I will not be purchasing Kindle Fire when it comes out in November. The primary reason is that I already bought a Samsung Galaxy tablet back in May. Since I bought my Kindle eReader earlier this year, I have become a big fan of Amazon and their products. If anybody can cut into the market share of the iPad, it would be Amazon.
Just going off of the news releases of the Kindle Fire, I am going to talk about some of the advantages and disadvantages of the Fire, at least from my viewpoint. First and foremost, one of the biggest advantages is price. It has been reported that Amazon is actually selling the Fire for less than it costs to make. Their hope is to make up the difference by selling content and apps from Amazon.
The other advantage of the Fire, and this is strictly from my point of view, is the size of the Fire. The Fire will have a 7 inch screen versus the 10 inch screen of the iPad. One of the reasons that I decided to get the Samsung Galaxy tablet was because it had a 7 inch screen. It can easily be carried in a pocket which gives it a bit of an edge in portability.
The biggest drawback that I see in the Fire is that it will come with only WiFi capabilities and will not have 3G. One of the things about my Galaxy tablet that I like is that it has 3G through my Verizon Wireless account. I can connect just about anywhere and not have to rely on the availability of WiFi. So the iPad gets the edge on connectivity.
The other big announcement from Amazon is the introduction of two new Kindle reading devices, one of which will sell for only $79. That is almost half of what I paid for my Kindle earlier in the year. Damn. That is one of the reasons I hesitated so long in buying my Kindle. Still, I don't regret buying mine when I did. I have gotten to read a lot of good books since I got it.
I was so hoping this would be a good fit for me. The WiFi versus the 3G might be a deal breaker. Thank you for the report, Dickster.
ReplyDeleteI guess it would be OK if you were in a lot of places that have WiFi, but most of the places that I go where I would use my tablet do not have it.
ReplyDeleteiPad is too heavy and pricey for me since I need some for reading only. Kindle Fire should be the best choice but it just only for US!! Boo
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