Amazon new launch event June 18th

[AnemicOak]

Originally Posted by Laridae

Oh dear!

That's the scariest kind of walled garden of them all. The one you don't even know you're in!

All tributaries of the Amazon flow into Bezos' pocket.

I can use my device as I want to use it without spending a cent at Amazon. That's not walled in. I don't need to go through Amazon for video (can use Vudu, Netflix, Hulu, etc.) or books (can use Baen, Kobo, B&N, basically everyone but Apple) or magazines (use Zinio). The only place you can say might be a problem is apps, but I've yet to encounter anything I wanted from the Google Play store that I couldn't also get from Amazon or one of the other app stores.

[wizwor]

I read what you said

Originally Posted by Laridae

I, like so many others, have a wariness about being locked in to the ecosystem of a particular company, no matter how good it is. I call it "digital claustrophobia".

We all live on this spectrum -- safety at one end and freedom at the other. There's a 'right' place on the spectrum for each individual. You just have to find the device that sits closest to where you sit.

Originally Posted by Laridae

We'll see how proprietary the new product is once it's announced. But if past experience is any indication Amazon's business model has been very successful for them and I don't expect it to change.

Amazon's Fire products are near the middle of the spectrum -- offering safety to those who use it as it comes out of the box while providing a LOT of freedom and a safety net to those who wish to take a walk on the wild side.

In the case of Fire TV, the XBMC guys have managed to get their app on the device and you can even have XBMC open when the FTV powers on. I am not an XBMC guy, but I have side loaded some apps onto my Fire TV. It's not difficult.

The Fire tablet was just as open.

Will this be applied to a phone? Who knows. It would not surprise me if Amazon offered different service providers to support their global aspirations and side loading of apps, but I would not expect them to let you bypass their marketing and tracking apps. The trick, of course, is to make the consumer want to use these -- by price matching, using special offers, etc.

[Laridae]

Originally Posted by wizwor

In the case of Fire TV, the XBMC guys have managed to get their app on the device and you can even have XBMC open when the FTV powers on. I am not an XBMC guy, but I have side loaded some apps onto my Fire TV. It's not difficult.

The Fire tablet was just as open.

So, you're saying their products are "open" because a tech whiz is able to circumvent the restrictions? That's setting the bar pretty low, don't you think?

These are mass market products intended for mainstream consumers who don't have the knowledge or time to jump through the hoops.

Anything that can't be readily done by Joe Public doesn't count!

[Laridae]

Originally Posted by wizwor

It would not surprise me if Amazon offered different service providers to support their global aspirations and side loading of apps, but I would not expect them to let you bypass their marketing and tracking apps. The trick, of course, is to make the consumer want to use these -- by price matching, using special offers, etc.

But it's the unavoidable marketing and tracking apps that make people crazy, don't you see? If I buy a device it's supposed to work for Me, not the seller.

This is exactly what makes some purchasers feel manipulated and resentful!

[fjtorres]

Originally Posted by wizwor

I am not an XBMC guy, but I have side loaded some apps onto my Fire TV. It's not difficult.

Any file manager or reading app among them?
Home automation? Video playback?

See, stuff like that might make the FireTV price more competitive so inquiring minds want to know...

[fjtorres]

Originally Posted by Laridae

But it's the unavoidable marketing and tracking apps that make people crazy, don't you see? If I buy a device it's supposed to work for Me, not the seller.

This is exactly what makes some purchasers feel manipulated and resentful!

And that is exactly why others buy the things in the first place.

I'm in the middle ground myself: I'm not a kneejerk shopaholic but I've been doing business with Amazon for nearly 20 years now and they've never given me cause to regret it. The ads on my tablet don't offend me. Most are of the "hmmm, no..." variety. On the other hand, they have coughed up three deals over the last year for things I intended to buy anyway at a cumulative (real world) savings equal to the current price of the tablet.

(Shrug)
Some things I don't bother overthinking and shopping history is one of them.
The only way to keep VISA and NSA from knowing how much I spend on SF&F, DVD sets, and video games is to not shop online. And I don't really care who knows I'm into escapism. It's not as if I'm ashamed of my activities...

[wizwor]

Originally Posted by Laridae

So, you're saying their products are "open" because a tech whiz is able to circumvent the restrictions? That's setting the bar pretty low, don't you think?

These are mass market products intended for mainstream consumers who don't have the knowledge or time to jump through the hoops.

Anything that can't be readily done by Joe Public doesn't count!

Please quote rather than paraphrase. It makes things easier for people who quote you paraphrasing others. I said that Amazon products were in the middle of the safe>free spectrum. I concluded that because people can side load, root, and otherwise exit the walled garden.

Most people are not interested in open. Most people want to check their mail, play a game, read a book, watch a video, and shop.

Amazon has been pretty supportive of developers and hackers. Apple sued them. Google and Roku patched their devices within hours of a hack being available. Roku has banned channels, password protected developer mode, and deleted posts about hacking their streamers. There's your low bar.

[wizwor]

Originally Posted by Laridae

But it's the unavoidable marketing and tracking apps that make people crazy, don't you see? If I buy a device it's supposed to work for Me, not the seller.

This is exactly what makes some purchasers feel manipulated and resentful!

Let me fix that for you...

It's MY responsibility to purchase a device that works for me NOT the sellers.

If you do not like product A, buy product B. If you do not like any product, start a company and build one you like. Maybe you will get rich because you have your finger on the pulse of the marker...it worked for Jeff Bezos.

[wizwor]

Originally Posted by fjtorres

Any file manager or reading app among them?
Home automation? Video playback?

See, stuff like that might make the FireTV price more competitive so inquiring minds want to know...

Fire TV is two months old. There were 200 vetted apps at launch. There are 350 now. You can probably side load most of what is on Google Play if you are willing to use a mouse (that's what I did for PlayOn).

http://hometoys.com/emagazine.php?ur...on01/index.htm

[MikeB1972]

Originally Posted by rollei

Unfortunately Nexus 5 cannot take 16:9 photos ..

Really, cause my Nexus 4 can (You can change resolution and aspect in the settings of the camera app)

[tubemonkey]

Final Day

Want an invite to our new device unveiling?

Wednesday June 18th, Seattle

Request an invitation to our launch event

[rkw]

Originally Posted by little and large

I was thinking some kind of electronic pet. A vibrating hamster or something. A vibrating hamster that has ebooks and music and lets you watch movies. And you can use it as a phone.

A potential big seller in The Castro?

Seriously though I'm hoping for an EPD phone. I need a phone that works outside in the sun. Don't care about color, just something that like the sun. Still find it odd we don't have any real options in this area yet. I know about the Yota and the other one whatever it is called. But I want a more mainstream option. Only thing is I want it to be ~4.5"...I KNOW this is not going to be the Amazon "It" but a guy can dream, right?

[frahse]

Originally Posted by WT Sharpe

I have a Verizon account and I'm tremendously satisfied with everything but the price.

PagePlus uses the Verizon towers, and only cost 4 cents a minute. I like it.

For data, I have used a company Lenovo with an air card for business, or a personal Mobile Hot Spot on vacation. I don't need to see the person I am speaking to.

[jersysman]

Well I got the email that I didn't get selected to attend the big event!!

Oh well.

[poohbear_nc]

Based on this story at The Digital Reader (http://the-digital-reader.com/2014/0.../#.U5714rGwMg8) - I'm thinking a color e-reader maybe (?) - this book can only be read on a Fire tablet, NOT on a Paperwhite .... hmmmm

Or is the storyline being used as an extended metaphor to launch a really different 'purple' phone - just to be different from all the other 'white' phones that all look alike?