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Apple Welcomes Kindle Fire Tablet and More Android Fragmentation
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I agree, it runs Android at its heart, but is not trying to be an Android tablet. I think this would be great for the kids. I know that 3rd and 4th graders are now required to do assignments on the web for school and also the reading aspect is good as well.
If the internet component is as good as they are making it sound, I see no issues with this not being successful.
I still wouldn't give up my iPad2, but that is because I love the Apple EcoSystem.
I don't understand the whole "fragmentation" thing. It's not fragmentation, it's a natural effect of development on a (mostly) open code-base. Google releases Android, then AOSP. Manufacturers can modify it as they see fit, but it's still Android.
I don't know why automatically having various choices on user interface is somehow a downside.
If Amazon wants to put another user interface on top of Android, great. Let them. Why is that a bad thing? Why is "fragmentation" thrown around like it's somehow the silver bullet that makes Android bad?
I don't know why automatically having various choices on user interface is somehow a downside.
If Amazon wants to put another user interface on top of Android, great. Let them. Why is that a bad thing? Why is "fragmentation" thrown around like it's somehow the silver bullet that makes Android bad?
No, Macs+Linux combined take up less than 10% of marketshare: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Usage_share_of_operating_systems
Except you can't ignore apps. LOL
Reminds me of this:
Outside of the killings, DC has one of the lowest crime rates in the country.- Former Washington Mayor Marion Barry, Source: USA Today: Mar 24, 1989. pg. 02.A
I think you should take a deep breath and relax. Then realize that of COURSE Apple is going to take a potshot at the Kindle Fire. Especially since of all products to come out on Android in "tablet" form - the Fire presents probably the biggest competition because it's backed by an ecosystem that can sustain it - and sustain it well.
Should Apple be worried - probably not. The iPad can do a lot more and even with the bigger screen is more enticing. But there's a big audience for the Kindle fire. And the 199 price tag is a sweet spot.
So I'll assert again that I don't think fragmentation has anything to do with this.
Shrug. For the average user, wait for update, apply it when the phone tells you it's available. There's nothing complicated about it.
Some power users may not appreciate the delay from manufacturers on top of when a new version of Android is cut because they have to fit their UI around it, but those users also likely know they can choose from other ROMs that fit their needs.
I'm betting the amount of "power users" who are frustrated by manufacturer-caused delays on releases and who are also shackled to a stock ROM are few.
It's not *automatic*, but having them doesn't really stack the deck in your favour.
There's a good reason for this:
https://www.macrumors.com/2011/09/0...rankings-of-smartphone-consumer-satisfaction/
And this:
https://www.macrumors.com/2011/09/2...isfaction-survey-for-eighth-consecutive-time/
And this:
http://ipadcto.com/2011/09/14/surve...gh-degree-of-customer-satisfaction-the-cause/
http://macdailynews.com/2011/07/14/...user-satisfaction-still-magically-increasing/
What's common to all of them?
Vertical integration.
Aside from that, The Fire will purportedly be under Amazon's complete control.
We'll see.
I agree. You can't ignore apps AT ALL.
My mom is a total computer novice. I bought her a Mac mini 2 years ago because I got sick of having to spend the night there reinstalling windows every 3-6 months (if I'm gonna stay over at my parents' house, I don't want to be fixing their computer). She loves it.
Then she wanted a laptop, but it had to be a Mac. She tried the iPad 2 and MacBook Air at the Apple Store, and hands down, no contest, preferred the iPad over the Air. I think she would've even opted for the iPad if it cost as much as the Air.
Anyway, she is a total computer novice. But ALL she ever talks about is her iPad and the APPS.
I know Kindle is a popular product line, but I personally don't even see it as the same type of product as iPad.
I've got a few friends who all bought smartphones from different vendors (Motorola, Samsung, HTC), and they didn't realize that the underlying operating system was the same. I used the phrase "Android phones" and had to explain what I was talking about. At best, one of them knew that Apple's phones were somehow different the others, but didn't know why.
Based on that purely anecdotal evidence, most users don't seem to care about platform wars.
Based on that purely anecdotal evidence, most users don't seem to care about platform wars.
You mean like with the Zune?
Or the current laptop market? You're making a mistake here, which is that Apple wasn't able to sell its expensive "quality" desktops (made in America) before PC's with Microsoft software started flooding the market with cheap "not-quality" desktops (made in China). This is not the same as the present day situation where Apple has been the first in flooding the market with their more expensive but quality products and other companies are following up with cheap but "not quality" products (alas, all made in China. Sad that America made that bed and decided to lie in it, isn't it?).
The tablet market of today can't be compared to what happened with the desktop market of the 90's because in the 90's Apple didn't manage to get this many millions of people using its software (iTunes) or hardware (iPhones, iPads, iPods) BEFORE Microsoft PC's had their cheaper brands out. AND at that time most people had never had a computer before and were unable to compare. NOW people have used at least an iPod and can compare. They can demand to have the good experience they want and are used to rather than assuming all software and hardware is the same, so why by the expensive one over the cheap one?
