to buy products from them all the freaking time…nice try Amazon.
But that does not mean this will sell. You know, the part that actually counts. FireFly is really cool but not something that I would even think about switching over. It is like Siri. OK but not really essential.
The contract pricing and exclusive nature to AT&T really limits its market appeal to 100's of million of people. The three prime members I know have already said they are not interested in the phone.
Hmm...according to Benedict Evans Firefly (or at least aspects of it) already exists on the Amazon iOS app.
Dudes I'm impressed! Six cameras, an F2.0 lens, unlimited photo storage, and free Amazon prime for a year? That means, like $99 for the phone (with contract). It's priced about the same as an iPhone, and if you need help, you can call the "Mayday" number and someone picks up right away.
If I walked into an AT&T store to get a phone, why wouldn't I pick this one over an iPhone? (Aside from the fact that it's not going to be even in there for a couple more weeks).
Amazon's only problems with this phone would be A) does it work and can they make enough of them.
Worried about the magnetic earbuds, tho ... might conflict with my dogcow collar and cowbells. Moof!
That last sentence I don't follow. is that [sarcasm] or [smile]?
2) things that you didn't factor
1) Prime users switching TO ATT. If your wireless connection is just a big pipe, and you're a heavy Prime user. You may buy this phone and switch.
2) Trade Downs within contracts... getting a 2nd phone passing down a hand me down iPhone 4s or 5.
my guess is that Amazon would Like to see 400K a month in sales US. which is huge. and probably doubling next year as they roll-out to other carriers /Market.
I do see this phone falling into anti 'Everything Else' phone. From an Amazon perspective, writing to iOS (easy), Fire (easy), Hot Samsung Phone/current Android version (easy), and lower support for everything else. Lower cost of support, higher consumer delight.
I agree that I am betting Amazon is going for the 1.2 to 1.5 million/quarter number I just don't see this happening. I don't see people on Sprint or TMobile or Verizon doing a switch over this. It isn't THAT much better. People with massive content (media/apps/docs/data) libraries on iOS will not switch. People on family plans on another carrier won't switch unless the entire family switches. Android users might switch but even there that will be hard. This leaves the late majority. This phone, with the Mayday option, might actually be the part that makes them switch but.... PRICE. It offers nothing really on the price front for these people.
I am betting on the 100,000 to 200,000 per month number.
But that does not mean this will sell. You know, the part that actually counts. FireFly is really cool but not something that I would even think about switching over. It is like Siri. OK but not really essential.
The contract pricing and exclusive nature to AT&T really limits its market appeal to 100's of million of people. The three prime members I know have already said they are not interested in the phone.
I think you have to have a longer term perspective to understand what Bezos is up to. He recognizes he can't walk out on stage and steal Apple's lunch with one device, and he isn't even trying to.
But what Amazon IS doing, and what they are doing quite well... is creating an incredibly sticky ecosystem that provides the same breadth and depth of offerings that Apple offers. And like Apple, they are doing so with an attention to detail and a consistency that objectively is not matched by the other players on the field (and by others, I mean Google and Microsoft).
Amazon's philosophy here is captured very well by a comment Bezos made that seems very obtuse: "You can fill a bucket with an eyedropper if the bucket doesn't leak."
Bezos doesn't care if he sells 25 million phones this year. What he cares about is how many consumers entering his ecosystem end up leaving it. Because ultimately a consumer in Amazon's ecosystem translates directly into higher sales for Amazon.
What I'm surprised about is how few of the posters here really understand the game Bezos is playing. Bezos is not trying to best Apple. Bezos is trying to build an ecosystem to support essentially ongoing sales by owning lifetime consumption. And that sort of effort isn't rewarded all at once, and that sort of ecosystem is not built all at once. What Bezos is about is doing things consistently well, and about retaining and building momentum. And honestly, he has positioned Amazon very well to accomplish these goals.
This product NEEDS a disruptive pricing model for hardware and data/voice. To turn Gruber's Apple observations on their ear, "Only Amazon could do that." Given the strength of AWS, I'm surprised.
