Kindle Fire Reviews Rolling In

[fjtorres]

Originally Posted by Tess89

It's tolerated on gaming consoles because there are precious few other options. We don't accept it. We deal with it.

It is tolerated in consoles because the walled-garden model of subsidized launch hardware is the only one that makes modern gaming consoles viable. Without it you get the old boom-bust economics of the atari/Intellivision era or the 3DO as a reward for a billion dollar investment. Or you get the APEX PGC.

With both consoles and the Kindle eink readers, consumers seem to grasp (better than critics, actually) what it is they are buying.
And what they are buying is *not* a piece of hardware, but rather access to content and functionality.

The question o FIRE isn't how much of a compuer you're getting out of your $199 but rather how much *use* you get out of it and whether that use justifies the buy.

Thaat is the same qesstion console buyers are facing these days, now that Sony has stopped billing the PS3 as an entertainment computer that might cure cancer and removed support for alternate OSes and uses. When you buy a PS3 you're buying a BluRay player that also plays games, rents/sells videos, lets you access Hulu, Netflix, and many other of thec same services as FIRE. Few if any non-hacker consumers ever really bought the PS3 as a computer and I expect few FIRE buyers will go in expecting to do word processing or image editing on a FIRE even though, yes, you could do it.

Android app capabilities on FIRE is a bonus, not *the* reason to buy.
You get a FIRE if you want to watch videos, read magazines, surf the next, and play casual games.

Again, I suggest that Playstation VITA and Nintendo 3DS are more likely cross-shops for FIRE than a TRANSORMER Prime or a chromebook, regardless of what the plumbing inside may look like. Ater all, Kindles run on Linux but nobody cross-shops them with servers.

Me, I doubt I'll pick up a FIRE any time soon, but that's because my needs are more in line with what the Win8 Tablets will bring not because I want FIRE to be something it isn't.
I just don't have a need for it right now.
But I do think there are a whole *lot* of people who will appreciate FIRE fr what it is and get full value out of it.

[SeaKing]

Originally Posted by fjtorres

It is tolerated in consoles because the walled-garden model of subsidized launch hardware is the only one that makes modern gaming consoles viable. Without it you get the old boom-bust economics of the atari/Intellivision era or the 3DO as a reward for a billion dollar investment. Or you get the APEX PGC.

With both consoles and the Kindle eink readers, consumers seem to grasp (better than critics, actually) what it is they are buying.
And what they are buying is *not* a piece of hardware, but rather access to content and functionality.

The question o FIRE isn't how much of a compuer you're getting out of your $199 but rather how much *use* you get out of it and whether that use justifies the buy.

Thaat is the same qesstion console buyers are facing these days, now that Sony has stopped billing the PS3 as an entertainment computer that might cure cancer and removed support for alternate OSes and uses. When you buy a PS3 you're buying a BluRay player that also plays games, rents/sells videos, lets you access Hulu, Netflix, and many other of thec same services as FIRE. Few if any non-hacker consumers ever really bought the PS3 as a computer and I expect few FIRE buyers will go in expecting to do word processing or image editing on a FIRE even though, yes, you could do it.

Android app capabilities on FIRE is a bonus, not *the* reason to buy.
You get a FIRE if you want to watch videos, read magazines, surf the next, and play casual games.

Again, I suggest that Playstation VITA and Nintendo 3DS are more likely cross-shops for FIRE than a TRANSORMER Prime or a chromebook, regardless of what the plumbing inside may look like. Ater all, Kindles run on Linux but nobody cross-shops them with servers.

Me, I doubt I'll pick up a FIRE any time soon, but that's because my needs are more in line with what the Win8 Tablets will bring not because I want FIRE to be something it isn't.
I just don't have a need for it right now.
But I do think there are a whole *lot* of people who will appreciate FIRE fr what it is and get full value out of it.

I don't understand everything you said, but I think I agree with you. A less expensive Win7 or Win 8 tablet seems better for me. Maybe the new tablets will have a few apps for those who don't like menus.

[SeaKing]

Pardon my "duh?"

Someone please give me a short simple explanation of "side-loading."

[tomsem]

If I were just going by these reviews, I don't think I'd order a Fire. But since I already have, I'll reserve judgement until I've had a chance to put it through its paces (starting a couple of days from now). Can always return it if I can't come up with enough reasons to keep it.

