Since the Amazon Fire has no SD card, can someone please tell me why the geeks that like to tweak these devices would be interested in it? Is it just because of the challenge to see if or how much the Fire can be modified? Or is it because there is something the Fire has that other tablets don't? BOTTOM LINE QUESTION: Why would a Android tweaking nerd spend $200 on an Amazon Fire with no SD card when there are so many other really good Android tablets available with SD cards? Thanks. Steve
Nerds who like to tweak shouldn't be buying such a device. They should buy something that's designed to be more tweakable. The Fire is not designed to be a tablet period. Amazon never markets it as such and the word Android can't even be found on the product page. It's designed as a device to facilitate consumption of Amazon content. Anything you get out of it beyond that is just a bonus.
The SD card is not a make or break feature for everyone. The Amazon Fire is the cheapest capable tablet and will have the largest user base, making it an attractive device to tweak.
Thought there was already a thread about the lack of an SD card on the kindle fire. Did you post a similar question in the Samsung tab 8.9 forum? That device costs 200+ dollars more and also does not seem to have an SD slot ?
Because for $199 you get a nice 7" IPS LCD screen, dual core CPU, etc. Sure some more internal storage would be great, but I'm willing to make that sacrifice for the cheap entry price. The KFire is already rooted and just awaiting devs to start porting and building for it. Then the Android madness will really begin.
The KG is for lounging the web, books and magazines or watching video from Netflix, Hulu, Amazon and hopefully Vudu. This is not bad for two hundred dollars. It may be an entry level device for some people. But for a family, more than one appliance seems like a good idea.
Actually I don't want to screw around and tweak anything unless I knew I could have an awesome tablet for a fraction of the cost of an off-the-shelf tablet. I was just curious why the geeks would want to screw around with the Fire? Steve
What is a KG? Did you mean Kindle Fire (KF)? If so, can you watch stuff with Netflix and Hulu on a Kindle Fire? Steve
Amazon purposely made it so that just about all you can do with the device is stream their content - this is how they make their money. They actually lose money on the device itself. It's a great $200 device for doing that and not a whole lot else. This thing is not geared toward geeks - the geek is not their target consumer here.
Don't forget that the Silk Browser goes through their servers. I'd bet they are going to be doing quite a bit of data mining and targeted advertising with the Fire.
You're right - that might be the whole point of Silk. As of right now, this browser is not particularly quick.
I'm as pro sd card as the next guy but I'll tell you why. The amazon cloud. I love geeking out on the various tablets out there and would love to get me some ics soon.... but I got this thing and I really like it. I had an acer iconia and xoom previously. They were fun but on this thing the stuff just works. I uploaded about 2k mp3's to the cloud over night and there they are whenever I need them. I'm a prime member so there's tons of free movies and stuff. I borrowed a book from the amzn library and it's free. This isn't the ultimate geek tab but what it is is cheap, convenient and fun. It's not gonna be my only tablet but I can tell you right now it's gonna be wildly successful.
Some of us don't need much space. I develop android apps and root every phone I buy, yet I've never used more than 1GB of any SD card I have ever purchased.. so the price is a definite plus for me.
Really, i am only hovering around these forums because I am curious of what people do end up getting the kf to do. I could really care less about an SD slot because I already have a phone with an 16gb sd card for taking pictures/videos and listening to music, i have an 80Gb ipod for all of my music and i have a laptop and desktop, both with card readers and TB's of space for everything else. I have no reason to need yet another SD card with duplicate data on it.
Real simple. If you like to store media locally, avoid the Fire. If you could care less or like cloud storage, get the Fire. For people that store media and want no restrictions, or have to worry about rooting to get features, the Flyer is the best option ATM. The Nook 2 also has app and media restrictions, in spite of the storage space.
Yes, it's a reader and a video player. I will not be surprised if it gets used as a remote control also, which is possible with an an IR gateway Global Cache iTach.
Man, do I hear you. When I was considering buying the Fire, I was thinking "Gee, it has no GPS - that means no Google Maps". Then I thought about it - do I need every device I own be able to do EVERYTHING? I have a cell phone that goes everywhere with me and it has Google Maps - why do I need this device to duplicate everything my smartphone does? The Fire is a good deal for 200 shcaroles. Even if you only have it do what it's designed to do and nothing else. I'm fine with it.
Because it is seamless, it works, and I'm not a tweaker -- that is not the market the Fire is aimed at.
I was concerned about Fires lack of SD card and last night it dawned on me that the iPad 1 I've been using for the last week has no SD card and I could care less. I was wondering if you had the opportunity to buy a rooted Nook Color in perfect condition for only $100 if it would be as good or better than the Fire?