I agree that the 3D stuff is gimmicky, but Amazon Prime for a year (should be for the life of the 2 year contract) and the tie-ins with Amazon purchases were marketing no-brainers
To wit, I bought a Kindle Paperwhite mainly because Amazon offered me a zero itnterest payment plan where the payments were broken into several $27 monthly payments. I had thought seriously about a dedicated e-reader for years. I was a moderate Amazon shopper, but that product introduced me to Amazon digital books. Despite their eecent shenanigans (e.g. Hachette), I love the Paperwhite. (Apple would have never had my book money because I do not own an iPad.)
Amazon customers are notoriously price sensitive. If Bezos & Co. had a lower and (subsidized) hardware pricing structure, they might get some fence-sitters through the door. As it is, they failed to leverage their most important market advantages. There's something to unlimiited photo storage using AWS capacity, but the paucity of apps will leave the Fire Phone niche-y.
Does that Mayday button actually work as advertised? Every time I see the ad, I wonder how many cheerful, attractive, knowledgable people Amazon has standing by to appear on their users' screen at a moment's notice. In theory it's an amazing idea: a virtual Apple Genius Bar, but I can't get myself to believe it. And how do they handle the inevitable prank calls/junk calls/morons that must be a significant percentage of the total number of calls? "I'm sorry you can't call every night just because you get drunk and lonely..."
Dudes I'm impressed! Six cameras, an F2.0 lens, unlimited photo storage, and free Amazon prime for a year? That means, like $99 for the phone (with contract). It's priced about the same as an iPhone, and if you need help, you can call the "Mayday" number and someone picks up right away.
If I walked into an AT&T store to get a phone, why wouldn't I pick this one over an iPhone? (Aside from the fact that it's not going to be even in there for a couple more weeks).
Amazon's only problems with this phone would be A) does it work and can they make enough of them.
Worried about the magnetic earbuds, tho ... might conflict with my dogcow collar and cowbells. Moof!
You'd agree that the app ecosytem is important, no?
Honestly you lot are cracking me up already. Your myopia is matched only by your hubris.
Will this eat Apple's lunch in the market? No, obviously not. But is it too much for you to yank your heads out of your arses long enough to recognize an accomplishment when you see one?
FireFly, in particular, is a really impressive engineering accomplishment. And coupled with Prime Video, Music, FireTV... you can see that Amazon is executing on a plan to build an Ecosystem that is very sticky. I happen to own AppleTV, GoogleTV, and FireTV by the way, and of the three FireTV is by far the best. I also own Android Tablets, Fire, and iPad... and while I freely admit that iPad is absolutely still the best, the Amazon devices are quite good and really put just about any android tablet to shame.
Anyway, I personally think most of you are terminally unable to get past your cognitively dissonant irrational love of all things Apple to recognize that there are other companies in the galaxy capable of doing interesting, even great work.
It's pathetic, really.
So is your post- completely pathetic filled with nothing but drivel. You're knocking down your own straw-men. Who here said it isnt an impressive engineering accomplishment? I think it is. Yet making a lucrative product is about much more than that. The hardware is basically a gateway into Amazon's products. Personally I have no interest in that, no matter how many cameras it tracks my face with. Others might be interested- and that's fine. It seems absurd to me that you're so stressed out about a non-positive overall reaciton at AppleInsider- there's literally thousands of other tech blogs you can visit, where you can read more favorable reactions..
Wired is not known for being pro-Apple, and is a mainstream tech site. Oh wait, there isn't a SINGLE positive comment in the first 50 comments that I read, so maybe, just MAYBE there is more to it than "cognitively dissonant irrational love of all things Apple" and people have genuine issues with this product, and not everyone is ultra-excited as you expect them to be? That seems to be the general trend on other comment sections I've read too, which have nothing to do with Apple. Take your shitty, mind-numbing "you guys dont have anything good to say cause you're Apple cultists" trolling somewhere else. Noone is stopping you from buying the hell out of this phone, but it seems odd you're so desperate on evangelizing it then bashing everyone who does not.
