Yesterday, a friend in Madison, Wisc. said that she is tempted to buy a Kindle Fire right now, even though she “always waits for the second version of something.” She has been asking around to see what her friends advised.
This morning, I advised her to buy when the impulse strikes, because for sure, Kindle Fire will upgrade and get better within the next 6 to 9 months. And even more astonishingly interesting upgrades will happen in the following 6 to 9 months. Tablets are hyper-competative right now.”
I pre-ordered the $299 Fire this morning. Supposedly I’ll have it before Thanksgiving.
Why did I order it?! I’m an Apple addict. I waited breathlessly for an iTablet from at least 2006, and pre-ordered the first iPad as soon as it was announced in March 2010. By then I’d had a Kindle 2 for a year, long enough to enjoy it — and to get “Kindle Elbow (like painful Tennis Elbow) from clicking with my thumb through 6.5 books in nine days traveling to and from a conference in Morocco.
I pre-ordered the iPad 2. I love my iPad 2.
Again, why the Fire?
The Pad is gorgeous but heavy. And it doesn’t replace my laptop. So now I travel with my iPhone, iPad, MacBook Pro, external HDs for photo and video dumps, camcorder, headphones, lapel mic and a zippered travel pack full of cords. The odd thing is when I was forced to use the iPad as my main computer during a three-day exercise in patience, I discovered that I DON’T WANT TO WORK on the iPad. Actually, I want to use it for pleasure, i.e. reading and watching news, reading books, reading email.
I don’t read magazines on the iPad because you have to pay the newsstand cover price and that’s more than I’m willing to spend. I want a subscription which last I checked (awhile ago), was still being duked out by Apple and the publishers.
Analysts have been predicting that Amazon’s Fire will appeal mostly to women, who aren’t interested in all of the computer options that the iPad (and other the tabs) offer. I’m as tech-addicted as the next guy, but if I’m emailing, calling, texting, and looking things up on my iPhone, and if I need my laptop for real work on the road, then maybe all I want is a lightweight, pleasure device that I can hold in one hand.
And, that I can turn pages with the flick of a finger.
I hope I don’t get Finger Elbow…but I haven’t yet with my iPad.