In contrast, you don't have to pay extra for a 64G iPad compared to a 16G. And Apple provides streaming of movies free of charge. That goes with Apple's lending library that iPad owners get free of charge.
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some Kindle Fire reviews are already in
- Thread starter Yr Blues
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In contrast, you don't have to pay extra for a 64G iPad compared to a 16G. And Apple provides streaming of movies free of charge. That goes with Apple's lending library that iPad owners get free of charge.
Ah right, How do you transfer content to it? I watched an unboxing video and it didn't look like it came with a USB cable for syncing just a charger. Does it have Wifi sync or something?
To be honest...I don't know...I've not opened ours yet!
Got it last night.It's my wife's Christmas present, so I'm debating if I break open the box and update it with the newest 'OS' and then play with it (I mean load some of her content on it
), or let her have the fun of opening the box the first time, and have it all 'pristine' on Christmas morning....along with the case I got for it.Do what I did... buy a second one for yourself. Leave your wife's Fire in the package for her.It's my wife's Christmas present, so I'm debating if I break open the box and update it with the newest 'OS' and then play with it (I mean load some of her content on it
To be honest...I don't know...I've not opened ours yet!
It's my wife's Christmas present, so I'm debating if I break open the box and update it with the newest 'OS' and then play with it (I mean load some of her content on it
It wouldn't be a bad idea to set it up & make sure everything is good to go. Nothing like opening a Kindle Lemon on Xmas morning. I'm sure your wife would rather have the Kindle Fire. Lol.
My wife had ordered the Fire for me. She asked what I wanted for Xmas. I said the Fire was sufficient, I also bought the Kindle Touch. So she said I could wait till Xmas to open it. I said Hell No! Lol.
I would...but I bought my Christmas present to myself a couple months early (to displace a dead MBP)..... an iPad 2 32gig 3G
She's played with it obviously, and loves it, but it's very overkill for her typical usage (and she even said the Fire might be a better fit, as it can go in her purse).
Well, the first teardown of the Fire is complete, showing that it is costing Amazon $201.70 to make the Kindle Fire. Obviously, this is just for parts and doesn't factor in advertising, shipping costs, any R&D costs, licensing agreements, etc.. It pretty much confirms that Amazon is selling the Fire at a loss, with the hopes of making up the money on content sales and likely why they have to,d shareholders to anticipate a 200 million loss for this quarter.
I think they should have sold the Fire for $249.99. It's on par with the other 7" color ereader out there and would likely still sell in the same numbers it currently is.
I think they should have sold the Fire for $249.99. It's on par with the other 7" color ereader out there and would likely still sell in the same numbers it currently is.
I bet they'll start selling it at $99 subsidized with ads like some of the other Kindles. They are making money off of being a portal for their digital content and physical goods. Amazon Prime needs to be cheaper as well to compete with Netflix.
Actual thoughts on the Fire after a bunch of use (and comparison here or there to the Ipad which I also own)
First the physical aspects: Solid feeling. Approaches heavy, but not any kind of a strain to hold one handed for long periods. Has rubberized back; not textured though. The top has a thin but grippable raised edge. Comfortable and secure to hold a number of ways, one or two handed. Ipad feels like a clipboard in comparison. YMMV but this thing fits in my jean pocket.
First boot: If ordered from Amazon, boots, finds wifi signals then verifies the account (its preregistered to the account its purchased from.) Updates with a couple of restarts, wirelessly. A (very) brief tutorial explains the software home button (consistently bottom left,) and the gear icon for settings (including the software volume control - although on video, this appears in window if you activate the media controls.) Your stuff then appears in a coverflow-style carousel; my kindle books were here- a reassuring reminder of the connected and personalized amazon cloud experience, and unlike the app icon first experience of the ipad.