Does that Mayday button actually work as advertised? Every time I see the ad, I wonder how many cheerful, attractive, knowledgable people Amazon has standing by to appear on their users' screen at a moment's notice. In theory it's an amazing idea: a virtual Apple Genius Bar, but I can't get myself to believe it. And how do they handle the inevitable prank calls/junk calls/morons that must be a significant percentage of the total number of calls? "I'm sorry you can't call every night just because you get drunk and lonely..."
I heard a stat that the wait time for Mayday is under 10 seconds. Impressive if true.
This product NEEDS a disruptive pricing model for hardware and data/voice. To turn Gruber's Apple observations on their ear, "Only Amazon could do that." Given the strength of AWS, I'm surprised.
I agree that the 3D stuff is gimmicky, but Amazon Prime for a year (should be for the life of the 2 year contract) and the tie-ins with Amazon purchases were marketing no-brainers
To wit, I bought a Kindle Paperwhite mainly because Amazon offered me a zero itnterest payment plan where the payments were broken into several $27 monthly payments. I had thought seriously about a dedicated e-reader for years. I was a moderate Amazon shopper, but that product introduced me to Amazon digital books. Despite their eecent shenanigans (e.g. Hachette), I love the Paperwhite. (Apple would have never had my book money because I do not own an iPad.)
Amazon customers are notoriously price sensitive. If Bezos & Co. had a lower and (subsidized) hardware pricing structure, they might get some fence-sitters through the door. As it is, they failed to leverage their most important market advantages. There's something to unlimiited photo storage using AWS capacity, but the paucity of apps will leave the Fire Phone niche-y.
I'm not sure I agree with you on the 'paucity of apps' front - Amazon has a robust App Store, with many of the best apps available across iTunes App Store, Google Play, and Amazon.
along with a dedicated camera button that allows photos to be snapped instantly when pressed, regardless of whether or not the screen is on
I like this feature
edit: nevermind- I don't. How would I know what I'm taking a pic of???
Quote:
The "Dynamic Perspective" feature on the Fire Phone can be used with maps, pictures, and when browsing content. In another demonstration, Bezos flipped through clothing by tilting the phone. Users can also tilt their phone to scroll in a Web browser or Kindle book reader, rather than touching the screen.
I dislike this feature. I guess I'd need to try it but it sounds horrible and annoying.
What I'm surprised about is how few of the posters here really understand the game Bezos is playing. Bezos is not trying to best Apple. Bezos is trying to build an ecosystem to support essentially ongoing sales by owning lifetime consumption. And that sort of effort isn't rewarded all at once, and that sort of ecosystem is not built all at once. What Bezos is about is doing things consistently well, and about retaining and building momentum. And honestly, he has positioned Amazon very well to accomplish these goals.
But you're missing the point. Most posters here are interested in Apple (this isn't eCommerceInsider, after all), so their/our reaction to this Amazon stuff is mostly about how it will effect Apple. There's nothing wrong with that. This is just another Android phone with Amazon's marketing muscle behind it.
Dudes I'm impressed! Six cameras, an F2.0 lens, unlimited photo storage, and free Amazon prime for a year? That means, like $99 for the phone (with contract). It's priced about the same as an iPhone, and if you need help, you can call the "Mayday" number and someone picks up right away.
If I walked into an AT&T store to get a phone, why wouldn't I pick this one over an iPhone? (Aside from the fact that it's not going to be even in there for a couple more weeks).
I love how there isn't a single word about software, ecosystem, apps, etc in your entire post.
You're right, nobody who have any reason not to choose this over an iPhone. Not a single reason. You know, with all the "fire phone" exclusives and all. This thing doesn't even run the standard Google Play Store (which in itself is still a huge step below the iOS appstore), only curated apps from there approved for compatibility- nevermind the fact that this OS is years behind the feature-set of iOS.
For a person new to the "smartphone" market who is a heavy Amazon user, this phone might make a lot of sense. There are some features that could be interesting if Apple put their own spin on them. For example, unlimited storage for photos is a very nice feature but I wouldn't want my every photo saved with Amazon.
