THE KINDLE FIRE – A NEW GADGET NICHE IS BORN!

Okay boys and girls, I’ve been a little quiet on the blog lately, but I’m ready to get back to work and chat it up about the new Kindle Fire by Amazon. I’m very bullish about this device, and I’ll tell you why…

First of all, Amazon hit my hot button with the price of this device. At $199, I’m already thinking of adding this to my Christmas list. I would be happy to get this alone… well, and maybe a 6-pack of fresh Fruit-Of-The-Looms, because that’s always a great score on Christmas morning.

Amazon actually surprised me with the price point. I really saw this coming out with a $249 price tag. That would have made it quite a profitable device. But at $199, reports from the Wall Street Journal state that Amazon is only bringing in a profit of $50 per device sold. I am impressed that they sacrificed front-end profits to get the device in more people’s hands by making it affordable.

I think it’s very fair that Amazon make a profit on this device, even though U still believe they could pull it off as a loss-leader (as I once predicted and wrote about). But this price will keep Amazon in business. I’m glad to see that they aren’t going to do an Hewlett Packard-like move and give these things away for a loss. We see where that got HP.

But the new Fire tablet will be something of a revenue generator for Amazon, because they are the kings of content. If they sell this device, they’ll continue to profit from that original sale even though there’s no continuing contract to go with it. Amazon has over 18,000,000 (yes, 18 million) items you can spend your money on that the Fire will be able to utilize.

You will be able to buy books, magazines, games, special applications, MP3’s, and more using this device, and you don’t even have to worry about local storage. You’ll get to keep everything in the Amazon Cloud storage space for free. Not bad at all.

What also impresses me is that Amazon isn’t trying to make this a traditional tablet computer per se, like the Barnes & Noble Nook Color (a great low-priced Android tablet device). This little gadget is going to be running on an Android kernel, but from what I am reading, it’s really geared towards connecting with Amazon’s own content with its own custom interface. I think that was a smart move.

For people like me who aren’t looking for a powerful computer-tablet like the iPad, this is perfect. I don’t really have a use for any type of tablet computer that my computer will cover, or a laptop. Without a keyboard, I just see tablets as completely impractical. But I’ve said it since day one, if a tablet came around at a cheap enough price, I would jump on one for using as a reading device or video content provider.

I use my iPhone 4 to read tech blogs each and every day, and I use the iBooks app plus the Barnes & Noble Nook app to read books, magazines, and other special reports. But the screen on my iPhone is just too small. I’ve often complained about that, and I want a smartphone with a jumbo screen to serve as a better reading device.

I also use my iPhone 4 to watch a lot of video content. I stay so busy that I don’t get to watch TV much at all. I watch more movies and television shows on my Netflix app than I do on the LCD TV in my family room. But I’ve just dumped my Netflix account because I don’t even watch enough video content to justify the $7.99 monthly fee.

With Amazon’s Kindle Fire, I would be much better off watching movies or television shows on a one-time basis with all of the $0.99 special rentals. I would possibly even opt for the Amazon Prime service for $79 a year, because that would give me much more content than Netflix at an even lower price (not to mention free 2-day shipping on certain items bought at Amazon).

For tapping into an even more infinite content source, the Kindle Fire has its very own optimized “cloud accelerated split browser” called Silk. It’s supposed to run faster for this device than an ordinary HTML browser, but I guess we’ll have to wait to see that in action before we get too excited about it. But with the Kindle Fire being Flash enabled, that too will make it a very usable device for web surfing.

Lastly, I’m impressed with the dual core processor and the high res 7″ capacitive touch screen display that doles out 16 million colors and in-plane switching (IPS) capability for viewing at extreme angles (it’s supposed to be as good as an iPad in that regard). I think there’s plenty of CPU and memory horsepower that you won’t have much of a problem zipping through applications and web content.

Overall, I would say that the Kindle Fire would have great utility for me. It’s small enough that I could take it everywhere, and I would be able to access the Cloud through its wireless capability for no extra Internet charges. Who knows… maybe I’ll pre-order one like my co-worker and fellow gadget addict Engineer Dan did today. It’s supposed to ship out in November, just in time for the holiday season.

I guess they’re not going for the “iPad killer” strategy here. It looks like both the Kindle Fire and the iPad 2 (or 3) can coexist without being in direct competition with each other. But it’s really gonna be lights out in my opinion for anyone else trying to bring a new tablet concept to market with Apple dominating the high-end and Amazon now locking up the low-cost end.

So I say BRAVO Amazon! I’m loving what you’re doing! Maybe I’ll be a proud Kindle Fire owner by the end of the year!

What are your thoughts about the Kindle Fire? Do you think Amazon will lock up the lower-end tablet market with this device? Is this something you would find great use for? Or is it too narrowly focused on the gigantic Amazon content farm? Let me know what you think!

