gdgt

I think your grouping a diverse gdgt community into one pot. Personally, there's no chance I'd buy the ipad or Galaxy Tab for $500, but at $199 I will buy the Fire. And I would use it the same way I would use the above. The hardware is up to par, and the android community has proven software is rarely a limitation. If there is something it can't do, I will find a way around. They've met the killer price point.

Mr. McKenna nailed it. The $99 Touchpad firesale proved people will more than willingly shell out money for a tablet in that sweetspot. Think about it. The touchpad was reviewed and BOO'd for it's TERRIBLE hardware, it was abandoned as a whole by HP.. so NO support was to be expected, but they sold WAAAAAAY faster than any iPad ever could because of the price.

I was discouraged by your response at first, Roberto, because deep down, I agreed. The nerd is the minority but just because we're the minority it doesn't mean that we don't want good hardware at an affordable price. I personally plan on rooting the bejeezus out of either tablet (or neither possibly).. i just want cheap good hardware. So at least in one respect, they ARE concerned about the niche otherwise there'd be no reason to throw out specs.

I also believe that as the popularity of consumer devices like this grow, the more the niche will grow. Remember when they first started selling iPods.. they'd say "20gb (10,000 songs). Now it's sufficient to just say 20gb. The average consumer is getting smarter.

The more I think about it the more I think of the niche folks like us as being part of that whole, but on the bleeding edge that educates the whole. Look at the growing popularity of sites like gdgt, engadget and the verge.

To be honest.. when I think about Engadget and Verge doing live studio audience SHOWS.... it blows my mind. The Niche are the rock stars in todays society it seems. There are tons of places we can see this in action. However.. you're right, my wife will never care about rooting... she DOES care however when I root and then say "hey sweety... look at this cool app i just installed that you can't have because you're locked down"... which then gets the snowball rolling.

sorry so long. *blush*

Which, at least for me, is the reason why I'm looking at things from the HARDWARE perspective. It's almost a guarantee that both of these devices will be rooted and running custom roms which puts the Nook and the K:Fire on a level playing field OS-wise. So it boils down to hardware. I won't tolerate a closed system for too long on EITHER device other than to play around with some of the features.

However if you're strictly looking at the Nook vs the K:Fire and you don't plan on rooting.. I'd actually say that the Kindle has more to offer.

THAT is an interesting point. I honestly thought Amazon would have gone the partnership route as well (there WAS that Samsung rumor, right?). My very uneducated guess is that they would have had to partner with someone without a horse in the race. No one wants to undercut their own products right? Samsung's cheapest tablet is $400. The only recognized brand with anything priced anywhere near the K:Fire or the N:Tablet would be Archos... and they're aren't known for solid build quality. Also, Samsung is a bit brand crazy as well. Apparently anything they make associated with quality has to have it's "Galaxy" moniker, so we would have ended up with a Barnes and Noble Galaxy Nook Tablet.

Also, technically I guess Amazon DID partner with a manufacturer.

Also... can't really say I have any beefs with the Nook hardware. Barnes and Noble did a decent enough job there. The proprietary OS though? No thanks.

Apple moved from making hardware and software, sidewise into selling music and movies; I think the sales environmrnt in the iTunes store is a sterile torn-off.
Shopping at Amazon, by contrast, is a pleasure. The Fire, as I understand it, is designed to complement the Amazon shopping experience, while providing organisation of, and access to, the content purchased there -- consider it an "Amazon appliance," not an Android tablet.
If Amazon can provide apps that don't interfere with the purpose of the device, I'm sure they'll be happy to take the sale -- but if you're looking for Android on the cheap, you might be better served by something else.

The Kindle I got last year is a great piece of tech. Very well constructed and runs great for what it is.