Few devices have come along that have truly made me say, “Wow”. Perhaps the last one was the first iPhone. Even the iPad did little to earn my excitement.
Those who read this may wonder how much Amazon is paying me. There are times when brand-advocacy comes truly from the heart and this is one of those times. The Kindle Fire by Amazon is the best technology purchase I’ve made in a while, so good that I just ordered one for every member of my family. Here’s why:
The right size
One of the reasons that I went with the iPad 2 instead of some of the Android devices that piqued my interest had nothing to do with being an Apple fan. I haven’t owned an iPhone since the original and all of my computers are Windows-based. I imagined a perfect world where the iPad would become a true alternative to my laptops so I could work more easily on planes, in the car, or while lounging in bed. The screen was big enough for my large fingers, so I pictured myself working away on the tablet.
I was wrong, for the most part. A tablet is a good productivity tool for keeping calendars, reading documents, listening to audio, and checking emails, but a lite desktop replacement it is not. My initial reasoning was gone, making the screen unnecessarily large.
Don’t get me wrong – I love my iPad and take it with me everywhere. I simply can’t use it the way I envisioned. A smaller device would have given me everything I need.
Enter the Kindle Fire. Big enough to enjoy a movie or read a book. Small enough to fit in my jacket pocket.
Staying connected
If there’s one thing I didn’t expect, it was the speed. The device is much faster than any of my other Android devices and matches speeds with the iPad nicely. Moreover, it beats the iPad in web-browsing, particularly to large pages that I’ve visited before thanks to Amazon Silk (which I’ll cover below).
The lack of 3G was something that I thought was going to kill it for me, but I’ve been pleasantly surprised at how little I’ve needed it. The iPad has that for me and with 3G hotspots in my pockets, it hasn’t been missed.
Price
There is little that can be argued here. Amazon’s desire to own the holidays and beat Apple is our benefit. My 4 Kindle Fires are going to barely cost more thatn my iPad. With a wife and 3 kids, it’s a heck of a lot cheaper to get them Amazoned rather than Appled.
Silk
The caveat to all of this – Silk. It still scares me. I don’t mind browsing it myself knowing what exactly I’m getting into, but I still have to be careful with where I visit and what information I put it. Everyone assures me that it’s secure, but I’ll err on the side of caution.
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