Amazon debuts $299 8.9" Kindle Fire HD, $119 e-ink Kindle Paperwhite

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Comments

  • Reply 81 of 108

    Quote:

    Originally Posted by rednival View Post


     


    As a parent, if the Kindle Fire has decent, or even usable, parental controls it could win me on that alone.  Not for me mind you, but for my kids.


     


     


    Right now what Apple offers fits somewhere between unusable and non-existent.



     


    Go to Settings -> Restrictions, tap Enable Restrictions, enter a code that only controls restriction settings and add your parental controls.

  • Reply 82 of 108
    majjomajjo Posts: 574member
    I think the timing of the announcement has more to do with making people reconsider buying a nexus 7 than trumping Apple.

    I would wait until reviews though. I wasn't fond of the software on the original kindle fire, so I want to see how they've changed that aspect on the HD before committing.

    Hardware wise it is very sexy.
  • Reply 83 of 108

    Quote:

    Originally Posted by Mazda 3s View Post


    Holy **** balls.


     


     


     



     


     


     


    I might be trading in my iPad 3 for a Kindle Fire HD 8.9" (32GB) with LTE



     


    So which carrier is subsidizing the LTE pricing? Bezos is selling a WiFi device competing with Apple's $599 WiFi device, with an inferior product but is pushing a heavily subsidized LTE addition without listing the carriers.


     


    LTE is DOA without Carriers and their Data Plans. So either Amazon is trading Cloud Support Contracts and Data Center support for LTE subsidies or we will see the Carriers dropping their $130 with Apple sooner rather than later.

  • Reply 84 of 108


    Originally Posted by mdriftmeyer View Post

    So which carrier is subsidizing the LTE pricing?


     


    AT&T. 

  • Reply 85 of 108
    mstonemstone Posts: 11,510member

    Quote:

    Originally Posted by SolipsismX View Post



    edit: It appears I misinterpreted his comment incorrectly and you correctly.


    No, you were correct as well in that one should question why is the price too low. It was just that by the time you posted I had both questioned and then arrived at a conclusion based on that question. I'll stick with Apple. They don't play games with the price. On face value the prices they charge seem fair to me. I do buy a lot of stuff from Amazon though but mostly through partner dealers. Things like home goods and computer parts. I have never purchased any media from them aside from actual printed books.

  • Reply 86 of 108
    jlanddjlandd Posts: 873member

    Quote:

    Originally Posted by dasanman69 View Post





    Those other products make sense being sold at a loss because one is basically forced to buy other things. A game console is practically worthless without the games that need to be purchased and a printer needs ink, but one can buy a Kindle Fire and use it without ever buying another thing from Amazon. It's really a risky move.


    I always assume that with a cheap gizmo there will be data mining galore.   Actually, these days I assume with an expensive one there with be data mining galore.

  • Reply 87 of 108
    iqatedoiqatedo Posts: 1,823member


    There must surely be a love affair between the stock market and Amazon, given Amazon's current P/E of 299 (Apple is at 15.71) and annual earnings of less than $1 per share (approximately 1/50 that of Apple). How long can this go on?


     


    Some time ago there was a discussion on AI regarding the fallacy of the Amazon makes its money on volume sales argument in relation to sales of hardware at a loss. This argument, regurgitated in summary, would be interesting.


     


    All the best.

  • Reply 88 of 108


    WOW! first the Nexus 7 comes out at 199$ with great hardware 8g


    and now Amazon Kindle HD 7" with better hardware, retina display, front facing camera and 16g at 199$


    plus Kindle HD 9" 299$...


     


    INCREDIBLE price with hardware!


    besides the 150$ old kindle fire(over price) and the ridiculous LTE version


    (250$ more for an LTE is DOA for 50$ you can buy 2 wifi Kindle HD's) plus US exclusivity


    this is a game changer for the tablet market. Nexus hardwear is sub par and


    Samsung tablets are to expensive compare to Amazon offerings.


    Plus the Amazon android skin makes it easier for normal consumers and exempt of law suits.


     


    Now Apple has to choose to dominate the Tablet market or allow Amazon to take huge


    margins of the market this Holiday season like Samsung did on the smart phone market.


    It can release the iPad mini at 199$ (even without retina with its ecosystem it will beat kindle HD 7")


    and cut 100$ to ipad 2 $299(less powerful than kindle HD 9" with no retina but 1" larger screen and the apple ecosystem)


    ipad 3 at 399$.


     


    Microsoft will never be able to compete with the Surface RT at this prices because it does not have Apple


    volume purchase of parts cheap.


     


    The Tablet Wars is between Amazon and Apple Both have the Ecosystem and simple OS, is


    on Apple to compete on price and dominate the Tablet market Both in the consumer market and educational


    or Open the door to Amazon...


     


     


    P.S. in the next 12 months Tablet Sales will be Bigger than PC sales and Windows 8 Tablets


    wont be in there in big numbers because they wont even be close to these prices. In 2 years the


    Tech World will be VERY DIFFERENT. Exiting times are ahead...

  • Reply 89 of 108
    solipsismxsolipsismx Posts: 19,566member
    mstone wrote: »
    No, you were correct as well in that one should question why is the price too low. It was just that by the time you posted I had both questioned and then arrived at a conclusion based on that question. I'll stick with Apple. They don't play games with the price. On face value the prices they charge seem fair to me. I do buy a lot of stuff from Amazon though but mostly through partner dealers. Things like home goods and computer parts. I have never purchased any media from them aside from actual printed books.

