The Power of (Kindle) Fire

I may do a video review of the Fire at some point because I'm tired of silly unboxing videos and people fumbling through the Kindle Fire UI making stupid comments. But for now ... here is my article on the Fire as requested by some friends of mine.

First off let's clear some things up. This device has been dubbed an iPad killer. In some ways (which we will discuss) it could be but in other ways its not. The truth is one is chicken and the other is beef. Some people prefer one, some people prefer the other. And hey, some people might prefer pork of seafood. [Man, I'm getting hungry.] No the Fire doesn't have a camera, 3G, microphone, GPS, or a pretentious price tag. It is a $199 device and an iPad is a $600 device. Personally, I think its a smart move too.

Your smart phone will have all the features I mentioned and already has a data plan attached to it. So for someone like me who is a "bang for the buck" individual I don't want to pay for duplicate features and a second data plan. For some people this won't be an issue or concern. Great! That's fine.

So what is the Kindle Fire? Its a device to consume Amazon content (magazines, books, music, movies, tv shows, etc), run apps, and do some web browsing. In that regard (except for using iTunes content) it sounds just like an iPad at 1/3 the cost.

What do I like about the Fire? It is not too bulky so you can use it with one hand. Content can be stored in the Cloud or on the device. Purchasing content is easy and there is good integration between the Amazon site on your PC and the Kindle device. For example, if I purchase content on Amazon it will be available on the Kindle to download or view.

What don't I like about the Fire? The "8GB" storage is actually closer to 6.5 with everything that is pre-loaded. Since you can store content on the Cloud that's not too big of a deal but if you're trying to load up on movies (less of an issue with books or music) then you might not have enough space. Allegedly you can store about 10 movies on the Kindle Fire. The plus side of this is that if you're connected to wireless you can pull content from your private cloud storage or stream movies.

What do I like about the Amazon content? The selection is there. Most new media is available for download. The pricing is slightly better (say $15 for a new popular movie) vs $20 for the physical media. There is also rental options that make content available for $1.99 - $5.99. Most TV shows are about $1.99 for an episode or the season can be purchased.

Music prices seem to be fairly consistent about $0.99 a song but album prices can vary. Obviously book prices vary along with magazine subscriptions.

With Prime you get free streaming of videos and some limited "loaner book" selections. The content isn't necessarily newer stuff but its not all junk. Where it really shines is the amount of kid friendly content (Sesame Street, etc).

What do I dislike about the Amazon content? I'd prefer newer content over quantity of content for the Prime stuff. As far as I know there is no "add-on" to download music for a flat rate like Zune Pass or others. Some of the content (like Amazon's audio books; Audibles) doesn't seem well integrated with Fire yet.

Apps are lacking as well. I can get some of the more popular apps (Angry Birds, Facebook, Pandora, etc) on my device but ones like ESPN Fantasy Football don't appear to exist.

Amazon Prime? For $80/yr which includes free 2-day shipping on Amazon orders I think Prime is one of the better deals going on. That is basically $6.66 (nice) per month and includes not only streaming content but the loaner books (1 per month). So better deal than Netflix, etc.

Is this device good for kids? Yes, if supervised. There is no filtering/parental controls for web browsing or content downloads. And since even free content requires having all your billing stuff setup there isn't much to prevent your child from running up a huge bill on content.

In the first night of using the Fire and trying to get my kid to bed I was able to read her several children's books and stream episodes of Sesame Street. The finale I bought Kung Fu Panda ($6.99) and was able to stream it instantly. I later downloaded it so we can watch it on the go.

Other thoughts? Kindle doesn't have much in the way of inputs. It has a mini stereo jack and a power plug. The included power cable is a wall cable so I'm not sure if you had a USB cable with the correct connector if you could access the Fire or not. (IE as a mounted drive.)

Since you're purchasing digital content (not tied to a device) it seems like you could watch the same content on a computer or connect a computer to your TV and watch it that way. That seems pretty neat to me because now you're not having to re-purchase media.

Again, no SD ports or anything but you can upload content on the Amazon site to their cloud so that is handy. I think you can even upload non-Amazon music content as well.

Web browsing experience is closer to PC than Smart Phones are. Wasn't overly fast but wasn't overly slow either.

Final verdict: Great device if you have modest needs and the price is very reasonable.