Why is the Kindle Fire even called a Kindle?

[WilliamG]

I understand brand recognition quite well, but I think calling the Kindle Fire a "Kindle" at all is really, really misleading to me. I KNOW "I" personally associate Kindle with a mostly glare-free experience, full of eink-y goodness and tremendous battery life.

So the Kindle Fire, then. Glare, blah battery life, heavy/too heavy for reading on, with the usual eye strain from LCD devices. Now I own an iPad 2 and an HP TouchPad and have owned pretty much every e-ink reader in the USA since the first Sony Reader was released. I do "get" tablets and Kindles, but there's nothing really about the Fire that makes it a Kindle. If the Kindle Fire is a Kindle, then my iPad 2 is a Kindle, too. The Fire is basically a Blackberry Playbook with some space/frills removed, but it's still just an Android tablet underneath. I would have to assume that at some point in the VERY near future - Amazon will allow their Video on Demand service to work on other devices than the Fire - if they REALLY want market share. At THAT point, the Fire becomes just another tablet. Not that this matters, perhaps.

In any case, this is NOT a rant against the Kindle Fire for existing. It looks to be a tremendous device for the money. I do, however, think it should have just been called an "Amazon Fire." Plus, that name sounds way more interesting if you ask me...


(PS Give it a year or two and there's a whole "Kindle" line out, and of course my ranting/raving/thoughts won't matter anymore!)

[w5jck]

The screen on the Fire will be much better for reading than you give it credit. My iPad screen sucks for reading for two important reasons. First the resolution is way too low at 130 pixels per inch. Second Apple seems clueless to the use of text rendering software. I had a NookColor and it has the same resolution as the Fire at 169 pixels per inch. That might not sound like much, but coupled with good text rendering software the NookColor was excellent for reading as far as hardware goes. The Fire will be too.

[macdonald79]

I was thinking the same thing, WilliamG. I can't help but imagine some alternate universe where Apple named the iPhone..."iPod Talk"...because you know, the iPod is so popular as has so much brand recognition.

I especially hate the nomenclature Amazon is establishing because people still fail to understand the advantages of eink vs lcd/led technology. Calling this tablet PC a Kindle only obscures the distinction. And it will only make matters more confused when Amazon finally releases a color eink Kindle. Also, Kindle Fire is a really lame name that was obviously devised during some BS corporate marketing "brainstorm."

[WilliamG]

The screen on the Fire will be much better for reading than you give it credit. My iPad screen sucks for reading for two important reasons. First the resolution is way too low at 130 pixels per inch. Second Apple seems clueless to the use of text rendering software. I had a NookColor and it has the same resolution as the Fire at 169 pixels per inch. That might not sound like much, but coupled with good text rendering software the NookColor was excellent for reading as far as hardware goes. The Fire will be too.

While I agree the extra ppi will be welcome, I don't find anything as good to read on as an e-ink display. It's that simple. You can give me 330-ish ppi like my iPhone 4, and while it's very sharp and gorgeous  (even aside from the fact that it's small!), it's simply not e-ink!

As a side-note, the Blackberry Playbook (which the Fire essentially is a cutdown version of) is on sale at Staples this week and is the better deal if you want a 7" eReader tablet, especially given you have to wait almost 2 months for the Fire anyway....

$249 after rebate IN STORE gets you:

1GB RAM vs 512MB on the Fire
16GB storage vs 8GB on the Fire
HDMI and Bluetooth vs neither on the Fire
Front and rear cameras + mic vs none of these on the Fire
GPS vs no GPS on the Fire.

So right NOW, I'd get the Playbook.

[NightGoat]

The name is a little ostentatious and comes off as a bit of a knock on the eink Kindles, as if Amazon is saying: "We gave you the kindling with eink, but now we give you the fire!" I can just see the guy at the meeting, with his power tie and the sleeves of his dress shirt rolled up saying that.

[WilliamG]

The name is a little ostentatious and comes off as a bit of a knock on the eink Kindles, as if Amazon is saying: "We gave you the kindling with eink, but now we give you the fire!" I can just see the guy at the meeting, with his power tie and the sleeves of his dress shirt rolled up saying that.

Right, and it just bothers me that somehow it's like telling us that the Kindle Fire is the BEST, MOST AWESOMEREST Kindle, EVAR! If Amazon uses this as a way to phase out e-ink readers, my reading days will be over. Viva la e-ink!!! VIVA!

[musclehead]

I was thinking the same thing, WilliamG. I can't help but imagine some alternate universe where Apple named the iPhone..."iPod Talk"...because you know, the iPod is so popular as has so much brand recognition.

I especially hate the nomenclature Amazon is establishing because people still fail to understand the advantages of eink vs lcd/led technology. Calling this tablet PC a Kindle only obscures the distinction. And it will only make matters more confused when Amazon finally releases a color eink Kindle. Also, Kindle Fire is a really lame name that was obviously devised during some BS corporate marketing "brainstorm."

Can't really call the Fire a "tablet PC".  It's not a PC in the sense that you're going to get anything done with it.  All you'll do with the Fire is consume content - watch movies, read books, listen to music. I know there are a few approved apps, but let's face it, you're not going to take it to work and do things with it.

Couldn't disagree more about the name, though.  Kindle Fire is the most awesome name possible.

[cnckmk]

I agree with people who thinks calling a tablet pc kindle fire is a wrong marketing strategy while lots of people know kindle as a dedicated e-ink display ebook reader. Kindle fire can be good rival to iPad but can't even get closer when you compare it with the traditional kindle devices we have now. On the other hand, apple is a quite tough competitor in this market, i do not think apple will keep silence to amazon.

tablet pc is good alternative to netbooks but when it comes to reading books, i personally prefer a dedicated e-ink ebook reader otherwise, many other features may distract me from concentrating on my book.

without an e-ink display, kindle fire cannot go beyond a tablet pc.