Apps: Being a long term Ipad user, I knew which apps I was looking for to start with. A welcome surprise was that the cloud experience extends to the apps too; it doesn't automatically load apps from your amazon app account, but they are all there and load and install very very quickly. The app store is a subset of the Amazon Marketplace... but... you can sideload, which I did for a favorite video player app (you'll need either a usb to usb-mini cable or to set up a file manager app like ES File Manager as a shared network device to work wirelessly.) You absolutely CAN load your own stuff (and play or view anything with the right app)
Video: Although I'm an Amazon Prime member, I've never bothered with streaming video from them; I've used HBO GO and Netflix on the ipad. The general experience with the video app is great. You can pick any amazon paid content or, if you have prime, the streaming stuff. Selection, not awesome, but perfect for entertainment when in a doctors office or something. The screen is excellent. Great clarity, color and brightness. The playback is completely smooth and the controls are responsive.
Books: I checked out the Amazon Prime Lending library. Can't really decide where I want to start; you get a free 6000 choice Lending Library ebook once a month, but the Fire+Streaming+Lending Library is a killer combination. This thing is not only going to make money selling content, its going to sell a lot of $79/year Prime memberships. The combination really makes sense here.
Music: Didn't bother with this, although did load a few mp3s just to try. Speakers merely serviceable. Obviously the Amazon cloud storage would work here, but even moreso, Spotify would suit the machine.
Web browsing: 80-90% of what I do on the Ipad is web browsing. I'd heard some less than flattering things, so I did not expect much. Flash etc work perfectly well, which is kind of a nice change of pace from the Ipad. This thing is clearly more beefy than the average phone browser, despite the phone like price. It is not as fluid as the ipad browsing, both in sometimes hesitation, jerkier scrolling and clunkier zooming... not unusable, just something to get used to. You HAVE to wait for the page to render before scrolling, but you don't see the checkerboard as you scroll as I sometimes do on my ipad. Theoretically when the amazon servers have enough data, caching will be quicker.
The keyboard is great. Steve jobs was an idiot; you don't need to file your fingers down for a 7" tablet. No issues with accuracy on keys, links or controls. The url bar is less of a pain to work with, and the tab and "shelving" functionality is really great too; much better than ios safari.
Format: The 7" tablet is perfect for on a desk or leaning, but not as perfect for a couch as an ipad; I found propping it higher, versus just leaving it tilted on my legs. It kills the ipad as a more portable device though.
My perfect tablet combination is shaping up to be a kindle fire with a tethered phone, and (perhaps) a larger format 12.1" or so ARM windows 8 tablet. It feels more and more like the ipad could occupy a jack-of-all-trades-master-of-none space for me, although having another tablet never hurts.
This is a REALLY good device at this price point. Ipad killer? I'm not dumping my ipad but this one would make me think twice, particularly at more than twice the price.
First the physical aspects: Solid feeling. Approaches heavy, but not any kind of a strain to hold one handed for long periods. Has rubberized back; not textured though. The top has a thin but grippable raised edge. Comfortable and secure to hold a number of ways, one or two handed. Ipad feels like a clipboard in comparison. YMMV but this thing fits in my jean pocket.
First boot: If ordered from Amazon, boots, finds wifi signals then verifies the account (its preregistered to the account its purchased from.) Updates with a couple of restarts, wirelessly. A (very) brief tutorial explains the software home button (consistently bottom left,) and the gear icon for settings (including the software volume control - although on video, this appears in window if you activate the media controls.) Your stuff then appears in a coverflow-style carousel; my kindle books were here- a reassuring reminder of the connected and personalized amazon cloud experience, and unlike the app icon first experience of the ipad.
Apps: Being a long term Ipad user, I knew which apps I was looking for to start with. A welcome surprise was that the cloud experience extends to the apps too; it doesn't automatically load apps from your amazon app account, but they are all there and load and install very very quickly. The app store is a subset of the Amazon Marketplace... but... you can sideload, which I did for a favorite video player app (you'll need either a usb to usb-mini cable or to set up a file manager app like ES File Manager as a shared network device to work wirelessly.) You absolutely CAN load your own stuff (and play or view anything with the right app)
Video: Although I'm an Amazon Prime member, I've never bothered with streaming video from them; I've used HBO GO and Netflix on the ipad. The general experience with the video app is great. You can pick any amazon paid content or, if you have prime, the streaming stuff. Selection, not awesome, but perfect for entertainment when in a doctors office or something. The screen is excellent. Great clarity, color and brightness. The playback is completely smooth and the controls are responsive.