Carlton Flowers
Hot For Kindle Fire

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HP TOUCHPAD FLAP COULD SPARK NEW SUCCESSFUL TABLET STRATEGY FOR AMAZON

A couple of weeks ago we watched with shocked looks on our faces as HP dumped their TouchPad inventory for ninety nine bucks. The collective geek community thought HP had lost their minds. But what they did could have sparked a new trend…

Loss-Leader Tablets

For those of you who don’t know the strategy, a “loss-leader” is basically a product sold for less than what a business pays for it, for the express purpose of attracting a rush of new customers and future profit.

For several months, Amazon has been quietly planning on releasing an Android based tablet, possibly under the Kindle brand, to compliment their current line of black & white eInk e-readers.

This could be the perfect opportunity follow up the HP TouchPad craze with an extremely low-priced but highly functional device. Chances are, it will more advanced than the successful Barnes & Noble Nook Color Android tablet.

Since Amazon makes a considerable amount of money selling books, the company could take the chance on releasing a tablet device at a loss with hopes to make a profit on the back end by selling digital books.

It’s something Amazon has got to be taking into consideration after seeing the TouchPads selling off like wildfire. There might not be a better opportunity for them to get their device in the hands of the masses.

Amazon has the deep pockets, the manufacturers, and the market penetration to make this happen. And this could set the new standard. Instead of 2 year carrier contracts paying for the cost of a device as it is with smartphones, the money would be made on future book sales. That would leave customers free of binding contracts.

I don’t know what price point Amazon is considering on their tablet. But something on the order of $300 or less sure would be nice. We can’t expect them to match the price of the HP blunder, but the cheaper the better. Personally, I’m waiting for a $150 price point or less, but the word is on the street that it will be around $250.

Who knows… maybe Amazon will do what they did in the past, which was releasing a new device and lowering the price over time. Remember back when the first Kindle hit the market in 2007, it was $399. Now we have the “Ad Supported Kindle” for $114. That’s quite a ncie price drop.

But instead of taking the time to test the market and respond to the demand and adjusting the price accordingly, I say they should just throw caution to the wind and float us a $150 color Android tablet. And we’ll promise to buy bunches and bunches of digital books from them to show our appreciation!

Do you think loss-leader tablets could become a trend? We’ve already seen 2 major newspapers come out with plans to use low cost tablets to revive their market. Maybe it will just take a national player like Amazon to kick this concept over the top.

Carlton Flowers
Future Amazablet Owner?

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RESULTS OF MY IPAD TEST DRIVES – THE FINAL VERDICT IS IN

Ladies and gents, I have a simple question for you:

iPad… Why?

In other words, what is your reason for wanting or owning an iPad? Does it have utility for you? What is your main use of the device?

Over the past year, I have had several opportunities to mess with an iPad. Recently, I spent some quality time actually trying to accomplish some of my routine internet tasks using my brother-in-law’s iPad 2.

After this and numerous other test drives of Apple iPads owned by various friends and family members, I’m left scratching my head and wondering if I would ever really have any good use for one myself.

When the iPad first arrived in the tech world, I was counting down the days up until the release. I saved my money, and I swore it would be a fantastic investment for a device that would make me more efficient and eliminate the need for replacing my dead Sony Viao laptop.

The first time I sat down and gave it a try, I fell in love with it. But after each additional experience, I’m left with no desire to have or use one. Not only that, I don’t think I’ve met a single person who has a strong reason as to why they own one. It has me wondering if anything other than sheer novelty is propping up the entire tablet market, for Apple and Android devices alike.

MY APPLE IPAD2 TEST DRIVE AND FINAL ANALYSIS

I’ll give you an idea of the things that didn’t work for me regarding my overall user experience with my brother-in-law’s iPad 2.

The first thing that bugs me is that I don’t feel comfortable holding it. It just feels too big. I’m not able to find an optimal way to hold it or set it up. Propped up on the foldable case, I have to lift my arm to touch the screen.

Placed flat in my lap, it’s just small enough to slide and move around too much. Holding it up in the air, it’s too heavy to use like a book, and my arms get tired. Reading my favorite blogs, do I use it portrait, or landscape? Either way, it just doesn’t “hold” right.

Reading was a pain in the rear end. Period. You’ve got this big lovely display, but you don’t have the ability to zoom in on tiny text without having to pan side-to-side. Apple gets a big fat “F“ for not designing this device to  facilitate easy reading.

I really thought that the lack of text reflow wouldn’t be an issue on the iPad, because of the large screen. Not the case. Lack of text reflow annoyed me just as much on the iPad as it does on the iPhone.

