No, you schmucks are not the only ones reading, and more importantly benefiting from, the nonpareil SI blog.
Y’all can pat your collective backs today that you’re in august company.
Obviously, Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos is an avid reader of the SI blog because in August we recommended that the upcoming Kindle Tablet must be priced between $200-$250 if it intends to be a viable player in a market lorded over by the iPad.
This is what SI wrote on August 1, 2011:
With most consumers strongly fixated on the iPad, we don’t see how Amazon can gain quick traction unless it launches an entry-level 16GB model at $200-$250, a significantly lower price point compared to Apple’s $499 price for the 16GB iPad 2.
And as we all know by now, Bezos followed our sage counsel – Amazon came in at the low end of our suggested price, i.e. $199 for its Kindle Fire tablet launched today.
It’s heartening to note that good advice does not always fall on deaf ears. 😉
But it’s a bit disappointing that the Kindle Fire offers only 8GB storage instead of our recommended 16GB but Amazon is offering unlimited Cloud Storage.
Kindle Fire ships on November 15.
By the way, you can pre-order the Kindle Fire tablet on Amazon’s web site now.
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Amazon Heeds SI’s Advice on Tablet Pricing added by SearchIndia.com on
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If the image you have posted is anything to go by then it doesn’t look that cool but @ $199 it has the potential to kill the likes of Galaxy.
SearchIndia.com Responds:
It doesn’t look ugly either.
Galaxy, PlayBook, Asus, Acer etc are chow.
Amazon may have a very smart strategy in place here.
Priced at $199 it is best positioned to become the alternative to iPad.
It may never come close to challenging iPad but the intent may be to become the consistent 2nd choice for those who are not willing to spend much.
Even if iPad continues to lord over 75-80% of the market, Fire may be the master of the remaining 25-20% which is not bad in a monopolized space.
SearchIndia.com Responds:
Plus, once consumers buy (a big IF here) the Kindle Fire they might be tempted to make other purchases, digital and hard/soft goods from Amazon.
Does SI play Angry Birds?
SearchIndia.com Responds:
1. No, SI only plays Show-Me-Yours-and-I’ll-Show-You-Mine. 😉 The Guinness is working!
2. But we’ve seen Angry Birds on our iPad 2 App store
There are 2 versions – Angry Birds Seasons HD for $1.99 (#4 in Top Paid iPad Apps) & Angry Birds HD for $4.99 (#8 in Top Paid iPad Apps).
Which one would you recommend?
err.. I played the free one on the chrome browser. (chrome.angrybirds.com).
I thought there was a free version in App Store too??
SearchIndia.com Responds:
Yes, indeed (#9 on Top Free iPad Apps).
Downloading it as we type.
Angry birds – one of the first few apps I installed. Had it previously on my android phone too. Not so exciting, but not so boring too. Decent one.
Do you use a scratch-guard or something for the iPad screen? Does it affect the experience?
SearchIndia.com Responds:
We use the ScreenGuard screen protector. No issues.
cnet has confirmed kindle “fire sale”
http://news.cnet.com/8301-1023_3-20113292-93/amazon-to-lose-$50-on-each-kindle-fire-says-analyst/?tag=mncol;txt
SearchIndia.com Responds:
But Amazon may make up for the hit on hardware with other digital, hard/soft goods purchases on the company’s store.
People buy a lot of stuff on Amazon sight unseen (including TVs, computers, etc)
You might like this piece on iPad 2 vs Fire.
http://www.projectorreviews.com/blog/2011/09/28/amazon-fire-and-ipad2-no-competition-just-price-vs-performance/
Even I am considering an iPad 2. Only thing which holds me back is, how useful it would be back in India.
SearchIndia.com Responds:
We think your guy (your link) is wrong on iPad sales. We think most iPad sales are of the WiFi kind not the 3G model.