Kindle Fire: An open letter to Jeff Bezos Mr. Bezos, I love everything about Amazon. You have created a world where I can sit on my couch, read War and Peace, listen to Lady GaGa and order toilet paper - all from the same company and now, with the Kindle Fire, from a single device. I have raved for months on Twitter, Google+ and on my podcast, Nekkid Tech that in a …
Your article says that gmail is not available on the fire, but amazon's website states that you can access gmail with the fire. When I get my fire, hopefully the post will arrive today, I will make sure that I can get gmail using the device. If not, then amazon is guilty of false advertising and I'll be returning mine as well...thanks for the warning...hope you are wrong and I will be able to check my gmail.
I do not have a fancy cell phone and have not used an "app" unless you count what came on my gateway laptop so my lack of understanding led to a post that had the author not assumed his readers know what one of those app things is and defined it I would have fared better. Thanks for pointing out the difference.
Is that the laptop you used even though the government warned you not to which turned out to be a gateway device? Did the dealer wait till you were hooked on the laptops and then sell you tablets too?
Oh, sorry, I remember, there used to be a computer maker called Gateway...
"I do not have a fancy cell phone and have not used an "app" unless you count what came on my gateway laptop so my lack of understanding led to a post that had the author not assumed his readers know what one of those app things is and defined it I would have fared better. Thanks for pointing out the difference."
Why exactly are you reading a tech site if you haven't bought a piece of kit in a decade? Go to lolCNN or MSNBCroflcopter for your "must haves of the holiday season" garbage articles.
Or buy a Mac. You're pretty much their target audience.
I wouldn't worry for too long.
Take the nice cheap hardware, thanks Amazon. Then look out for the imminent release of Android ICS 4.0 from the ROM cooking boys. You can dump all the amazon spyPad software they have put on it. You'll have all your google apps and still have access to all the other stuff on your new hardware.
That's what I and many more start people will be doing too :)
"dump all the amazon spyPad software"
"You'll have all your google apps"
You dislike the thought of Amazon potentially spying on you but you'd welcome the master spies at Google to read your email, documents, know all your web browsing habits, your social circle and much more? What exactly makes Amazon scary but Google completely harmless?!
"Easy. We trust Google, we trust Amazon less. It doesn't need to be a logical or rational choice, that's just how consumers are. We never trust any of them completely, nor do we ever not trust them at all. If they have something we want, we'll trust them."
We trust Google more than Amazon because Amazon is selling things to us, while Google is selling us to other people. There is inherent strain in the relationship where one is trying to sell you something, because we must protect ourselves from "being swindled" by the big bad salesman.
Since, after all, they're trying to sell things TO US. Which means we hold an important power: the power to say NO. Google will always find buyers because a person is a person is a person to demographics firms. But for Amazon, they have to make sure they provide things that actual consumers want to buy, not just in the Fire but also in the stuff FOR the Fire. After all, if we look at something from Amazon and pass it up, Amazon doesn't get the commission, so they don't make money. See how that would motivate Amazon?
"Google will always find buyers because a person is a person is a person to demographics firms"
Here is the thing, google's products are successful only as long as there is a need for them. With Fire's price point and the package on offer --- easy access to media and a brilliant deal, "google's icing products" are actually icing, that's it. Google will be forecd to make their apps available on Amazon's app store, just like they did on Apple's app store, otherwise Google will miss a very large segment of tablet buyers.
"After all, if we look at something from Amazon and pass it up, "
That is true only if you cannot do the math and reasoning, and are madly in love and are crazy for Apple and Google products. I suspect Google's offerings are only the icing on the cake, the real things win!
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No sympathy here...
How was this device marketed? As a kindle or a full blown android tablet like the Xoom?
That's right, a Kindle. If you want the full functionality that comes with a full tablet, then you buy one of those.
I am waiting for my Kindle Fire to arrive, and I'm looking forwards to a device I can use for the things a Kindle is meant for...
Duh...
Ever hear of "get what you pay for/'?
Someone has to say it,,,
Get an iPad.
I really don't mean to be snarky, and I am quite critical of Apple in many way. i too was hoping the Fire would be a more affordable solution for exactly the same reason - holiday gift giving. Fact is, that right now, the Fire will only lead to more frustration than appreciation on the part of my donees. i really did enjoy your very creatively written article. Best bet is go back to the gift card for this year.. I'm sure a $250 Apple gift card toward the purchase of the only thing that exists that does it all will be greatly appreciated.
Who the fuck gives tablets as xmas gifts anyway. Are you one of these kick a granny to get the last xbox guys?
Anyway, simply put, The iPad has this exact same problem you are just blind to it. I just need to tick a box to use Grooveshark on Android, I'd need to jailbreak an iPad. The Kindle Fire is in the same position, to get Gmail you need Market, to get Market you need to cheat and flash an aftermarket OS.
