Amazon's Kindle Fire Tablet

[Feathers]

I'm still struggling to decide if I'd buy this over a regular Kindle.

Let's face it, if I want a tablet I'll go the Apple route but I don't really want to read on an iPad. That leaves a regular e-ink type, monochrome Kindle as still possibly the best option for me.

[Bryancd]

^ Case in point. The tablet market is all about web surfing, aps, and video content viewing. Period.

[Jobydrone]

^ Case in point. The tablet market is all about web surfing, aps, and video content viewing. Period.

Wow, I totally disagree.  There a huge market for this kind of product.  I know tons of people that have avoided the iPad and other competing products solely because of the high price.  If there's something that comes out with almost the same functionality at  half the price or less it's going to do well snatching up those on the fence buyers.

[Meds]

You still can't beat a good book, you knopw ones with pages that gives you a sense of excitement with each trurn of the page.

[Bryancd]

Doesn't have the aps and the screen is too small.

^ Case in point. The tablet market is all about web surfing, aps, and video content viewing. Period.

Wow, I totally disagree.  There a huge market for this kind of product.  I know tons of people that have avoided the iPad and other competing products solely because of the high price.  If there's something that comes out with almost the same functionality at  half the price or less it's going to do well snatching up those on the fence buyers.

Nope, doesn't have the aps and the screen is too small. People will continue to pay up for the iPad premium. The iPad will be the dominant tablet device for the foreseeable future.

[Bromptonboy]

You still can't beat a good book, you knopw ones with pages that gives you a sense of excitement with each trurn of the page.

Luddite.    :)

I agree - paper books will always have a place with me - but I see a place in my library for a table\e-reader as well.

[Rico]

Doesn't have the aps and the screen is too small.

^ Case in point. The tablet market is all about web surfing, aps, and video content viewing. Period.

Wow, I totally disagree.  There a huge market for this kind of product.  I know tons of people that have avoided the iPad and other competing products solely because of the high price.  If there's something that comes out with almost the same functionality at  half the price or less it's going to do well snatching up those on the fence buyers.

Nope, doesn't have the aps and the screen is too small. People will continue to pay up for the iPad premium. The iPad will be the dominant tablet device for the foreseeable future.

I like my iPad, but Bryan this tablet is going to run a version of Android.  TONS of apps on that.  A 7 inch screen is ok to surf the web - people do it all day on their iPhones.  So, a tablet half the price of an iPad easily has a place in the market.  It doesn't need to beat the iPad, but as others said, $250 is much easier for many people to swallow vs. $500.  Especially for giving one to their kids, etc.  It still freaks me out when I hear about people handing a $500 iPad to a 4 yr. old!

[Jobydrone]

Doesn't have the aps and the screen is too small.

^ Case in point. The tablet market is all about web surfing, aps, and video content viewing. Period.

Wow, I totally disagree.  There a huge market for this kind of product.  I know tons of people that have avoided the iPad and other competing products solely because of the high price.  If there's something that comes out with almost the same functionality at  half the price or less it's going to do well snatching up those on the fence buyers.

Nope, doesn't have the aps and the screen is too small. People will continue to pay up for the iPad premium. The iPad will be the dominant tablet device for the foreseeable future.

Of course they will, because the iPad is the best.  There will always be people that pay a premium for the Cadillac, but a heck of a lot more buy the Toyota Corrolla because they can afford it.  There's room for both, but it's too early to say for sure if your last sentence will always be true.

[Bryancd]

Or my very non-techie Aunt who just bought one, almost as scary. No, I like Amazon a lot and think the Kindle is a great e-reader. But people will continue to pay the Apple premium for the content AND the cache. You guys forget how powerful that appeal and import is to a lot of people. They want to have the Apple logo on the device and that's worth and extra $200 to the majority of them. That's the power of brand and Apple has it. Amazon doesn't, they are known for having low prices. They will sell these, but the numbers won't be huge and my initial comment was to point out this is NOT an iPad competitor. There will be one one day, justy not today.

[Bryancd]

Of course they will, because the iPad is the best.  There will always be people that pay a premium for the Cadillac, but a heck of a lot more buy the Toyota Corrolla because they can afford it.  There's room for both, but it's too early to say for sure if your last sentence will always be true.

Have I been wrong in all of our conversations regarding the iPhone or iPad over all these years in predicting the power of these devices? It will be a number of years before any competing device can make inroads in the space. You guys need to appreciate how much the iPad is changing the portable computer market. It's a game changer. It's a direct assault on the traditional laptop business. It's very likely devices like this will become ubiquitous around the world and the main way people use technology.

[Rico]

Bryan - this has nothing to do with you - or you being right or wrong.  But look at it this way.  Can you name me one product - anywhere that doesn't have serious competition?  Even though all us geeks or nerds here love our little devices and gadgets, they haven't really made it far into mainstream society yet.  There's plenty of room for other devices. 

I will tell you this, if the Amazon device described above was available when I got my iPad I probably would have bought the Amazon version.  And that is a critical point for me.

[X]

I have four tablet devices now and none of them are an iPAD. Apple is clearly banking with that logo on the device, but soon it's going to be a matter of flash over substance and iPAD doesn't have the substance that some of this other tech has. I'll give Apple credit where credit is due, but they aren't going to dominate for long. If anything, people will soon welcome the diversity and competition.

[Bryancd]

Being right or wrong in regards to this kind of analysis is what I do for a living, keep that in mind. My clients expect me to identify market trends and position them accordingly. They want decisiveness and clarity of analysis. My comments are based on that position, I don't care what the result is in regards to which tablet is better, just that I identify it early enough to profit from it. My interest begins and ends there.

[Ktrek]

Let me just say that the Kindle tablet will be Android base OS but Amazon has already said that it will not be an open platform. No Android Market. So... to do so will require softrooting the tablet and liberating it from it's proprietary design. As I said before The Nook Color is a 7 inch tablet. I don't understand why anyone thinks that the Kindle tablet will be any better than the Nook Color. I have full access to the Marketplace and have at least a hundred apps on my Nook Color. It has a 7 inch touch screen. You can buy one on Ebay from B&N for $179.00. I can surf the web, play games, stream video, play music and read books. I even have the Kindle app installed on my Nook Color so I can pretty much read any book available in ebook form and from many vendors. The Kindle tablet is only trying to grab some of the market they think B&N has taken from them. They seriously cannot compete with Apple and the Ipad. It's ridiculous to think so. As I said before they are behind the curve and are now trying to play catch up.

Kevin

[X]

Being right or wrong in regards to this kind of analysis is what I do for a living, keep that in mind. My clients expect me to identify market trends and position them accordingly. They want decisiveness and clarity of analysis. My comments are based on that position, I don't care what the result is in regards to which tablet is better, just that I identify it early enough to profit from it. My interest begins and ends there.

I totally agree with what you are saying. I think that you're right to a certain extent. Apple is a juggernaut and a status symbol. People will pay the premium for it.

Now, the only thing I disagree with is for how long. I remember a time when Porsche was the car to have. Their pricing hasn't changed much, nor has their quality, but they are no longer the car to have. I think that there is a tipping scale that comes into play when buying items that serve as a status symbol. When they reach a certain level of saturation, a lot of the people in it for the status start looking for new things to be the next big thing.

I have no doubt that the glowing Apple will reach a saturation point to where it's no longer the next big thing and merely a thing. Are we getting close to that point? I honestly have no clue, but I can assure you that the people that are lining up to buy the next big thing won't care if it has an Apple on it as long as they are one of the first to have the bragging right to having it. From my experience, people that are into status symbols aren't that damn picky as to who makes it just as long as they are part of the elite to own it.