I heard a stat that the wait time for Mayday is under 10 seconds. Impressive if true.
MayDay is interesting, but I imagine they will soon start to feel the real impact of all that customer support on their bottom line (and they don't make a profit now as it is).
I'm not sure I agree with you on the 'paucity of apps' front - Amazon has a robust App Store, with many of the best apps available across iTunes App Store, Google Play, and Amazon.
Orange county? doesn't Amazon have a software development wing located in Orange county California? which means you probably work there by the tone of your comments.
Comments
I'm still very much looking forward to my new iPhone 6 this Fall, but I have to admit, I'm glad to see somebody at least trying to do something different. Apple's biggest breakthroughs have been underpinned by new ways of interacting with devices: mouse and window with the Mac, multitouch with the iPhone (and perhaps trackwheel with the iPod, but that's more of a stretch). And yes, I know they didn't exactly invent these technologies, but they figured out how to implement them elegantly, which in some ways is more important. So it's interesting to see companies experimenting with new ways to interact with devices, even if not all will be successful in their first iterations, if ever. It sure beats people struggling and failing to successfully copy Apple, which is most of what we've been watching for the past 30 years, and still constitutes the majority of what's happening now.
And now introducing…...the soon to be free with amazon prime membership Fired phone. I love how this company is sticking its nose into streaming tv, tablets and now phones….all based on Amazon wanting you to buy products from them all the freaking time…nice try Amazon.
If I walked into an AT&T store to get a phone, why wouldn't I pick this one over an iPhone? (Aside from the fact that it's not going to be even in there for a couple more weeks).
Amazon's only problems with this phone would be A) does it work and
Worried about the magnetic earbuds, tho ... might conflict with my dogcow collar and cowbells. Moof!
That last sentence I don't follow. is that [sarcasm] or [smile]?
2) things that you didn't factor
1) Prime users switching TO ATT. If your wireless connection is just a big pipe, and you're a heavy Prime user. You may buy this phone and switch.
2) Trade Downs within contracts... getting a 2nd phone passing down a hand me down iPhone 4s or 5.
my guess is that Amazon would Like to see 400K a month in sales US. which is huge. and probably doubling next year as they roll-out to other carriers /Market.
I do see this phone falling into anti 'Everything Else' phone. From an Amazon perspective, writing to iOS (easy), Fire (easy), Hot Samsung Phone/current Android version (easy), and lower support for everything else. Lower cost of support, higher consumer delight.
I agree that I am betting Amazon is going for the 1.2 to 1.5 million/quarter number I just don't see this happening. I don't see people on Sprint or TMobile or Verizon doing a switch over this. It isn't THAT much better. People with massive content (media/apps/docs/data) libraries on iOS will not switch. People on family plans on another carrier won't switch unless the entire family switches. Android users might switch but even there that will be hard. This leaves the late majority. This phone, with the Mayday option, might actually be the part that makes them switch but.... PRICE. It offers nothing really on the price front for these people.
I am betting on the 100,000 to 200,000 per month number.
But that does not mean this will sell. You know, the part that actually counts. FireFly is really cool but not something that I would even think about switching over. It is like Siri. OK but not really essential.
The contract pricing and exclusive nature to AT&T really limits its market appeal to 100's of million of people. The three prime members I know have already said they are not interested in the phone.
I think you have to have a longer term perspective to understand what Bezos is up to. He recognizes he can't walk out on stage and steal Apple's lunch with one device, and he isn't even trying to.
But what Amazon IS doing, and what they are doing quite well... is creating an incredibly sticky ecosystem that provides the same breadth and depth of offerings that Apple offers. And like Apple, they are doing so with an attention to detail and a consistency that objectively is not matched by the other players on the field (and by others, I mean Google and Microsoft).
Amazon's philosophy here is captured very well by a comment Bezos made that seems very obtuse: "You can fill a bucket with an eyedropper if the bucket doesn't leak."
