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This seems like a misstep to me that will ultimately hurt users and developers. If any API incompatibilities emerge (beyond the normal API level that Android u

by rryan 15y ago

This seems like a misstep to me that will ultimately hurt users and developers. If any API incompatibilities emerge (beyond the normal API level that Android uses to distinguish between release APIs) then developers will be forced to fork their own products and maintain 2 separate release channels -- one for the Android market and one for the Kindle market. Beyond that, Android will continue to fly ahead with each release and the Kindle won't be able to keep up without significant time pulling and merging changes from upstream. I'm not looking forward to continually only having access to last years apps because the Kindle is a year behind the mainline Android release. Unless Amazon goes through the Android certification process, and keeps their "fork" as a pure UI modification, I'm going to pass on this. It might be bright and shiny on day 1, but on day 365 it could be a different story.

officemonkey 15y ago
You're seeing this as a crippled android tablet. It's not. It's a kindle. There's a big market out there for people who just want to read a book. They don't want to GPS with Google Maps, they don't want to install Yelp, or Trulia, or GrubHub apps. They just want to read, listen to music, and watch a video when they're on the bus or on the couch. Amazon has done well by providing focus to the Kindle. Where I commute it's more popular than the iPad. They may someday decide to take Apple head-on with an Android tablet, but it's not gonna be this year.
- nutjob123 15y ago
  That's not the point. Amazon IS including their android app store with the tablet and if the tablet only supports old android api's then developers will need to write seperate code for regular android and kindle android.
  - wanorris 15y ago
    If you want to reach a wide audience on Android, you already need to be prepared to support older Android releases, because most phones don't get upgraded after purchase.
- estel 15y ago
  I'm not convinced that Amazon will be marketing it in the Kindle sector. Kindle at the moment is very much associated as a device incredibly well suited to reading a book, and the existing third generation one is incredible at this. If I'm paying three times as much for a Kindle tablet, they've got to be selling it me on features that compensate for the less-optimal reading screen and massively reduced battery life. They've got to be selling it on the basis of tablet-like apps. This might mean a focus on magazine/more graphically designed newspapers, perhaps distributed through the Kindle Store, that take advantage of the nature of the Tablet's screen; but at the very least it will have to be a tablet with an exceptionally capable browser.
  - cpeterso 15y ago
    > They've got to be selling it on the basis of tablet-like apps. Mom 'n' pop users don't care about "apps". They want books, email, web browsing, music, free streaming movies, and whatever silly game is popular at the moment (Angry Birds, Sudoku, and Bejeweled). A Kindle tablet can do all of these.
    - estel 15y ago
      Against the baseline of an existing Kindle, email, web browsing, music, movies and Angry Birds are all apps.
      - officemonkey 15y ago
        Existing Kindles have email, web browsing, music, and games. True, there are limitations. Movies are the only "new" thing.
        DasIch 15y ago
        You can't seriously use any of them though, it's far to slow for that. You buy a Kindle because you want to read books, if you really wanted all those other features you would buy an iPad which is actually good at them.
- megablast 15y ago
  If a tablet has the android market place, and google apps, users do not have to use them. Surely it would be better to include these apps, and get both markets, rather than concentrating on those who do not want to run other stuff on your tablet.
bradleyland 15y ago
Why the presumption that this must be an "Android tablet"? Amazon is one of the few companies entering the tablet market that isn't a primarily a "computing device" company. They have a computing device product, the Kindle, but it's very focused. Amazon is an online: * media retailer * department store retailer * book seller * catalog warehouse (third-party resellers) They have broad distribution agreements with thousands upon thousands of merchants in all product spaces (including media). No other tablet manufacturer (not even Apple) has the kind of vertical reach that Amazon does. Amazon is also a pioneer in understanding the way their customers shop for products. Amazon's iOS apps are some of the coolest shopping applications I've used. Scan a bar code of a product at a store, and instantly find out if you can buy it cheaper on Amazon. Usually you can. That's smart. They constantly refine their website to fit customer usage patterns. They know how their customers behave, and they know how to adapt to customer change. Remember when the iPad came out and geeks everywhere united in sentiment that it would fail. "It doesn't run a full desktop, OS!!! It's doomed to fail!!!" That's a caricature of tech punditry at the time of the iPad launch. Today, the iPad is way out front. All those arguments sound eerily familiar to: "If any API incompatibilities emerge (beyond the normal API level that Android uses to distinguish between release APIs) then developers will be forced to fork their own products and maintain 2 separate release channels..." This is all geek speak. Turns out, the market doesn't really care. Amazon, like Apple, isn't trying to enter a market, they're trying to create one. I'm not smart enough to know if they'll be successful, but if you look at Amazon as a company, they're an entirely different animal from Apple, Google, or Samsung. I think they have the tools to make it happen, but it will ultimately come down to execution.

