Originally Posted by singlestick

...

I don't see that Amazon needs a "Nook Killer" anymore than it needs an "iPad Killer." One of Amazon's challenges is keeping customers happy as states try to tack on state sales taxes to Amazon purchases. And so, their strategy in coming up with new products and services, goes far beyond competing in the tablet market.

On the other hand, the Amazon product does offer an interesting challenge to the lackluster Android tablet market, and also offers a bit of a challenge to Apple's iTunes, especially if you can easily get music and video.

Points well taken. In fact, one of the subtle factors here is that Amazon, like Apple, can use a tablet to maintain and grow a customer base for other products. But in fact Amazon's play is much, much wider than Apple's since it doesn't just sell computing devices; it sells everything under the sun (including ironically iPads.) Not only can you get "music and video" on Amazon; you can get lawn furniture.

As far as the Nook Killer comment, I don't think Amazon is especially worried about losing significant unit sales to the Nook. But if you've followed the reviews of the Nook, it's obvious that it was a hit with the gadget press including sites like C-Net and pubs like PC and Laptop mags. As much as anything, I think Amazon values its reputation as the dominant e-Reader vendor and doesn't like seeing reviews that claim the Nook is superior.

If the TechCrunch article is accurate I'm a little surprised that Amazon is not "one upping" the Nook at the same or slightly higher price, (e.g. $299.) But they may have decided that a "good enough" Kindle 4 that's ready for sale in the holiday season is better than a superior device that can't be shipped until January.

And, of course, Amazon doesn't need an iPad "killer." But it does need to protect its flank against defections to the iPad among e-Reader customers. Providing versions of major tablet functions in a package the size of a Kindle at half the price of the iPad is a good strategy to keep existing Kindle customers in the fold. And while sales of the current Kindle don't approach those of the iPad, 25 million units sold this year ain't hay.

Originally Posted by jsh1120

Internal storage capacity is much less relevant in a device where SD card and/or USB flash drive support is available.

From the article it doesn't sound like it has that capability - it seems to be relying on the cloud, which Google seems to be having a hard time with, even WITH 3G.

Originally Posted by singlestick

The thing is that some people are not looking for "tablets." Ebooks don't require a lot of space. If you can store some music, and stream video and more music, you may not have much of a reason to "upgrade" to anything more.

Which is why I said "some."

Originally Posted by k7lvo

Originally Posted by jsh1120

Internal storage capacity is much less relevant in a device where SD card and/or USB flash drive support is available.

From the article it doesn't sound like it has that capability - it seems to be relying on the cloud, which Google seems to be having a hard time with, even WITH 3G.

We'll see. I'm skeptical that the unit the author "spent an hour" with is the tablet that consumers will see. Products typically go through changes between an announcement at a trade show and the Amazon tablet hasn't even reached that stage yet. I suspect the basic form factor is set but if you read the article carefully you'll find a number of areas where the author is unsure about capabilities, features, and even basic hardware components.

As for Google "having a hard time" with the "cloud," I'm not sure what you mean. I've been using Google Docs for a couple of years, gmail for much longer than that, and in general their "cloud" capabilities far outstrip anyone else's.

Originally Posted by jsh1120

far as the Nook Killer comment, I don't think Amazon is especially worried about losing significant unit sales to the Nook. But if you've followed the reviews of the Nook, it's obvious that it was a hit with the gadget press including sites like C-Net and pubs like PC and Laptop mags. As much as anything, I think Amazon values its reputation as the dominant e-Reader vendor and doesn't like seeing reviews that claim the Nook is superior.

If the TechCrunch article is accurate I'm a little surprised that Amazon is not "one upping" the Nook at the same or slightly higher price, (e.g. $299.) But they may have decided that a "good enough" Kindle 4 that's ready for sale in the holiday season is better than a superior device that can't be shipped until January.

And, of course, Amazon doesn't need an iPad "killer." But it does need to protect its flank against defections to the iPad among e-Reader customers. Providing versions of major tablet functions in a package the size of a Kindle at half the price of the iPad is a good strategy to keep existing Kindle customers in the fold. And while sales of the current Kindle don't approach those of the iPad, 25 million units sold this year ain't hay.

I don't know whether the people at Amazon care about the gadget press, but you could be partly right here. CEOs have big egos as much as other people. But the new Amazon reader appears to be more than just an e-Reader, more of a portable Amazon retailer, so it competes with the Nook in some ways, but stakes a new ground in other respects.

Also, I don't think Amazon is worried about detections to the iPad. With various Kindle apps, you can get your Kindle e-reader anywhere, including on the iPad. Also, the little skirmish over how the Kindle app works on the iPad because of Apple policy may give Amazon a little extra PR value.

I look forward to seeing what the actual device may be like. If it succeeds it will be good for everyone, including Apple.

As an aside, I would hope that improvements in e-readers and tablets will spur advances in textbooks for these devices, which are still in a primitive and overprice state.