Bezos doesn't care if he sells 25 million phones this year. What he cares about is how many consumers entering his ecosystem end up leaving it. Because ultimately a consumer in Amazon's ecosystem translates directly into higher sales for Amazon.
What I'm surprised about is how few of the posters here really understand the game Bezos is playing. Bezos is not trying to best Apple. Bezos is trying to build an ecosystem to support essentially ongoing sales by owning lifetime consumption. And that sort of effort isn't rewarded all at once, and that sort of ecosystem is not built all at once. What Bezos is about is doing things consistently well, and about retaining and building momentum. And honestly, he has positioned Amazon very well to accomplish these goals.
I agree that the 3D stuff is gimmicky, but Amazon Prime for a year (should be for the life of the 2 year contract) and the tie-ins with Amazon purchases were marketing no-brainers
To wit, I bought a Kindle Paperwhite mainly because Amazon offered me a zero itnterest payment plan where the payments were broken into several $27 monthly payments. I had thought seriously about a dedicated e-reader for years. I was a moderate Amazon shopper, but that product introduced me to Amazon digital books. Despite their eecent shenanigans (e.g. Hachette), I love the Paperwhite. (Apple would have never had my book money because I do not own an iPad.)
Amazon customers are notoriously price sensitive. If Bezos & Co. had a lower and (subsidized) hardware pricing structure, they might get some fence-sitters through the door. As it is, they failed to leverage their most important market advantages. There's something to unlimiited photo storage using AWS capacity, but the paucity of apps will leave the Fire Phone niche-y.
Does that Mayday button actually work as advertised? Every time I see the ad, I wonder how many cheerful, attractive, knowledgable people Amazon has standing by to appear on their users' screen at a moment's notice. In theory it's an amazing idea: a virtual Apple Genius Bar, but I can't get myself to believe it. And how do they handle the inevitable prank calls/junk calls/morons that must be a significant percentage of the total number of calls? "I'm sorry you can't call every night just because you get drunk and lonely..."
Honestly you lot are cracking me up already. Your myopia is matched only by your hubris.
Will this eat Apple's lunch in the market? No, obviously not. But is it too much for you to yank your heads out of your arses long enough to recognize an accomplishment when you see one?
FireFly, in particular, is a really impressive engineering accomplishment. And coupled with Prime Video, Music, FireTV... you can see that Amazon is executing on a plan to build an Ecosystem that is very sticky. I happen to own AppleTV, GoogleTV, and FireTV by the way, and of the three FireTV is by far the best. I also own Android Tablets, Fire, and iPad... and while I freely admit that iPad is absolutely still the best, the Amazon devices are quite good and really put just about any android tablet to shame.
Anyway, I personally think most of you are terminally unable to get past your cognitively dissonant irrational love of all things Apple to recognize that there are other companies in the galaxy capable of doing interesting, even great work.
It's pathetic, really.
So is your post- completely pathetic filled with nothing but drivel. You're knocking down your own straw-men. Who here said it isnt an impressive engineering accomplishment? I think it is. Yet making a lucrative product is about much more than that. The hardware is basically a gateway into Amazon's products. Personally I have no interest in that, no matter how many cameras it tracks my face with. Others might be interested- and that's fine. It seems absurd to me that you're so stressed out about a non-positive overall reaciton at AppleInsider- there's literally thousands of other tech blogs you can visit, where you can read more favorable reactions..
For example..http://www.wired.com/2014/06/amazon-fire-phone/
Wired is not known for being pro-Apple, and is a mainstream tech site. Oh wait, there isn't a SINGLE positive comment in the first 50 comments that I read, so maybe, just MAYBE there is more to it than "cognitively dissonant irrational love of all things Apple" and people have genuine issues with this product, and not everyone is ultra-excited as you expect them to be? That seems to be the general trend on other comment sections I've read too, which have nothing to do with Apple. Take your shitty, mind-numbing "you guys dont have anything good to say cause you're Apple cultists" trolling somewhere else. Noone is stopping you from buying the hell out of this phone, but it seems odd you're so desperate on evangelizing it then bashing everyone who does not.
phx.corporate-ir.net/phoenix.zhtml?c=176060&p=irol-newsArticle&ID=1940902&highlight=
This product NEEDS a disruptive pricing model for hardware and data/voice. To turn Gruber's Apple observations on their ear, "Only Amazon could do that." Given the strength of AWS, I'm surprised.