Books: I checked out the Amazon Prime Lending library. Can't really decide where I want to start; you get a free 6000 choice Lending Library ebook once a month, but the Fire+Streaming+Lending Library is a killer combination. This thing is not only going to make money selling content, its going to sell a lot of $79/year Prime memberships. The combination really makes sense here.
Music: Didn't bother with this, although did load a few mp3s just to try. Speakers merely serviceable. Obviously the Amazon cloud storage would work here, but even moreso, Spotify would suit the machine.
Web browsing: 80-90% of what I do on the Ipad is web browsing. I'd heard some less than flattering things, so I did not expect much. Flash etc work perfectly well, which is kind of a nice change of pace from the Ipad. This thing is clearly more beefy than the average phone browser, despite the phone like price. It is not as fluid as the ipad browsing, both in sometimes hesitation, jerkier scrolling and clunkier zooming... not unusable, just something to get used to. You HAVE to wait for the page to render before scrolling, but you don't see the checkerboard as you scroll as I sometimes do on my ipad. Theoretically when the amazon servers have enough data, caching will be quicker.
The keyboard is great. Steve jobs was an idiot; you don't need to file your fingers down for a 7" tablet. No issues with accuracy on keys, links or controls. The url bar is less of a pain to work with, and the tab and "shelving" functionality is really great too; much better than ios safari.
Format: The 7" tablet is perfect for on a desk or leaning, but not as perfect for a couch as an ipad; I found propping it higher, versus just leaving it tilted on my legs. It kills the ipad as a more portable device though.
My perfect tablet combination is shaping up to be a kindle fire with a tethered phone, and (perhaps) a larger format 12.1" or so ARM windows 8 tablet. It feels more and more like the ipad could occupy a jack-of-all-trades-master-of-none space for me, although having another tablet never hurts.
This is a REALLY good device at this price point. Ipad killer? I'm not dumping my ipad but this one would make me think twice, particularly at more than twice the price.
Thanks for the thorough writeup. Fire sounds pretty useless for someone like me who doesn't ever buy Amazon context except for Kindle books. Based on the month I spent with the first Galaxy Tab, I have to agree with Steve Jobs. 7 inchers are too small to be comfortable to view websites/docs without lots of scrolling/pinching/zooming and too big to be as pocketable as a phone. I also don't like 16:9 for reading books in portrait mode - not enough words in a line. It's just a weird tweener size that doesn't work (for me). I've already got something pocketable in the form of my iPhone. For everything else, there's my iPad. I don't need another device between my iPhone and iPad unless I'm really looking for a solution to a serious First World problem.
KF v1.0 will probably drop in price when KF 2.0 comes out....Amazon has a history (I think ??) of keeping the Kindles around even when they overhaul one.
And, Prime is much more than the just the video/tv content (that Netflix has). It's free 2-day shipping on just about anything, and only $3.99 for 1 day (i.e. overnight). This pricing is irrelevant of the size (at least so far for anything we've ordered). That is a big part of what the membership is buying into. The movie/tv content, at least for me, could be entirely non existent and I'd still be a member. But, I'm looking at some of the ebook stuff now that it's going to be included.
Wanted to add a great example of the Prime membership in action.
Last year....I almost forgot a very important birthday, but at least my calendar reminded me (and I paid attention to it) the day before.
Overnight flowers guaranteed, almost $40-60 extra, depending on what I ordered. For $4 shipped, I spent about the same overall $, and got a really nice silver fruit bowl overnight to them with Amazon Prime.
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Excellent review. Thanks. A few thoughts...
() I've noticed a number of reviewers comment on the weight of the Fire. Since the Fire is about 30% lighter than the iPad I suspect there's a psychological aspect to this perception. The brain estimates the weight of objects based on our experience before we pick them up. If the actual weight is different, the brain gets a signal to that effect. The Fire is heavier than a typical e-reader and I suspect that, consciously or not, many users expect it to weigh a bit less than it does.
