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Screaming Fire in the Tablet Theater

by Brett Larson

10/3/2011


The wraps came off this week of the newest Kindle line up from Amazon and it includes what many think will be an iPad killer-- the Kindle Fire. The 7-inch color screen Kindle will let you access movies, music, books and a whole cornucopia of content that Amazon, shocker, has available to you.
The device will sell...in fact, it's already a top seller on Amazon.com and it's not even available yet. That's always a good sign. And I think it will probably be sold out for a long time. It's a great device that a lot of people are going to want at a great price point-- $200 is a price that won't have people hesitating long as they would with the iPad. And it will have plenty of updated content: key to the success of any tablet.
But It won't kill the iPad, it will simply put tablets in a lot more hands and that's a good thing for all of us.
See, the iPad is great, but the price is too high. I'll be upfront: my father worked at Apple in the 80's and my brother in law works there now, so I'm partial to their products. They are superior for many reasons-- and expensive. And that high cost will keep the iPad away from many of us, especially now. So any inexpensive alternative that is solid will help bring the price down.
That said: the iPad is the reining champ and at last count has 80-percent of the tablet market. But it really doesn't have any competition until now so it can keep that price high. The Kindle Fire will push the price of the iPad down-- but not immediately, it will do it over time. And who knows, it could force Apple's hand to make a smaller less expensive version.
Another hidden gem in the Amazon announcement: the lower priced Kindle-- now under 100-bucks. This is huge. The Kindle has so much to offer that a lower price point will be a welcome change and a price under 100-bucks will put one in every backpack and purse around-- that 100-dollar mark, by the way, is a point every tech company wants to get to because it's the price you like. 
I wasn't a fan of the Kindle when it first came out, I didn't think it would do well because people like books-- I'm one of them. I like to hold them in my hand, flip the pages, dog-ear them when I stop and share them with my dad if they're good. The time I read a book on the Kindle App, I didn't like it. I kept losing my place even though I could read on my laptop, my iPhone and my iPad and it was all in sync. But then I started using a Kindle and enjoyed it. The screen is nice, easy to read and it holds thousands of books and magazine content. 
Our digital lives are pushing forward... Paper is fast becoming so yesterday.

 

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