Greg,
I don't think its correct to blame Amazon here given their strategy with the Kindle Fire.
Foremost, the lack of Google services is not because Amazon is actively blocking them, its because the official Google Android apps (GMail, GTalk, Android Market, etc.) only get put on official Android devices (with the approval of Google). The Kindle Fire is not that device because Amazon forked Android.
I'm also returning my new Fire after experiencing the same letdown as Greg. But I'll go a step further. It's bad enough that I bought the Fire thinking I'd have access to all my Google apps only to find I don't, but with normal fast page switching the Fire locks up, requiring rebooting. It will scramble Web pages with overlays of thumbnails of your most recent sites tiled across the screen like a chessboard. There's no way out of this fault other than rebooting again. I'm not sure how the Fire was beta tested (or whether the team figured for US$200 a few kinks would be OK), but this isn't an iPad killer or even a good smartphone supplement. I watched a movie last night, and somehow the image became inverted. Again, the only way to right it was to shut down the device, restart everything and reload the movie. US$200 is certainly less than $800, but it's still too much to pay for a broken toy with core features missing.
It's not Amazon "blocking" anything -- it is a well-known issue among the Android community that certain devices ship without the core Google apps - GMail, for example -- and lack the Google Services Framework that is required to run many of the Google apps. Even CyanogenMod, one of the most-used custom ROMs for Android devices, received a C&D from Google saying "Stop bundling our apps into the ROM you distribute." (However, they do provide a separate package for the GApps.)
And Google won't allow their apps in a different app store. Again, it's not Amazon being weird, it's Google, understandably, controlling the distribution of the core apps for their operating system.
And it's actually fairly trivial to get most of the GApps running on the Fire -- all but the Android Market will install just fine without rooting the device as far as I've tried.
*Enable "Unknown Sources" (under Settings -> Device)
*Track down copies of the Google Services Framework APK as well as the APK for whatever GApps you want to install (don't try the Android Market unless you want to root the device) and place them on the Kindle Fire using the USB computer (or you can e-mail using one of the other apps, which do work pretty well, which may negate the need for a file manager. Not sure, though.)
*On the Amazon App Store, track down "Easy Installer" or a file manager.
*Using Easy Installer or the file manager, install the Google Services Framework APK first.
*Reboot the Kindle Fire.
*Install the Google Apps you want.
*A reboot may be required.
This is a LOT less painful than it could be. Trust me.
Mr. Knieriemen, I appreciate your speaking to Mr. Bezos civilly, as though he were an honourable man. But the sad reality is that he did indeed want to create this user experience. Some people in the world really have decided to give themselves over to evil for a little more money, and Mr. Bezos is one of them.
Android itself is open source, but Google's apps (Gmail, Maps, Market) are not, and manufacturers are not allowed to distribute them without Google's consent.
I'd be surprised if Google was willing to license their proprietary apps (like Gmail) to a competitor like Amazon without requiring the Market app to be preloaded as well. Amazon on the other hand is selling the Kindle Fire more or less at cost and needs to make money by selling content, so preloading Google's Market app on the device is probably the last thing they want to do.
Exactly right, the lack of Google apps on unlicensed Android implementations like the Fire is a Google restriction not an Amazon one (though I'm sure in this case Amazon are quite happy to not be allowed to install them).
Android itself is 'free' and open source but the Google store and other Google apps are not.
You seem to be blaming the lack of Google apps on an Amazon decision, which if true, I would agree is stupid.
But I think this is not a case of Amazon blocking them, but rather Google! In which case, Amazon can do pretty much nothing about this problem.
Amazon have "taken" Google's OS but not conformed to Google's terms, and instead made their own unique build. Hence the lack of rights to use the Android brand and the lack of access to Google apps.
Google are pretty clear about their stance on this. As Android is open source, to maintain a form of control, the Android brand and Google apps are closed.
Simply a case of "You get what you pay for" The Fire is not an iPad killer... yet.
Frankly, I am not a fanboy, am often very critical of Apple, and I also hoped to buy several Fires as holiday gifts. However, I really did enjoy your creative way of expressing the same disappointment I felt at the dearth of "in-house" features in the Fire. (all of which can easy be accessed on the iPad).
Solution: Go back to the gift cards with a $250 Apple card to help they can buy the only device that they will not be frustrated with.
"Solution: Go back to the gift cards with a $250 Apple card to help they can buy the only device that they will not be frustrated with."
The guy wants to combine walled-gardens and fails. The solution is not to dash to another walled-garden where the guy will immediately find that it too is not compatible with one of his walled-gardens of choice.
When all the spoilt brats are hoarding their toys, don't whine about not being able to combine the Action Man belonging to one of them with the Barbie belonging to another. Just go and hang out with some decently behaved kids instead.
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