Typing was a bad experience. Right off the bat, I felt very agitated and uncomfortable when I attempted to enter in a web URL.I just didn’t know how to go about entering the text, as far as what to do with my hands.

Do you float your hands in mid-air before tapping the letters on the virtual keyboard? Where do you rest your hands? Where are the two little bumps under my index fingers for the “F” and “J” keys? Those were the immediate thoughts that came to mind.

Trying to type on a large flat surface with no tactile feedback was awkward to say the least. My only alternative was to tap out letters using the hunt-and-peck method.

I was able to type faster using two fingers because my rate of typos was reduced to zero. I figured I could live with typing with 2 fingers if I had an iPad, but it certainly would not be a useful device for writing.

I couldn’t figure out the best way to sit to make my interaction with the iPad ergonomic. Do I sit at a counter in the kitchen and lay it flat, or prop it up? Or do I sit up on the couch and lay it in my lap? Perhaps slumping on the couch and holding it up in the air would feel better?

I didn’t feel like I could get into a groove with any particular position or posture. They were all somewhat doable, but I just didn’t “feel” it. I kept getting frustrated, and the overwhelming temptation was to grab my iPhone 4 or sit at the desktop computer in a chair, upright, with a real keyboard.

So there you have it. My basic frustrations while trying to get in a groove with the Apple iPhone 4. It just didn’t happen for me. And I sincerely tried.

MY FINAL THOUGHTS ON THE IPAD

I still actively ask people to share with me what they mainly use their Apple iPads for, out of sheer curiosity. I also ask them if they feel it was worth their investment dollars. The majority of the time, the answers that I hear are weak, and unsure at best.

Right now I am more inclined to believe that it is novelty than a device that has practical use. There just aren’t enough things that you can list, in my opinion, that would lead me to believe that an iPad could offer as much utility as a laptop or a desktop computer.

There is nothing that an iPad can do for me than what my iPhone 4 can provide, and I find my iPhone to be much more portable and easy to use for the tasks that are most important to me. For composing emails, keeping up on Twitter, Facebook, and other social networks, and for my biggest use which is reading blog sites, I just can’t say that an iPad is any better than my iPhone. As a matter of fact, it’s worse.

Do you have a single use of your iPad that makes it stand out above using a smartphone, notebook, or desktop PC? I would like to know what it is. Or, does your company have some special “enterprise” use that justifies the cost of an iPad over a laptop? Share it in the comments section right now!

Carlton Flowers
iPad Tryer-Outer (Fail)

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CAN I JUSTIFY MY “NEED” OF A TABLET COMPUTER?

I could not wait to get an iPad when it was first rumored. From watching sci-fi movies like Star Trek, I’ve dreamt of having tablet like computers all my life. Fast-forward to 2011, and they are everywhere. It’s a reality. You can get them in every flavor and brand But now that my dream has come true, I can’t come up with justification to spend the money on one.

First of all, if I were to buy a tablet, I now know that it wouldn’t be an iPad. I think the iPad is of the highest quality of all tablets. But it blocks Flash. The single use I would have would be to use the tablet to build my website. But my web building tool is Flash-based. That nixes the iPad.

I love the idea of using a tablet as a reading device for magazines and books. But is that worth spending $150 to $500? I don’t know.

I have a part-time job as a ratings agent for a consultant, and I need to get a laptop. I can’t install the Firefox extensions and tools on a tablet computer and use it for my work. So my first priority is getting a low cost laptop.

But I will admit, having a Samsung Galaxy Tab or an Acer Iconia or a Blackberry Playbook would be great for entertainment purposes. I love to watch television shows through Netflix, and a tablet would be perfect for that. But I can’t say that I would have much more utility with a tablet than that.

Have you found a business use for a tablet? Does a tablet make you more productive? Have you found a way to enhance your internet marketing with a tablet?

If you have, I sure would like to know about it. Share it in the comments below and educate me!

Carlton Flowers
Tablet Mugwump (google it)
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GOOGLE/HTC ANDROID-BASED TABLET LURKS IN THE SHADOWS OF VAPOR-WARE LAND

It amazes me that no company has stepped up to the plate to release a true iPad competitive device. I just don’t get it. Sure, we have the useless “Joo-Joo” (doo-doo, poo-poo, whatever) device, which was supposed to be the “Crunch Pad”. But what use is this over-sized tablet device when you can’t run any software on it? None. And yes, there are a couple of ugly holdover devices from the mid-2000’s that have been on the market ever since, but they are either busted ugly, way to bulky, or simply small laptops missing the keyboards.

