Apple isn't sweating Kindle Fire; Android fragmentation will drive users to iPad

http://www.bgr.com/2011/11/03/apple-isnt-sweating-kindle-fire-says-android-fragmentation-will-drive-consumers-to-ipad/

by gadgetsrule • 15 years ago

5 16 15 years ago

fondue• 15 years ago

Just like on the phone, too, right? That was sarcasm, btw.

I don't agree with their assessment and I am assuming they're putting on a nice face for investors. I think most users will consider this as a cool eReader that they can play Angry Birds on, not an Android tablet.

wccrawford3• 15 years ago

And on the PC, too. They don't even talk about fragmentation on the PC any more. It's just dismissed outright, even though it actually still does cause developer problems.

It's not worth complaining about because more devices means more users.

stephenr3• 15 years ago

How many PCs are shipped with the previous version of Windows and absolutely no way to upgrade it?

How many Windows apps are targeted at a single model of computer and fail to work on others because they use a different size monitor?

jinushaun2• 15 years ago

Which is exactly why Amazon should've bought WebOS. As far as they're concerned, Kindle Fire users buy Kindle apps, not Android apps. Under the cover, Amazon could've picked any platform. At least with WebOS, they control the whole thing.

r00fus2• 15 years ago

They still can, and should, probably, at least for the patents.

I imagine that Microsoft, Google, Apple, et. al are busy aiming their patent lawyers at Amazon.

cydonian_monk2• 15 years ago

Rewind this article to 1985 and replace Tablet with P.C.; Amazon with Tandy, IBM, et cetera. That's where I see the tablet market right now. Competitors to the iPad won't succeed by being better than the iPad, but by price and volume. And by offering things Apple doesn't - such as portable form factors and open systems.

Fragmentation of the O.S. is very a minor issue.

stephenr3• 15 years ago

When users can't run App X or Game Y because their device is running an 18month old version of an OS out of the box, and will possibly be never updated, they will start complaining.

People want shit to work.

cydonian_monk2• 15 years ago

Of course they do, and I agree (that things should work). But if fragmentation becomes the norm, app producers (or the market) will find a solution.

I just think the price point of cheap and super-cheap Android tablets will make minor incompatabilities (such as only one hardware button on the Nook Color, or apps that only work after Android 2.3, et cetera) acceptable for the masses. This is true for nearly every commercial good sold - no reason it shouldn't apply to tablet computers, too.

MatthewPhillips• 15 years ago

No, they will buy a new tablet, like they did when their PCs had the same problem. That's why software has hardware specs, especially games.

dpark• 15 years ago

Amazon is not selling an Android tablet. They are selling the Kindle Fire. They mention "Android" only once on the Kindle Fire page, in reference to the Amazon Android App store. To the typical consumer, this isn't an Android tablet. It's an Amazon tablet.

I bet Apple is afraid of this tablet. It's likely to be the best-selling non-Apple tablet on the day of its first shipments. It's not going to kill the iPad, but it is going to take a big chunk of the market.

r00fus2• 15 years ago

Yes, Kindle Fire is likely on Apple's radar (as opposed to say, anything from Archos or even Asus).

However, I think it's Google or Microsoft who should likely be more worried, as there is currently no #2 in the tablet platform space, and Amazon may pick up the silver easily if the Fire is as good as reviewers claim... the price itself is eye-catching.

ZeroGravitas• 15 years ago

This sounds like exactly the kind of crazy things that incumbent CEOs said when the iPhone was announced, a strange mix of bravado and nonsense.

jinushaun2• 15 years ago

Hubris doesn't look good on anyone.

Apple isn't sweating Kindle Fire; Android fragmentation will drive users to iPad

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