[WilliamG]

Kindle Fire is the most awesome name possible.

I'm going to slap man, pet dog, type keyboard, scratch bottom, and kindle fire.

And that, my friends, is why the name stinks.

[musclehead]

I'm going to slap man, pet dog, type keyboard, scratch bottom, and kindle fire.

And that, my friends, is why the name stinks.

This makes so little sense I can't even figure out what you're trying to say.  Guess I'll have to quit and say you won.

[WilliamG]

This makes so little sense I can't even figure out what you're trying to say.  Guess I'll have to quit and say you won.

Haha it's not about winning! It's about expressing what's wrong with the name from a grammatical standpoint. Nobody says "kindle fire." It's more like "kindling for the fire," or, "kindle the fire" (e.g. http://books.google.co.cr/books/about/Kindle_the_Fire.html?hl=en&id=yIlXtHvYa5gC )

See where I'm going here? Every time I read the name of this new tablet it reminds me of: FIRE, BAD!

And let me add that in the OFFICIAL Amazon commercial, it says it does movies, games, blah blah, and right at the end it says, "AND reading." See? Reading isn't even its main purpose. So why is it a Kindle? Bah humbug.

[Ann in Arlington]

I think Fire is a good name for a spinnoff from the base Kindle Brand.

And I disagree that the Blackberry Playbook is a better deal. . . I'm not interested in a camera or bluetooth or anything like that.  Certainly don't want to pay an extra $50 to get stuff I don't need. I just want a basic device for accessing content when I'm not at home. . . here in the greater DC area I can pretty much always find WiFi. . .so this fits the bill for me.

YMMV, of course.

[Ron]

When the kindle first came out almost every other poster was comenting how dumb the name was. Many people said that it would actually hinder sales.
I believe that the "Kindle Fire" name will draw a lot of attention to this device and increase its sales.

[HappyGuy]

Hmmm.... is it just me or does this look like just an electronic storefront?

[WilliamG]

Hmmm.... is it just me or does this look like just an electronic storefront?

Yes, old quote now.

[jd78]

I think some of you are reading way too much into this. Amazon is branding it a Kindle because of brand recognition, plain and simple. In the past the Kindle has represented only e-books, but that doesn't mean Amazon can't use the brand to expand the "Kindle Family" to include this tablet and possibly a future one. It's just plain smart marketing IMO, and wasn't expecting anything else. If anything i'm glad they gave it the name Fire instead of simply just calling it the Kindle Tablet, Kindle Color, etc.

[w5jck]

I like the name because it establishes the Kindle Fire as a Kindle reader. Contrary to the OP's belief that the word Kindle is to be considered a verb, it is a noun, a thing, an electronic reader named Kindle. the Fire has other media functionality, but I think Amazon is making a statement here by saying it is first and foremost a Kindle.

[Elk]

Amazon is establishing "Kindle" as a brand that is broader than e-readers.  

There will be many more Kindle products.

[geoffthomas]

I believe that Amazon intends to identify their method of accessing products that they sell as "Kindle", regardless of the exact type of hardware/software that you choose.  Their identity.

Just sayin......

[Tom S. Figueiredo]

Amazon is establishing "Kindle" as a brand that is broader than e-readers.  

There will be many more Kindle products.

Give them a few months and we are going to talk about "Kindle Telescope", "Kindle Particle Accelerator" and things like that...

[Luvmy4brats]

It's a brand name... It is part of the Kindle Family (maybe a 1st cousin) so it should have the Kindle name.

[LaraAmber]

I think it still is a Kindle.  But it's a version better suited for children's books, magazines, and graphic novels where you will want color.  I think a $200 Kindle Fire is a much better option for parents then springing $400+ on an ipad and handing it to a 5 year old for Curious George and educational apps.

Though when my son is old enough I'm still getting him a LeapPad. 

[history_lover]

I was surprised and disappointed by it as well. The Kindle name is associated with ereaders and the Fire is a tablet. I especially think it's weird because people who pick it up as a tablet and have little to no interest in the ereader function may be confused by the fact that it's called a Kindle but the Kindle store on the website only sells books, not apps. The apps, which in my opinion are the main feature of a tablet, are instead found in the Android App Store, a completely different section to the Kindle store. Why is it called a Kindle if the main store for it will be not be the Kindle store?

My only answer is that they are competing with B&N and their "Nook Color". If Amazon didn't call it a Kindle and market it as a Kindle, at first glance, people could mistakenly think that Amazon don't provide a color ereader whereas B&N do, a point in B&N's favor. I still don't like it though.

[Pawz4me]

Like others have said, I believe the name is going to generate a lot of confusion.

Someone on another board said Kindle Fire sounds like an electronic book burning event . . .

[DYB]

People said "iPad" was a terrible name also.  Look how that worked out.

Also, I'm another person who has no interest in it including cameras and microphones.  My home computer and my laptop have both - and I haven't used them...well, ever actually.  Kind of a waste.  Heck, I probably don't even really need this "Fire" thing.  Why did I buy it?  It was only $200!  Cheaper at regular price than the Playbook is after rebate.  My Mac Air laptop - which was expensive - is too valuable to me to have on the couch as I watch TV where my cat will no doubt jump on it.  A small, light "Fire" that's fairly inexpensive will be just fine.  What will I use it for?  Checking Kindle Board updates!  And the specs on the "Fire" are just fine for that.