With Amazon recently announcing their newest offering into the tablet business called the Fire, I have found myself becoming one very excited potential buyer. My wife bought the Amazon Kindle several months back and rarely sits it down. She is an avid reader and utilizes the eReader functions of the Kindle. However, I’ve not bought a Kindle because I was in the market for something that offered a little more without having to spend the money on an Apple iPad.
Is the Kindle Fire That Good?
According to the Associated Press the Kindle Fire is Amazon’s answer to last year’s Barnes and Noble Nook Color. Both units have very similar functions as well as having a common price point; however, the Nook Color is looked at as a full function eReader where as the Amazon Fire with its variation of the Android 2.3 operating system offers more features. Those added features such as streaming movies, music, Kindle books and Android apps have some people looking at the Fire as a cheaper alternative to the Apple iPad.
It’s All About the Apps
According to the Amazon press release, they will be selling the Fire on November 15th for $199. That price is $300 more than the cheapest Apple iPad2. The Fire has only 8GB of onboard memory and therefore probably won’t run many business apps like the iPad will. Amazon offers the Fire without a camera or microphone which will mean that if you are into creating music, art, editing photos, or managing a business, the Fire is probably not the tablet for you.
Rethinking My Table Needs
With that said, do I really need all that in a tablet? A quick scan around my house tells me that I currently own a couple of desktop and laptop computers which are plenty for writing my articles. The Fire with a 7-inch screen compared to the iPad 10-inch screen would allow me to read eBooks, watch movies and cruise the internet at places a larger tablet would not; like standing in line at the DMV.
Amazon has marketed the Fire well. Many of us will be looking at saving $300 and doing without all the functions that the iPad offers. The Fire seems to be one of the better looking Android base tablets on the market and connecting it to the Amazon app store gives it the familiar feel that Apple started with its app store. My guess is that most people will be looking at both tablets and deciding whether to make a $199 mistake or a $499 mistake. Amazon will be pushing for developers to get more apps to the Android OS out there. Doing so will make the Fire a much more competitive tablet in the future. I really love what Amazon has brought to the table with this tablet and giving Apple a run for its money.