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Originally Posted by Prestidigitweeze
More specifically, what about this piece in the WSJ, which outlines Amazon's development/support of software for content creation, as well as its hardware/software implementation of business server/document/email transparency?
Kindle Fire HD and HDX Are Enterprise-Ready
It's very clear the new Amazon tablets are partly designed for content creation, and that Amazon has implemented business-specific features and specs as well.
Businesses and content creators like stability. Stability means fewer deviations from standard software. |
The Business features are for their Government contracts and for the educational space. I expect their corporate units will ship with Mayday hardwired to a separate call center.
As for the "purity" of the OS, note that Amazon is calling it FireOS, not Android. It is now its own separate entity. Parse the descriptions and you'll see they aren't even claiming full Android compatibility, merely that it can run "most" Android apps.
Amazon is doing the same thing Samsung is doing, only more extensively in de-Googling their system.
Simple rule of thumb: if you want Android, buy Nexus. If you want an appliance and don't care what the plumbing is like, then maybe the Fire's will do.
And, BTW, the tablets are not over spec'd -- there is no such thing as too much RAM, CPU-power, or GPU-power, for *gaming*.
What Amazon is doing is focusing on customer usage profiles (note the plural) and adding features to tickle the fancy of the corporate types, the gamers, the family buyer... Buyers they actually have a chance to persuade. Android purist and iOS fans they never had a chance with so there is no reason to even bother. They have a product and they will sell it to those that want it.
It's a hardcore approach.
It may work or not but nobody can accuse them of doing a me-too generic product. Just as with KF8 vis-a-vis epub3, they are focusing on what is useful to *their* customers and targets instead of trying to be all things to all people.
In the NBCNEWS piece above, Bezos reiterates that they make their money when people use their gadgets not when they buy them. And that they are indifferent to upgrade sales. Which means at least some of the HDX features will be coming to the current HD models. And to their reading and video apps.
The FIRE tablets are appliances, not computers. They are closer to Smart TVs than PCs. And that is the way their customers need it.
There's plenty of generic android tablets out there for those looking for purity. Amazon is looking for content and service consumers, not mobile computing users.