() It will be interesting to see if users' experience with the browser changes as the Amazon servers develop more extensive profiles of widely used websites. I find it interesting that reviewers report such a wide range of experiences with the browser. Some hate it; some think it's great. I think some of that variation may stem from the quality of internet connections or the websites tested.
() Some other reviews have commented on the less than stellar quality of the speakers. Personally, I always use external speakers or headphones with my iPad (and with my laptop, as well.) It's definitely a personal preference but at least for me and for the kind of music I listen to, none of these devices provide more than "emergency" listening through the speakers. That's why I'm often puzzled that some users complain that the iPad doesn't have stereo speakers.
() I seldom use the onscreen iPad keyboard and I suspect I'd find the absence of bluetooth to be a problem if I tried to use the Fire for any extended content production. On the other hand, I think the number of alternate (virtual) keyboards available for the Fire would be an advantage in finding one that suits me. (That's the case with my Android Smartphone.)
() I have a wifi only iPad that I use with a 4G/LTE mobile hotspot when I don't have a fast wifi signal. (Equivalent to tethering.) It's for that reason that the absence of 3G on the Fire wouldn't pose a problem for me. It will be interesting to see if Amazon introduces native cell carrier access in their next model. I suspect, frankly, that Amazon opted not to get involved in that functionality with 4G networks becoming more common and coverage expanding.
() For my personal use the Fire (or any other 7" tablet) is simply redundant. I certainly wouldn't give up some of the iPad's features just for the portability of the Fire. And I don't think my wife will give up her e-ink enabled Kindle for the Fire. But if she would, it would be nice to have an extra web browsing, audio/video streaming, email handling, e-reader capable tablet in the household.
It's difficult to say how I'd feel if I didn't already have an iPad. The Fire's price would be very attractive and I'm sufficiently familiar with Android devices that I wouldn't worry about finding apps that would work well and give me the functionality I need. On the other hand, I purchased the iPad in part for its value for my 7 y/o daughter. And while the Fire makes a stab at providing content for kids, it can't match the iPad.
This is a big point for those thinking of using the Fire for kids.
Other than your Amazon password, is there any other 'parental controls'? I had read (again, haven't opened ours yet), that there currently isn't, as it's come up a few times on Amazon's own forums.
Big deal, at least in our household, as I use Apple's parental controls features on my kid's iPod Touches, and hand it to them with no worry of what they'll stumble (or otherwise) get into with it.
That does appear to be a deficiency in the initial release. (I've seen the same complaints on the Amazon user reviews.) It's not a big deal in our household but I do understand that parents have widely varying views on this issue and different methods of coping with what they see as risks.
In general, I think that all of the tablet manufacturers, including Apple, fail to understand and design for the use of their devices by more than one person in a household. The "ancestry" of the OS's all reflect an underlying "phone" bias; i.e. an assumption that the device is used only by a single person with a particular identity. And while that is almost always a valid assumption for a phone, it is NOT viable for a "household" device such as a tablet.
Apple at least provides the "parental control" feature on the iPod and iPad. And if the device is used more or less exclusively by a child I suppose they accomplish the objective of blocking functionality and access. (Since I don't use it, I can't be sure, but I'll take others word for it.)
But even with that feature the iPad is sadly deficient in terms of making the iPad usable by multiple members of a household. No user accounts. No ability to put an icon on more than one screen. No email security at the account level. etc. etc.
The presumption, I suppose is that every household needs an iPad for every member of the family. The Kindle Fire appears to make the same presumption. And while $200 per person is less than $500 per person, it doesn't excuse the lack of design forethought.
The features do work very well for us. You can control which native apps, and features (such as the camera/gps). It's amazing how they figure ways around things though. I disabled Safari, for example, but added a kid friendly dictionary app (that has access to wiki info). My 8 year old has figured it out and uses it as a Google search engine.....good thing the results are very tame!