I agree that the 3D stuff is gimmicky, but Amazon Prime for a year (should be for the life of the 2 year contract) and the tie-ins with Amazon purchases were marketing no-brainers
To wit, I bought a Kindle Paperwhite mainly because Amazon offered me a zero itnterest payment plan where the payments were broken into several $27 monthly payments. I had thought seriously about a dedicated e-reader for years. I was a moderate Amazon shopper, but that product introduced me to Amazon digital books. Despite their eecent shenanigans (e.g. Hachette), I love the Paperwhite. (Apple would have never had my book money because I do not own an iPad.)
Amazon customers are notoriously price sensitive. If Bezos & Co. had a lower and (subsidized) hardware pricing structure, they might get some fence-sitters through the door. As it is, they failed to leverage their most important market advantages. There's something to unlimiited photo storage using AWS capacity, but the paucity of apps will leave the Fire Phone niche-y.
I'm not sure I agree with you on the 'paucity of apps' front - Amazon has a robust App Store, with many of the best apps available across iTunes App Store, Google Play, and Amazon.
Originally Posted by AppleInsider
along with a dedicated camera button that allows photos to be snapped instantly when pressed, regardless of whether or not the screen is on
I like this feature
edit: nevermind- I don't. How would I know what I'm taking a pic of???
Quote:
I dislike this feature. I guess I'd need to try it but it sounds horrible and annoying.
Other than that... boring.
What I'm surprised about is how few of the posters here really understand the game Bezos is playing. Bezos is not trying to best Apple. Bezos is trying to build an ecosystem to support essentially ongoing sales by owning lifetime consumption. And that sort of effort isn't rewarded all at once, and that sort of ecosystem is not built all at once. What Bezos is about is doing things consistently well, and about retaining and building momentum. And honestly, he has positioned Amazon very well to accomplish these goals.
But you're missing the point. Most posters here are interested in Apple (this isn't eCommerceInsider, after all), so their/our reaction to this Amazon stuff is mostly about how it will effect Apple. There's nothing wrong with that. This is just another Android phone with Amazon's marketing muscle behind it.
Dudes I'm impressed! Six cameras, an F2.0 lens, unlimited photo storage, and free Amazon prime for a year? That means, like $99 for the phone (with contract). It's priced about the same as an iPhone, and if you need help, you can call the "Mayday" number and someone picks up right away.
If I walked into an AT&T store to get a phone, why wouldn't I pick this one over an iPhone? (Aside from the fact that it's not going to be even in there for a couple more weeks).
I love how there isn't a single word about software, ecosystem, apps, etc in your entire post.
You're right, nobody who have any reason not to choose this over an iPhone. Not a single reason. You know, with all the "fire phone" exclusives and all. This thing doesn't even run the standard Google Play Store (which in itself is still a huge step below the iOS appstore), only curated apps from there approved for compatibility- nevermind the fact that this OS is years behind the feature-set of iOS.
For a person new to the "smartphone" market who is a heavy Amazon user, this phone might make a lot of sense. There are some features that could be interesting if Apple put their own spin on them. For example, unlimited storage for photos is a very nice feature but I wouldn't want my every photo saved with Amazon.
I thin
I heard a stat that the wait time for Mayday is under 10 seconds. Impressive if true.
MayDay is interesting, but I imagine they will soon start to feel the real impact of all that customer support on their bottom line (and they don't make a profit now as it is).
I'm not sure I agree with you on the 'paucity of apps' front - Amazon has a robust App Store, with many of the best apps available across iTunes App Store, Google Play, and Amazon.
Orange county? doesn't Amazon have a software development wing located in Orange county California? which means you probably work there by the tone of your comments.