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As a Canadian, you're just scared no one will needtreesCanada anymore.
Personally, I see is as something that will allow me greater comfort, and access to books. It is simply a form factor change of a very inexpensive computer. I don't think that takes much "hype".Quote:
If by change you mean pointless,hype driven consumerism then yes.
Tablets themselves have been around and in use now as a 'class' of electronic good for long enough that there use can be quantified. In reality the majority of people use tablets for 3 things browsing the internet, ebooks and light gaming (the angry birds kind) which is what I always suspected was the case anyway. So the burning question is how much is it worth to you to save the effort of walking to your computer system ? Tablets strike me as a convenience device and something to make you look like a complete wanker at starbucks, but since most of the applications are lightweight applets ala phone apps the devices have limits.
For me too, not living in the U.S. the cost is far higher, the minimum price for an iPad is @$750 and this is the baseline model (16GB no 3G) for an iPad or an Android Honeycomb based pad with 3G capabilities is over $1,000 , which is a great deal of money for a 'convenience' appliance.
This I think is the strength of the Kindle Fire, it has the core functionality of a tablet but has dispensed with some of the frills but at the same time has a huge amount of content on offer, and that in the end is the really important part of the debate, the content. I wait to see how much the Kindle Fire is offered here in N.Z. for, but personally am still not totally sold on the tablet concept.
You are right about the convenience factor. At $200, I'm all for it. I spend about 90% of my computer time at the kitchen table, using my netbook. It works out great since the kids are corralled in a nearby playpen, and I can settle hair-pulling, eye-gouging, toy theft, etc. The one thing that I do wish I could do with more comfort is read the vast number of books available to us. As a student, I've paid quite nearly that much on a single textbook (or at least would have if I had not been able to find a good used copy).
I have not given the iPuck/iTray so much as 10 minutes total attention. Certainly not in the $500+ range.
The fact that you have to pay extra for stuff is simply to balance out that you have all of NZ's benefits, and I live in the US (where benefits seem to be boiling down to little more than top-notch private universities, Newegg, and Amazon). Consider the higher prices to be a luxury tax, you lucky bassturd. :ermm:
You say that like consumerism is a bad thing.Quote:
Originally Posted by IdolEyes787
If by change you mean pointless,hype driven consumerism then yes.Quote:
Originally Posted by megabyteme
It's only bad when you (not you specifically) don't have the money or insanity to be part of it (or parts of it), but if it weren't for people shelling out their incomes into corporate capital we'd all be broke.
Yes just like in the bad old times.
I'd like to buy a kindle fire,but it isn't available in our country:cry:
Disappointed in the lack of expandable memory. Why would they not put a memory card in there?
To reduce production costs?
By the way, the device has already been rooted and it is now possible to easily install applications via the Android Market.
It won't take long until cooked roms will show up.
The fact that they can sell something like this for $200 is amazing. I wonder how much Amazon is actually spending on each unit. I know the PS3 was considerably more thanits initial street price, does anyone know how much Amazon is taking on the chin to expand into this market? Certainly, it wouldn't take too many books at $15 each for them to recoup their costs, but if the device has already (It's been what, a week?) been broken, this will make it more difficult for them to justify these costs.Quote:
Originally Posted by Cabalo
I'm all for people doing what they want with devices that they have purchased (Amazon set the price, not the consumer), but Amazon is offering a lot for very little. I wonder if this will be a success for them, or not. I just hope I can get 1-2 before things change significantly. :P
I heard on TV that it costs about 199$ (or was it 201$, not sure) to produce and distribute one unit.
I'm just not sure how people can read for several hours on an lcd screen. I prefer the previous ink screen for that purpose which is way smoother, almost like looking at a real page.