[Anarel]

Originally Posted by SeaKing

Pardon my "duh?"

Someone please give me a short simple explanation of "side-loading."

It would be loading... apps, music, movies, etc from another source onto the device.

[Blossom]

Originally Posted by SeaKing

Pardon my "duh?"

Someone please give me a short simple explanation of "side-loading."

Sideloading an app means getting it from another source like a apk file or another app market. The apk file is like a setup EXE file on a PC.

Sideloading content means non Amazon content like adding files via USB, through a cloud source or downloading from a website.

[SeaKing]

Originally Posted by Blossom

Sideloading an app means getting it from another source like a apk file or another app market. The apk file is like a setup EXE file on a PC.

Sideloading content means non Amazon content like adding files via USB, through a cloud source or downloading from a website.

Anarel
Quote:
It would be loading... apps, music, movies, etc from another source onto the device.
----------------------------

Thank you ladies.

[Conor]

Originally Posted by Blossom

Wait no charger cable in the box? That can't be right you have to be able to charge it.

It's strange. Not so many years ago, every mobile phone manufacturer had a different charger and people complained about the lack of standardisation. Now when nearly every gadget uses USB charging, people who probably have at least one charger and two cables, complain when they buy something new without a charger in the box.

[LoganK]

Originally Posted by Conor

It's strange. Not so many years ago, every mobile phone manufacturer had a different charger and people complained about the lack of standardisation. Now when nearly every gadget uses USB charging, people who probably have at least one charger and two cables, complain when they buy something new without a charger in the box.

Well, there are at least three standards for USB charging which doesn't help.

And just when we finally got around to standardizing on mini-USB, micro-USB came along to make our lives difficult (the original Nook was actually my first micro-USB device).

But I get your point. I actually have two "standard" USB chargers at my bedside that I use interchangeably, and I have my eye on a surge protector with built-in USB charging ports. The idea that the new Kindles and the new Nook Touch packaging don't come with chargers is actually a welcome one.

Not including a cable that I can use to connect my device to my PC or charger, though, is just obnoxious. While the Nook Color/Tablet cable is special, I can still use the charger that came with it for my other USB devices.

[Blossom]

Originally Posted by LoganK

Well, there are at least three standards for USB charging which doesn't help.

And just when we finally got around to standardizing on mini-USB, micro-USB came along to make our lives difficult (the original Nook was actually my first micro-USB device).

But I get your point. I actually have two "standard" USB chargers at my bedside that I use interchangeably, and I have my eye on a surge protector with built-in USB charging ports. The idea that the new Kindles and the new Nook Touch packaging don't come with chargers is actually a welcome one.

Not including a cable that I can use to connect my device to my PC or charger, though, is just obnoxious. While the Nook Color/Tablet cable is special, I can still use the charger that came with it for my other USB devices.

Oh I see now! The charger cable is not USB. It not like a normal Kindle which we all thought. I have a few Micro USB cords so not too worry but was like how am I gonna charge it if only has an plug with it. as I though it only had the plug and not a cable attached to it.

[fjtorres]

Maybe not including the USB cable is another of Amazon's "green" gestures, like their minimalist packaging?
(Besides, they can use the extra 50 cents profit.)

[fjtorres]

Originally Posted by SeaKing

I don't understand everything you said, but I think I agree with you. A less expensive Win7 or Win 8 tablet seems better for me. Maybe the new tablets will have a few apps for those who don't like menus.

A less verbose way to put it is that just because a product doesn't meet *your* needs doesn't make it an "epic fail"-ure. As long as it meets somebody's needs (enough of them, anyway) and meets the vendor's profit expectations it can be a good product, just not for you.

No product meets *everybody's* needs.
The best ones don't even try.

[wodin]

From the unboxing photo, it looks like the cable is intragal with the charger, does that mean that it can't be connected to a PC and mounted as a USB drive?

I doubt that Amazon would be short sighted enough to do that, but then ... they might.

[Blossom]

Originally Posted by wodin

From the unboxing photo, it looks like the cable is intragal with the charger, does that mean that it can't be connected to a PC and mounted as a USB drive?

I doubt that Amazon would be short sighted enough to do that, but then ... they might.

You have to buy a Micro USB cable this time. The charger is a separate cable unlike previous Kindles.

[kjk]

Originally Posted by fjtorres

No product meets *everybody's* needs.
The best ones don't even try.

Exactly.