Amazon's Kindle Fire from the start has been situated as the budget tablet. Its specs rarely are found to measure up to those of its competitors, but the price, the current edition offered at $229, is so appealing it has managed to leverage a spot in the market.
When the holiday season comes in sight, we naturally expect a new splash from electronics producers and Amazon hasn't let us down there. There are some redesigned features, including the operating system, which is pretty much Android Light. Also, some people are going to quite dig the brand new Mayday feature. As discussed below, this new feature provides free, single button access to a live service rep.
If though you're looking for dramatic improvements in functions and capacity, you'll be disappointed. There's not a lot of enhancement with this third-generation model. Indeed, some might even think they're getting ripped off. The software here is based on Google's Android system, but absent all of Google's apps and services.
In contrast, the purchase of the new Kindle Fire leaves one immediately faced with having to download desired apps from Amazon. (This annoyance has included, by the way, activating the Flash Player , which does come with, but not activated, to the chagrin of some.) As if the quality of the user experience wasn't hampered enough, the quantity adds additional limitations: something in the vicinity of 85,000 apps are available for the Kindle tablet compared to nearly a million for Android. And it's not just the sheer numbers, as many extremely popular ones are missing: e.g., Google Maps, Gmail, and YouTube.
Sorry to seem to be piling on, but another unhappy aspect of the Kindle Fire HDX follows in the wake of this paltry assortment of apps. As with the earlier versions, you are constantly being up-sold. Holding the mouse over any product or service brings your friendly Amazon salesman leaping into action, drawing your attention to some similar Amazon good you might like to buy.
I find this immensely annoying and distracting. Obviously, it's a matter of personal taste. Some folks, I expect, find real value in this endless exposure to new product opportunities. For me, it just gets in the way of what I'm trying to do. Like commercial television, though, this is the monetizing strategy: you suffer through the ads to get the product at such a low price.
There is some good news for those determined to buy this product. They've succeeded at decreasing the general bugginess of early versions. That's not to say that there are not still too many glitches, but it is noticeably improved on that front. I like as well the "carousel" style display, which allows you to view apps, movies, books or anything else which the Kindle user has recently accessed. A navigation bar at the bottom of the screen allows you to browse conveniently through the content on the Kindle Fire.
Plus, we mustn't forget the feature that some will enjoy most of all: the Mayday button, with which a single press puts you in direct contact with a live service rep. This service guy or girl will introduce themselves, on a first name basis (of course), after popping up in a corner of your screen. This rep will be skilled and informed, able to deal with whatever problems you've encountered. In fact, should it prove a more efficacious solution, the representative can even take over direct control of the tablet. Those worried about corporate Big Brother may have pause at such a notion, but it can help resolve some issues much faster than trying to walk the owner through a series of involved steps. I certainly found this service impressive. And it represents a rare commitment to customer service.
The thing is, though (and call me Joe-cynical if you like), but isn't the point of these tablets the creation of a distinctively user-friendly work environment? It's almost as though the Mayday name was less about the Fire owner calling out to Amazon than Amazon calling out Mayday to the market. It's like, okay, we admit, we couldn't do any better, but, hey, here's this cool workaround our inability to come up with a tablet most people could figure out on their own.
So, look, we have to conclude the same thing we have concluded on past versions. If you're sole interest is an unfailing loyalty to Amazon and its products, Kindle Fire may well be just what you need -- and there's certainly major improvements this time around. On the other hand, if your primary motivation is to save money on a tablet, you can do better .
When the holiday season comes in sight, we naturally expect a new splash from electronics producers and Amazon hasn't let us down there. There are some redesigned features, including the operating system, which is pretty much Android Light. Also, some people are going to quite dig the brand new Mayday feature. As discussed below, this new feature provides free, single button access to a live service rep.
If though you're looking for dramatic improvements in functions and capacity, you'll be disappointed. There's not a lot of enhancement with this third-generation model. Indeed, some might even think they're getting ripped off. The software here is based on Google's Android system, but absent all of Google's apps and services.
In contrast, the purchase of the new Kindle Fire leaves one immediately faced with having to download desired apps from Amazon. (This annoyance has included, by the way, activating the Flash Player , which does come with, but not activated, to the chagrin of some.) As if the quality of the user experience wasn't hampered enough, the quantity adds additional limitations: something in the vicinity of 85,000 apps are available for the Kindle tablet compared to nearly a million for Android. And it's not just the sheer numbers, as many extremely popular ones are missing: e.g., Google Maps, Gmail, and YouTube.
Sorry to seem to be piling on, but another unhappy aspect of the Kindle Fire HDX follows in the wake of this paltry assortment of apps. As with the earlier versions, you are constantly being up-sold. Holding the mouse over any product or service brings your friendly Amazon salesman leaping into action, drawing your attention to some similar Amazon good you might like to buy.
I find this immensely annoying and distracting. Obviously, it's a matter of personal taste. Some folks, I expect, find real value in this endless exposure to new product opportunities. For me, it just gets in the way of what I'm trying to do. Like commercial television, though, this is the monetizing strategy: you suffer through the ads to get the product at such a low price.
There is some good news for those determined to buy this product. They've succeeded at decreasing the general bugginess of early versions. That's not to say that there are not still too many glitches, but it is noticeably improved on that front. I like as well the "carousel" style display, which allows you to view apps, movies, books or anything else which the Kindle user has recently accessed. A navigation bar at the bottom of the screen allows you to browse conveniently through the content on the Kindle Fire.
Plus, we mustn't forget the feature that some will enjoy most of all: the Mayday button, with which a single press puts you in direct contact with a live service rep. This service guy or girl will introduce themselves, on a first name basis (of course), after popping up in a corner of your screen. This rep will be skilled and informed, able to deal with whatever problems you've encountered. In fact, should it prove a more efficacious solution, the representative can even take over direct control of the tablet. Those worried about corporate Big Brother may have pause at such a notion, but it can help resolve some issues much faster than trying to walk the owner through a series of involved steps. I certainly found this service impressive. And it represents a rare commitment to customer service.
The thing is, though (and call me Joe-cynical if you like), but isn't the point of these tablets the creation of a distinctively user-friendly work environment? It's almost as though the Mayday name was less about the Fire owner calling out to Amazon than Amazon calling out Mayday to the market. It's like, okay, we admit, we couldn't do any better, but, hey, here's this cool workaround our inability to come up with a tablet most people could figure out on their own.
So, look, we have to conclude the same thing we have concluded on past versions. If you're sole interest is an unfailing loyalty to Amazon and its products, Kindle Fire may well be just what you need -- and there's certainly major improvements this time around. On the other hand, if your primary motivation is to save money on a tablet, you can do better .
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