Results tagged “amazon”

MG Siegler responds to the rumor Google will introduce their own Android tablet this spring:

The problem here is that Amazon is selling the Kindle Fire at or near break-even (they may even be losing money on each unit sold when you consider marketing, etc). And customers are getting what they pay for -- a tablet of significantly less quality than the iPad.

If Google is going to undercut the $199 price, the hardware is either going to be shit -- or Google is going to have to take a significant loss on each one sold. Maybe they do that and say they'll make it back in search advertising. But there is real money they're going to have to pay to an OEM to get them to agree to that.

Siegler's whole post is spot on, but what about the ecosystem this "highest quality" Android is going to live in? Eric Schmidt's quote seems to be addressing the hardware of the device. Hardware is only half the story.

It's like selling a car to someone who lives in the desert. Sure, they have a great piece of automotive technology with climate control, and power steering and satellite radio, but it's useless without access to roads and gas stations and mechanics.

This is essentially what Android tablets are today — cars in the desert.

Amazon gets this and while their car might be crappy, they at least have roads to drive on and places to go. Books, music and movies, all a few clicks away. Seamless.

Yes Google has their Android Marketplace but from most the articles I've read, it's a place where you can't make much money and the piracies rival what you'd see on a Canal Street here in Manhattan.

So for me, I could give a shit what Google releases, if they release anything, this spring. If I have nowhere to go when I drive off the dealer's lot, it's not even worth buying.

Philip Elmer-DeWitt for Fortune.com on how many Kindle Fire tablets are being returned based on Amazon reviews:

There were 3,678 write-ups in all, nearly half of them (47%) glowing five-star reviews that basically said the same thing (Typical headline: "Outstanding value at $199").

What interested us, however, were the 491 (13.3%) one-star reviews. They are relevant because the number of Kindle Fires being returned to the store is likely to be an undisclosed material factor in Amazon's results this quarter

Amazon got the media ecosystem aspect right with the Fire, but as I mentioned in my brief review, everything else was a big letdown for me. But I'm also someone used to the smooth, well-thought out user interface found on iOS.

Which leads me to speculate if many of the negative reviews of the Fire are from iPad owners who have higher expectations than from people who are buying their first tablets.

ComputerWorld: Amazon challenges Apple with Mac app download store

Amazon today launched a Mac-specific application download store that will compete with Apple's nearly five-month-old Mac App Store.

The new subsection of Amazon's massive online store, dubbed "Mac Software Downloads," kicked off quietly Thursday. Amazon has long offered software downloads for both Windows and Mac customers, but this was the first time that the company called out its Mac-centric "store."

Yeah! Take THAT, Apple! We challenge you!

. . . by providing people with another marketplace download software for your operating system and help increase it's popularity.

Yesterday Amazon announced their new ad-supported Kindle. They didn't called it the Ad-Supported Kindle. They wrapped it in a cute little euphemism - Kindle With Special Offers.

Kindle With Special Offers (KWSO) - it's like a Friend With Benefits - except the benefits are ads in your face. Awesome. But it's cool, because your friend is a cheaper date because of the ads. Instead of the regular price of $139, the KWSO is only $114!

I say Amazon goes balls-out, Morgan Spurlock styley.