I, agree, user accounts would be awesome, and save some $, but it'd create (at least in our household), a 'It's my turn to use it.....NO, it's my turn to use it'. And since Apple's probably figured this....it makes them more $$$ to not do user accounts on the iPad/iPod devices.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fjlRXkc_c4Y
7.85" iPad, make it so, Tim!
I'm going to wait until the next Apple keynote to see whether or not I'm going to get a Fire. I should be spending my money on musical instruments, though.
7.85" iPad, make it so, Tim!
I'm going to wait until the next Apple keynote to see whether or not I'm going to get a Fire. I should be spending my money on musical instruments, though.
"My mom has been talking about wanting a e-reader for awhile and had been thinking about the Nook Color for awhile but it just wasn't in the budget. Recently the Kindle Fire and the new Nook came out and she wanted to see them. After playing with the Kindle Fire at Target this morning we both fell in love. We went to Best Buy next to see if we could see the new Nook as well but they didn't have it. We played with the Fire some more and asked a bunch of questions. As much as we loved it I figured we would be leaving then but no. One of the employees was going into the back to get more of the Kindle Fires and my mom asked him to bring out two for us. My jaw just dropped open as I was in total shock (especially since we just had an over $600 plumbing emergency a few days ago). I still can't believe it. Anyway, I am absolutely in love with it and can't put it down! We are hoping to buy some things like books and magazines for them tonight. Right now I'm watching "Elizabeth" and picture on the Kindle is awesome plus way bigger than my iPod."
http://www.flickr.com/photos/51799248@N04/6372168973/
The butthurt, it burns!
http://www.flickr.com/photos/51799248@N04/6372168973/
The butthurt, it burns!
Was just at BestBuy playing with a Fire. Opened up a Dr. Seuss book - not sure if it was an ebook or an app. Got stuck because everywhere I tap, it's interactive - it reads the name of the object you tap - so I couldn't find a place to tap to bring up the control buttons.
A Biased Kindle Fire Opinion
A quick background on my opinions. Im a long time Apple fan and iPad lover, but I do feel that its size has been the one thing that kept me from using it WHEN I wanted to. For ME, a 7" is MY ideal size. Even though there are many Android tablets out there but the problem for me is that I dont want to invest that much into a platform I'm not a big fan of. But as a Prime user and someone who wants to get back into reading then I got a Kindle anyway. But now that I have it then I'm really not sure what to do with it.
So here's a very biased opinion from an impulsive Tablet Lover and Amazon Prime user who really just wants a 7" iPad:
Kindle Fire:
Pros:
+Cheap. At $199 this is an impulse buy, a great holiday gift, a "mom" device and a book readers fantasy
+Size. In no way would I say 7" should be the ONLY size, but I do strongly feel it should be the "other" size. For many then the kindle is a pocketable/purseable device where the iPad is more of a sidebag sized product.
+Amazon Prime. Again, this is MY opinion and as a Prime user then NOT getting a Kindle is almost stupid. Lending library gives you a book a month to borrow and things like Video on Demand are an added benefit.
+Simple. This is a very easy product to use and you could teach anyone from a kid to a grandma within minutes. So the audience of this product is just about anyone.
+Apps. Mail. Book reading. Internet. Games. Hulu/Netflix etc. Obviously its easy to find apps that arent there but for regular people then this is enough. Plus Amazon offers a free app a day which usually are pretty good ones.
-Kindle App. Did you know their kindle app reads to you? Seriously?!?! Ive been trying to get through the Steve Jobs book and since I've got a kid then I'm alternating between book and audiobook. But with the Kindle then I couldve saved money and just used a single device.
Cons:
-I love iOS. Ive been using iPod Touches, disabled iPhones, iPads throughout the years and now that iPhone is on Sprint then I now have a 4S and iPad 2 that I absolutely love. So switching to another OS is harder than just using the Fire for the first time
-Missing Buttons. Sorry folks but I think Steve was wrong. Whether we're talking about changing the volume, locking rotation, activating Siri, pressing a shutter or whatever else we do on a regular basis, dedicated buttons ARE important! The Fire ONLY has a power button so something as simple as changing volume requires tap-tap-tapping to get done.