    I'm sticking with Apple, too, because, like most people here, we have a long history of buying Apple's products and getting great value for our products, but I do think Amazon's offerings appear to be quite good for what you get.

    Look at the Kindle, it's been at or below cost from the start but if I were to recommend an eReader to anyone it would be the Kindle, hands down, despite the fact that up until today I've never seen an eInk based device that I even remotely wanted.

    The dark grey text on light grey screen was always difficult to read. It's like reading a wet newspaper to me. This new Paperwhite device might actually make me interested despite having no real interest in eInk as a technology and being perfectly happy with my iPad.
  • Reply 90 of 108
    rogifanrogifan Posts: 10,669member
    So I have a question on Amazon's stategy. So they sell the hardware at cost or a loss figuring they'll make it up in content sales. Have they ever disclosed the content sales related to the Kindle Fire? I'd curious to know how well that model is working. Bezos is arguing in favor of his model over Apple's but that only works if people are willing to frequently spend money on content. He might think its a good business model but I think it could have a negative effect of setting an artificially low price that other companies will struggle to compete with. Consumers expecting tablets to be $199, and anything more than that they feel they're being ripped off.
  • Reply 91 of 108
    rogifan wrote: »
    Consumers expecting tablets to be $199, and anything more than that they feel they're being ripped off.

    That will be true if Apple fails to clearly communicate what makes the iPad uniquely worth it.

    Shouldn't be hard for a company that hasn't joined the race to the bottom in computers, phones, music players, and tablets. Ever.
  • Reply 92 of 108

    Quote:

    Originally Posted by Gazoobee View Post


    This guy, and this company have shown many times before how deceitful and how "anti-customer" they are.  


     



     


     


    I don't dispute the rest of your post, but I have found Amazon to be extremely customer-friendly. I have no experience with their hardware, but their sales and service is amazing. Quite a few times when the shipments were lost during transit, they replaced the entire thing free of cost. Any complaint or query mailed to them was responded to within 12 hours. Bezos may be everything you say - and Amazon's insistence on not releasing Kindle numbers but claiming 22% of the market is obviously suspicious. But as a retailer, I have no complaints about them.

  • Reply 93 of 108
    matrix07matrix07 Posts: 1,993member

    Quote:

    Originally Posted by Gazoobee View Post


     


    iPad mini will almost certainly be a failure at anything above $250 or so.  It should probably hit the $200 spot to really succeed.  


     


    The market for 7" or "small" tablets is completely settled at around $200.  $50 extra "because it's Apple" will probably fly, but $100?  I don't think so. 


     


    They aren't that desirable and this is an entirely new product category for Apple.  They need to entice people in.  The average person rightly or wrongly is going to see the Nexus 7 and then the iPad mini right beside it in the "small tablets" section of Futureshop or wherever and they will pick the one that's half the price of the other (if the mini is indeed $400 as you say).  



    hmm.. iPad mini is not "7". It is 8" or around that. At $250 it will be the death for all 7" Android devices.

  • Reply 94 of 108
    rogifanrogifan Posts: 10,669member
    That will be true if Apple fails to clearly communicate what makes the iPad uniquely worth it.
    Shouldn't be hard for a company that hasn't joined the race to the bottom in computers, phones, music players, and tablets. Ever.
    It shouldn't be but that's one thing Steve Jobs could do better than anyone else. Not sure Tim Cook or Phil Schiller have the same touch. Jony Ive maybe but he doesn't do keynotes.
  • Reply 95 of 108

    Quote:

    Originally Posted by matrix07 View Post


    Now let's see if iPad mini will be cheaper.



    Probably not. iPad mini and Kindle cater to different customers.

  • Reply 96 of 108

    Quote:

    Originally Posted by Rogifan View Post





    It shouldn't be but that's one thing Steve Jobs could do better than anyone else. Not sure Tim Cook or Phil Schiller have the same touch. Jony Ive maybe but he doesn't do keynotes.


    Please don't tell me Apple without Jobs is like Beatles without John, or The Who without Townsend...

  • Reply 97 of 108
    rogifanrogifan Posts: 10,669member
    fairthrope wrote: »
    Please don't tell me Apple without Jobs is like Beatles without John, or The Who without Townsend...
    Steve Jobs was the ultimate salesman. Tim Cook and Phil Schiller can't hold a candle to him in that department.
  • Reply 98 of 108

    Quote:

    Originally Posted by Rogifan View Post





    Steve Jobs was the ultimate salesman. Tim Cook and Phil Schiller can't hold a candle to him in that department.


    True, an Bill Gates was one of the best project executer in his time. If you have Jobs at the front presenting and selling, and Gates in the back running the office, what would that be?

  • Reply 99 of 108


    Originally Posted by Fairthrope View Post

    If you have Jobs at the front presenting and selling, and Gates in the back running the office, what would that be?


     


    A better world in which we never lived wherein the industry didn't stagnate for 15 years.

  • Reply 100 of 108


    Well, I am saying Jobs and Gates can be look at as both side of the same coin. One has what the ther lacks.

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