AND Apple has a cache it didn't have in the 90's. Higher price is often immaterial if a product is considered cool or elegant or fashionable to have. The cheaper kindle may not win over the more expensive iPad simply because it doesn't have that "must-have" fashion factor.
Do beware of making apples and oranges comparisons folks. We will grant that Tim Cook may be wrong about this (or may be right--time and the what people buy for the holidays will tell), but Apple does have a much better toe-hold and presence in the market--an almost ubiquitous and worldwide presence!--then it did back in the early desktop days when desktop computers was anyone's game. The comparison you're making isn't viable.
It's not the same as the iPad. But there's significant overlap with the iPad - and that's media consumption. And that is where Apple is going to "hurt the most" because some people will choose the Kindle Fire because a) it's cheaper and b) they can watch movies, listen to music and read books. Which for some people is pretty much all they use their iPad for. I didn't say most or even a percentage - because who really knows. And I don't want to get into a debate over that.
Fact is - Apple and Amazon both have ecosystems that are in competition. It has little to do with the device. It's a means to an end for the most part.
Agreed. The Fire isn't trying to go up against the iPad, Amazon has said that themselves. You just can't do the same things on the Fire that you can do on the iPad. GarageBand is awesome, I use that frequently. Reading eBooks from not only Kindle, but Nook and iBooks app. Audible. You name it, there are TONS of apps that make the iPad a much more versitile device.
That being said, I think Apple is off the mark on their criticism, though it's typical Apple speak (akin to how they "welcomed" IBM to the home computer market in the early 80's) and a bit arrogant . . . but, hey, that's Apple, right? If I'm remembering the specs on the Fire correctly, it's not open to regular Android apps / apps store because of the specific things they did on top of the Android OS (I could be way off base there, but that's what I remember taking away from the product announcement weeks ago). So, in a way, it's become a closed version of Android, similar to how iOS is closed? Please correct me if I'm wrong, but I don't think getting Ice Cream Sandwich was on the board for the Fire until Amazon developed their own flavor of it for the Fire specifically.
And fragmentation is a HUGE issue . . . you have devices out there that can't run Android updates because of hardware limitations. You have individual hardware manufacturers making their own UI and changes to the Android system to fit their devices, sometimes leading to incompatibility with certain apps.
I don't think it's accurate to say Amazon's business model is the 'exact opposite' of Apple's. It's not like Amazon is making sound margins on content delivery either. Amazon takes the same 30% cut as Apple, with generally lower prices. Amazon's bottom-line is on a steady progression... Towards negative territory.
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I'm sure Amazon would love to base the Kindle Fire on 3.0+ (Ice Cream Sandwich) artitecture, but unfortunately Android 3.0 isn't open source (yet?).
So unless Amazon joins Google's handset club (which they wont, as Amazon wants complete independence), they don't have access to anything other than Android 2.X.
Wirelessly posted (Mozilla/5.0 (iPhone; CPU iPhone OS 5_0 like Mac OS X) AppleWebKit/534.46 (KHTML, like Gecko) Version/5.1 Mobile/9A334 Safari/7534.48.3)
Apple lost me as an iPad customer as soon as the Fire was announced. Why?
- Amazon Prime ($30 something a year since I'm a student after my 6-months are up)
- Cheap e-book versions of textbooks. I can keep my current Kindle Keyboard in my bag and be able to load it on the Fire aswell.
- I have $1,000 worth of their content I've bought in the last few years. They always have really good special. My Kindle with Special Offers have saved me loads.
- And it's a nice sized screen that isn't TOO big (least for me)
The iPad is good for those who are new to Apple based products. It's good for those who want to have the greatest experience possible with mobile based apps, and it's good for everything else. But as an iPhone owner, there's no need for me to own both. Especially when you're now expected to have the same apps with iCloud.
Apple lost me as an iPad customer as soon as the Fire was announced. Why?
- Amazon Prime ($30 something a year since I'm a student after my 6-months are up)
- Cheap e-book versions of textbooks. I can keep my current Kindle Keyboard in my bag and be able to load it on the Fire aswell.
- I have $1,000 worth of their content I've bought in the last few years. They always have really good special. My Kindle with Special Offers have saved me loads.
- And it's a nice sized screen that isn't TOO big (least for me)
The iPad is good for those who are new to Apple based products. It's good for those who want to have the greatest experience possible with mobile based apps, and it's good for everything else. But as an iPhone owner, there's no need for me to own both. Especially when you're now expected to have the same apps with iCloud.
And this folks is why *I* welcome anyone getting into the tablet market. Thanks Amazon!
Apple welcomes more tablet payers. Indeed.