-1st Gen Device. No doubt about it, this is a first gen product. Apple really nailed it with the iPad which is why the iPad 2 had so little changed. But with the Kindle then it's a solid debut but you can still see where some things NEED to be addressed.
-No Camera. I bought my mom an iPad 2 this summer and she thinks she loves it. But in the end she only does mail, internet and... photography. Yes, she walks around taking pictures with an iPad and I stealthily send photos of her to my brother and we all laugh. BUT, you know what? She loves it. She's hitting 60 so what does she care if it looks stupid, her old eyes love the giant "viewfinder". So a camera on a 7" screen is silly to us pretentious self-conscious nerds, but to some people a camera is NOT stupid.
Misconceptions:
+No Apps: Apple fans tend to boast about how big the App store is but in reality then most people only need a few dozen key apps. Amazon has been building their store for months and most of the key "eye-catching" apps are already there. Hulu, Netflix, Angry Birds, Fruit Ninja, Words with Friends, Evernote etc. And developer support is expected to come strong so this should NOT be a reason to slam the Fire.
+Small Enough/Big Enough. There's no history that said 10" is perfect and every other size is unusable. That opinion only got popularized by the loudest of Apple fans who support Apple to such an extent that they won't allow discussion of smaller sizes to even exist because "that's not what Apple chose to do". But reality is that 7" is an amazing balance of portability/usability and fits perfectly between phone and notebook.
+Solid Specs. This thing doesnt blaze through anything but its "sluggishness" is only going to be noticed by iPad users since we're so spoiled with iPad 2 speeds.
My Opinion:
This is a product that anyone who doesnt want/need an iPad should strongly consider. Its got the right price, it's got enough apps, its got developers, its not a dead end product. BUT my hesitation on recommending this is that if you're happy with iOS then adventuring into other platforms isn't always very fun. I could see how the Fire would be a nice little product to carry around but in the end then I prefer iOS so a 7" iPad is really what I'm after. I'll probably regift this to my brother who reads more than I do and would never spend $500 on an iPad.
A quick background on my opinions. Im a long time Apple fan and iPad lover, but I do feel that its size has been the one thing that kept me from using it WHEN I wanted to. For ME, a 7" is MY ideal size. Even though there are many Android tablets out there but the problem for me is that I dont want to invest that much into a platform I'm not a big fan of. But as a Prime user and someone who wants to get back into reading then I got a Kindle anyway. But now that I have it then I'm really not sure what to do with it.
So here's a very biased opinion from an impulsive Tablet Lover and Amazon Prime user who really just wants a 7" iPad:
Kindle Fire:
Pros:
+Cheap. At $199 this is an impulse buy, a great holiday gift, a "mom" device and a book readers fantasy
+Size. In no way would I say 7" should be the ONLY size, but I do strongly feel it should be the "other" size. For many then the kindle is a pocketable/purseable device where the iPad is more of a sidebag sized product.
+Amazon Prime. Again, this is MY opinion and as a Prime user then NOT getting a Kindle is almost stupid. Lending library gives you a book a month to borrow and things like Video on Demand are an added benefit.
+Simple. This is a very easy product to use and you could teach anyone from a kid to a grandma within minutes. So the audience of this product is just about anyone.
+Apps. Mail. Book reading. Internet. Games. Hulu/Netflix etc. Obviously its easy to find apps that arent there but for regular people then this is enough. Plus Amazon offers a free app a day which usually are pretty good ones.
-Kindle App. Did you know their kindle app reads to you? Seriously?!?! Ive been trying to get through the Steve Jobs book and since I've got a kid then I'm alternating between book and audiobook. But with the Kindle then I couldve saved money and just used a single device.