by rryan 15y ago

officemonkey 15y ago

You're seeing this as a crippled android tablet. It's not. It's a kindle. There's a big market out there for people who just want to read a book. They don't want to GPS with Google Maps, they don't want to install Yelp, or Trulia, or GrubHub apps. They just want to read, listen to music, and watch a video when they're on the bus or on the couch. Amazon has done well by providing focus to the Kindle. Where I commute it's more popular than the iPad. They may someday decide to take Apple head-on with an Android tablet, but it's not gonna be this year.

nutjob123 15y ago
That's not the point. Amazon IS including their android app store with the tablet and if the tablet only supports old android api's then developers will need to write seperate code for regular android and kindle android.
- wanorris 15y ago
  If you want to reach a wide audience on Android, you already need to be prepared to support older Android releases, because most phones don't get upgraded after purchase.
estel 15y ago
I'm not convinced that Amazon will be marketing it in the Kindle sector. Kindle at the moment is very much associated as a device incredibly well suited to reading a book, and the existing third generation one is incredible at this. If I'm paying three times as much for a Kindle tablet, they've got to be selling it me on features that compensate for the less-optimal reading screen and massively reduced battery life. They've got to be selling it on the basis of tablet-like apps. This might mean a focus on magazine/more graphically designed newspapers, perhaps distributed through the Kindle Store, that take advantage of the nature of the Tablet's screen; but at the very least it will have to be a tablet with an exceptionally capable browser.
- cpeterso 15y ago
  > They've got to be selling it on the basis of tablet-like apps. Mom 'n' pop users don't care about "apps". They want books, email, web browsing, music, free streaming movies, and whatever silly game is popular at the moment (Angry Birds, Sudoku, and Bejeweled). A Kindle tablet can do all of these.
  - estel 15y ago
    Against the baseline of an existing Kindle, email, web browsing, music, movies and Angry Birds are all apps.
    - officemonkey 15y ago
      Existing Kindles have email, web browsing, music, and games. True, there are limitations. Movies are the only "new" thing.
      - DasIch 15y ago
        You can't seriously use any of them though, it's far to slow for that. You buy a Kindle because you want to read books, if you really wanted all those other features you would buy an iPad which is actually good at them.
megablast 15y ago
If a tablet has the android market place, and google apps, users do not have to use them. Surely it would be better to include these apps, and get both markets, rather than concentrating on those who do not want to run other stuff on your tablet.

bradleyland 15y ago

Why the presumption that this must be an "Android tablet"? Amazon is one of the few companies entering the tablet market that isn't a primarily a "computing device" company. They have a computing device product, the Kindle, but it's very focused. Amazon is an online: * media retailer * department store retailer * book seller * catalog warehouse (third-party resellers) They have broad distribution agreements with thousands upon thousands of merchants in all product spaces (including media). No other tablet manufacturer (not even Apple) has the kind of vertical reach that Amazon does. Amazon is also a pioneer in understanding the way their customers shop for products. Amazon's iOS apps are some of the coolest shopping applications I've used. Scan a bar code of a product at a store, and instantly find out if you can buy it cheaper on Amazon. Usually you can. That's smart. They constantly refine their website to fit customer usage patterns. They know how their customers behave, and they know how to adapt to customer change. Remember when the iPad came out and geeks everywhere united in sentiment that it would fail. "It doesn't run a full desktop, OS!!! It's doomed to fail!!!" That's a caricature of tech punditry at the time of the iPad launch. Today, the iPad is way out front. All those arguments sound eerily familiar to: "If any API incompatibilities emerge (beyond the normal API level that Android uses to distinguish between release APIs) then developers will be forced to fork their own products and maintain 2 separate release channels..." This is all geek speak. Turns out, the market doesn't really care. Amazon, like Apple, isn't trying to enter a market, they're trying to create one. I'm not smart enough to know if they'll be successful, but if you look at Amazon as a company, they're an entirely different animal from Apple, Google, or Samsung. I think they have the tools to make it happen, but it will ultimately come down to execution.