In my opinion, the secret Google Android-based tablet device has the potential to tap the market that Apple has primed more than any other company. Google showed us that they can seriously contend, quickly, when they jumped into the smart phone market with the Nexus One device. There were rumors floating about that Google had intentions to release a device built by HTC, running on the Android operating system, sometime during the first half of 2010. But reports came forth early in 2010 that for some strange reason, they abandoned their plans and put a “who-knows-when” release date on their product.

With all of the Android applications coming onto the scene lately, I am inclined to believe that Android application development could become the next hot thing. I don’t see them overtaking Apple, but they certainly could start to pile up a considerable number of applications for their operating system. The philosophical difference between Google and Apple is quite attractive, in my opinion. If I had to choose between “open source” and “closed proprietary system”, I would probably have to go with the open-source system.

However, I must admit, I am an avid iPhone owner/user. This smacks in the face of my programming and computer-building past. I learned BASIC programming on a TRS-80 (for those of you old enough to remember), then moved on to a Commodore-64. Next, I learned the Macintosh “GUI” system and stayed with Apple until I learned how to install Windows 3.1 onto old 286 computers in order to sell them. That led to a 10-year stint as a computer system builder, expert-level troubleshooter, software nerd, and programming novice. All of this doesn’t add up to the type of person who buys an iPhone. So why did I jump on the iPhone bandwaggon? Because it’s the best smart phone on the market bar none.

But I digress… hang with me, I will bring all of this full-circle! On the computer end of things, I want to tinker. I want to modify. I want to create. I want to break it down and build it back up again. I don’t want a system that does all the thinking for me. That is why I am attracted to the idea of an Android-based system, even more so than a Windows-7 based system. Heck, I’d even be happy trying out a Chrome-based system. And Google is in a prime position to tap into the market of people who are just like ME.

My question is, how long will it be before Google and possibly HTC come out of hiding, and share with us a projected date for a tablet based on Android? How many fence-sitters will grow impatient and purchase an iPad because they are sick of waiting for a contender? How many people will grow wary of the whole tablet craze, and opt to purchase a high-powered laptop computer before we see their flagship tablet product come to fruition from vapor-ware land?

Post your thoughts!

Carlton Flowers
Impatient Techno-Geek
(photo credit to www.gizmodo.com)

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iPad Is “iFlop” Compared To This Daydream: The “Rolltop”

The tech-world was set ablaze with excitement and high expectations surrounding the Apple iPad and its announcement in late February of 2010. But after all of the hype, the rumors, and prognosticating over the previous year, the unveiling of this ground-breaking technology as a device that would bring a “better internet experience”, i was sorely disappointed. In typical fashion and tradition, Apple brought us a new device that stands out on misfit island. So overconfident they were with the design and its potential, they felt no need to include simple standard amenities like a USB port, an SD memory card slot, a removable battery, a camera, a widescreen display, or ability to multitask. This could be thought of as a positive… perhaps Apple felt that their iPad would provide such a fantastic user experience that you wouldn’t need such ordinary extras.

That’s all well and good. But the biggest disappointment for me was the lack of flash support. Whether or not flash should be be wiped from the face of the internet and replaced with HTML5 doesn’t matter to me one iota. Flash has been called a memory hog, a Macintosh-crasher, a non standard proprietary corporate product, a money sucking machine for developers and more. But for now, it represents 75% of video content on the web (or so I have been told). That being the case, how does Steve Jobs get away with calling the iPad a “better internet experience” device? I don’t know.

I’m a HUGE fan of my iPhone, and I don’t think any smart phone on the market compares to my iPhone 3Gs. I waited to purchase an iPhone until the 3rd generation due to the lack of video capability, a compass, and MMS. But once those features were added, I decided I could live with the absence flash for my phone. But doing without flash on a so-called “full internet” device was a little bit tougher of a decision for me. All things considered, it boiled down to one thing: I’m not spending my hard-earned money on a device to experience half of the web while Apple and Adobe continue their spat.

This was a big let-down for me, but being that I am somewhat of a person you’d call an optimist mixed with day dreamer, I decided to turn my attention to the up-and-coming portable devices of the future like the Microsoft Courier and the HP Slate. But since we’re dreaming, why not push even deeper into the technological future? I say it is time for our imaginations to run wild!

This “Rolltop” tablet concept is definitely a product of someone’s wild imagination right now, but I do think we could see such a device as this in the next 3 years. This entire concept is just flat out amazing, from the rollable form factor to the power source. And yeah, you call me a pipe dreamer, but this is the type of idea that excites me and holds my interest. I’d wait a decade for this. Growing up as a techno-nerd reading Popular Mechanics in my spare time, I’ve always been excited about what breakthroughs we could be experiencing in the distant future. Dream with me for a few moments, and tell me how this concept excites (or bores) you after watching the video. Post your comments if you are motivated to chime in!

Forever geeky,

Carlton Flowers
Marketing Strategist

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