Cons:
-I love iOS. Ive been using iPod Touches, disabled iPhones, iPads throughout the years and now that iPhone is on Sprint then I now have a 4S and iPad 2 that I absolutely love. So switching to another OS is harder than just using the Fire for the first time
-Missing Buttons. Sorry folks but I think Steve was wrong. Whether we're talking about changing the volume, locking rotation, activating Siri, pressing a shutter or whatever else we do on a regular basis, dedicated buttons ARE important! The Fire ONLY has a power button so something as simple as changing volume requires tap-tap-tapping to get done.
-1st Gen Device. No doubt about it, this is a first gen product. Apple really nailed it with the iPad which is why the iPad 2 had so little changed. But with the Kindle then it's a solid debut but you can still see where some things NEED to be addressed.
-No Camera. I bought my mom an iPad 2 this summer and she thinks she loves it. But in the end she only does mail, internet and... photography. Yes, she walks around taking pictures with an iPad and I stealthily send photos of her to my brother and we all laugh. BUT, you know what? She loves it. She's hitting 60 so what does she care if it looks stupid, her old eyes love the giant "viewfinder". So a camera on a 7" screen is silly to us pretentious self-conscious nerds, but to some people a camera is NOT stupid.
Misconceptions:
+No Apps: Apple fans tend to boast about how big the App store is but in reality then most people only need a few dozen key apps. Amazon has been building their store for months and most of the key "eye-catching" apps are already there. Hulu, Netflix, Angry Birds, Fruit Ninja, Words with Friends, Evernote etc. And developer support is expected to come strong so this should NOT be a reason to slam the Fire.
+Small Enough/Big Enough. There's no history that said 10" is perfect and every other size is unusable. That opinion only got popularized by the loudest of Apple fans who support Apple to such an extent that they won't allow discussion of smaller sizes to even exist because "that's not what Apple chose to do". But reality is that 7" is an amazing balance of portability/usability and fits perfectly between phone and notebook.
+Solid Specs. This thing doesnt blaze through anything but its "sluggishness" is only going to be noticed by iPad users since we're so spoiled with iPad 2 speeds.
My Opinion:
This is a product that anyone who doesnt want/need an iPad should strongly consider. Its got the right price, it's got enough apps, its got developers, its not a dead end product. BUT my hesitation on recommending this is that if you're happy with iOS then adventuring into other platforms isn't always very fun. I could see how the Fire would be a nice little product to carry around but in the end then I prefer iOS so a 7" iPad is really what I'm after. I'll probably regift this to my brother who reads more than I do and would never spend $500 on an iPad.
FYI, Voice Over will also read iBooks aloud. However, neither the Kindle nor iBooks features are substitutes for an audiobook, they're stop-gap measures.
I spent time with the Fire over the weekend and, for me at least, the 7" format just doesn't cut it. It's a terrific device for $200, but it won't compete with the iPad for the time being.
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It's not really meant for direct transfers - although you can do it just like with the Kindle ereaders. They're intending for you to use cloud services or buy Amazon content. You can still transfer .azw or .mobi formatted books via USB to the device. And you can also transfer .mp4 formatted movies. But the transferred movies don't appear in the Videos tab, they show up in the Gallery App.
Can't recall where I saw it, but at least one review commented on the fact that the Fire does not have good sound from its speaker(s?). That's hardly surprising. I find the sound from the iPad (and almost all notebooks) to be terrible.
But the same review noted that earphones worked well. I'd assume the same wired speaker approach as the iPad uses would be equivalent. (Obviously, the Fire does not support bluetooth speakers.)
Speakers are not good unless you're in a perfectly silent environment (not surprising). Nowhere near as good as the iPhone's, as an example.
If it's the same crowd that didn't want/need an iPod, then the future of the Fire isn't too bright.
We're getting into an iPod situation, where there will really only be demand for Apple's implementation, while competitors struggle among themselves for the scraps.
I don't see it that way. The iPod was primarily a uni-tasker. Different people use Tablets differently. Some want a media device for themselves (books/movies), others want a device to keep the kids busy on long car rides, others want a device to surf the web/email from anywhere in their house (for which I think a 10" wins out over a 7").
There's less of a one-use-fits-all to tablets and there's room in the pretty new market for several categories of devices.