I had been resisting the urge jump into the tablet revolution for some time. Partly because I can't use a tablet at work, partly because I'm an Apple contrarian, and partly because there wasn't a compelling Android tablet to tempt me to plunk down $500.
However, when Amazon announced the Kindle Fire, I was pretty excited. I have had a Kindle 2 for a couple of years now, and outside of cell phone it is my most useful gadget. It has brought me back to my avid reader roots (thx Mom! That penny a page was a helluva a motivator when I was a kid. Even though to your chagrin I mostly read Dragonlance books). The Fire was an Android tablet, and the $199 price point is pretty appealing. Besides, it was going to be out around my birthday so why not give it a shot?
So as the reviews came in, and I read more about it, I started to worry that the Fire was not going to be for me. As it turns out, within a couple of days I confirmed those suspicions. The Fire is a GREAT deal for $199, but really had several shortcomings for a geek like me.
Modified Android and Lack of Android Market
When the Fire was first announced, I saw that it was really a forked version of Android 2.2. However, I figured that wouldn't be that big of a deal. Turns out, it is. Sure, there are plenty of decent apps in the Amazon App Market, but it is still lacking in plenty of great apps I use on a regular basis. With a regular Android phone or tablet, I could still get to the Amazon market AND the Android market. Sure I could root the Fire, but then I couldn't return it if I wanted to (and as it turns out, Amazon released a new Fire s/w version that removes the root accces).
No Google Apps (Mostly Gmail)
When I bought the first Droid, I made the switch to Gmail. I had been perseverating on making the switch from Yahoo Mail for some time leading up to my purchase, but the tight integration of Google apps into Android pushed me to make the change. And I haven't looked back. So when I got the Fire and was back to a regular mail app I felt a bit cheated. Then throw on top the lack of Google calendar and other apps and the Fire truly becomes just a media consumption device. I want more.
Performance
The Fire gets pretty damn sluggish when trying to multi-task or do too many things at once. If you were to see me browse or use my phone, you'd see how absurdly ADD I am. Im all over the place, and I expect a computer to keep up with me. It is why I switched to CyanogenMod on my DINC2. The Fire simply can't keep up. And I am not willing to wait for CyanogenMod for the Fire.
Other Choices and the iPad Factor
Plenty of my friends are nice people who are Apple drones (sorry...if any of you read this I couldnt resist). BUT, as much as I kid, the iPad is fast, and clean, and overall a great device. After using the Fire I realized that I was having a little bit of gadget envy. Plus, over the past couple of months, there are several new Android tablet options (and not just the Galaxy Tab, Moody) that are very compelling.
So today, the process begins to return the Fire. It really is a great deal, and for a lot of folks it will be perfect. If I didn't have my traditional Kindle, I'd keep this and still get a higher end tablet. But since I already have a Kindle for reading that has superior battery performance, the Fire ends up falling in a weird middle ground. Instead, I'm eyeing the Asus Transformer Prime, which comes out this month and looks fantastic. Just hope it lives up to expectations.
I grew up as a techie and first got hooked using an old Texas Instruments programming in Basic ("Hello World" app is my fav) and then learned the fun of "integration" making my PCjr actually run the old Sierra games I wanted to play. After a lot of fun at college, I found myself entrenched in the government technology world leading projects and integrating systems for the past 11+ years. I have extensive experience in technical project management, Public Key Infrastructure (PKI), Collaboration Technologies, Information Sharing, and Secure Systems Integration.