The Macalope ’s calling it . Our long - run game called “ Is It Competition Yet ? ” is over . Congratulations to Amazon on the introduction of the Kindle Fire .
Now , before you get your corporate undies in a plug , you people should really take the time to call in Amazon and buy yourself your own case-by-case underwear . earnestly . How you’re able to all wear the same underwear is beyond the turned on one . How do you move ? Very strange . And unhealthful .
After you do that , consider the probability that the Kindle Fire is more likely to develop the lozenge market by proving attractive to people who , to date , have been priced out of the market , rather than stealing portion from Apple . At that Leontyne Price point , and that degree of capability — no camera , just 8 GB of memory board , an unsightly resemblance to the PlayBook — it ’s not really in the iPad ’s class . Butt — and the Macalope uses two t ’s because it ’s a really big butt — it ’s part of a believable line of mathematical product from a credible company with a serious catalogue of media . There are emphatically going to be people who only need a tablet for content consumption and resolve that 7 inches is big enough ( cough ) and 8 hours of battery life history is long enough ( no coughing ) .
But rent the Macalope be clear : He does n’t think the Fire will significantly hurt iPad sales . He does imagine it ’ll affect its market percentage , though .
Plus he ’s just shopworn of take on “ Is It Competition Yet ? ” It seemed fun when we startedmore than a year ago , but ugh .
Anyway , who cares about securities industry share ? Even if the Fire does great and gets more securities industry share than the iPad , does anyone think citizenry will stop developing for iOS ? Does anyone think Apple will stop making maw of money ? No .
The Macalope has no idea ifAmazon will really be lose $ 50 on every Fire it sellsin order to get you to buy a Prime membership and more Kindle books and be able-bodied tomine all that pleasant-tasting data . But he suspects Apple ’s margins on iPads will carry on to be passably respectable .
As a monitor , this tablet is not an “ Android ” tablet . “ Android ” is a Google hallmark that does n’t give if you do n’t hold to the company ’s licensing terms , which Amazon clearly has not . Notice that the word “ Android ” only appears in one spot onthe Kindle Flame Cartesian product page .
Additional electronic mail apps are available in our Amazon Appstore for Android .
So , remember that when you see grocery store - share numbers start to come out . These are Kindles , not Android tablets .
Once again , of class , the cockamamie element of the tech industriousness are screaming“iPad killer!”(Tip o ’ the antlers toThe Loop . ) They really ca n’t assist themselves . Go crazy , CNet ’s Molly Wood . Literally .
On paper , the Kindle Fire has half the characteristic of the iPad …
in reality , it has half the features of the iPad in real lifetime , too . And , as Sir Henry Wood herself take note , perhaps twice the limitation ! Think it ’ll have Hulu ? compete book stores ? How ’s Amazon going to make money if it ’s sell them at a loss and you ’re buying your books from Barnes & Noble ?
Does n’t matter .
Because price is all that matters . Which is why no one ever grease one’s palms an Acura instead of a Kia . Ever .
LA - LA - LA MOL - LY IS NOT LIS - TEN - ING TO YOU .
In these tumultuous times , and possibly even before , you necessitate wait no further than the $ 99 TouchPad buying frenzy for the moral of the tablet market ( and perhaps every other electronics market place , ultimately ): it ’s the price , stupid .
OK , but how many TouchPads did HP really sell ? Sure , they sold tight . Almostlike they weregoing out of style . Hmm . And how many people bought the TouchPadinstead ofan iPad ?
await , at $ 199 , the Kindle Fire will deal like categorical thing that are hot but still not flapcake . That does n’t mean that any of those customer were ever go to grease one’s palms an iPad in the first place . Also you ’re get into that Apple wo n’t lower the cost of the iPad , ever . Also , you ’re engaging in hackneyed technology diligence hyperbole .
If anything , Amazon has done what Apple did with the iPad in the first place : create an entirely new market .
Uh , well , if it ’s an entirely new market then it ’s not competing with the iPad . Right ?
It ’s her , right ? It ’s not the Macalope , it ’s her , is n’t it ?
Being a technical school pundit is like experience some kind of degenerative memory loss . “ The Xoom ’s an iPad killer ! ” “ Windows 8 is an iPad killer ! ” “ The Kindle Fire is an iPad Orcinus orca ! ”
You have n’t even hold one yet .
Not to ruin the Kindle Fire victory party , but even though the Kindle Fire does n’t bear the “ Android ” name , it still uses much of the underlie code . you’re able to betMicrosoft legal is salivate .
