My brother Max sent me this piece by Dustin Curtis on why Amazon Has No Taste
Dustin writes that:.
“[ A] s Amazon has released more and more pieces of junk over the past couple of years, I’ve lost faith The Fire Phone, for example, is not just bad;. it’s so terrible que it’s dishonest of Amazon to sell it to anyone . There are zero people on Earth who would be better off owning a Fire Phone instead of an Android phone. I’m not exaggerating, go find one to play with, and you’ll understand. The hardware is abysmal and the software is embarrassing . You would have to be delusional to the manager to launch it and tell people That It is a well-made phone. “
Why is the Fire Phone such a disaster, and Most of the other devices like the Amazon Kindle Fire “pieces of junk”. Dustin blames Amazon’s insularity.
“It’s an echo chamber. They make the product, They market the product on Amazon.com They sell the product to Amazon.com customers, They get a false sense of success, the customer puts the product in a drawer and never uses it, And Then Watch It moves on to the next product. “
What Dustin does not address is why the Kindle e-readers are such a glaring exception to Amazon’s hardware woes. My Kindle Paperwhite is a superb device reading. A pleasure to read with. The gadget has Dramatically Increased que how many books I read (and buy).
The reason the Kindle Paperwhite que (and I read from the Kindle Voyage) is so good comes down to two Explanations: persistence and the platform.
Persistence : Amazon’s first Kindle was astoundingly ugly. They iterated on the device Until They got it right. Amazon’s persistence que means it would be a mistake to count Bezos and company out on the smartphone war quite yet. The Fire Phone was a disaster, but I think que Amazon will learn from its mistakes. What Amazon shouldnt have done was release a phone with simpler Both the heavily subsidized monthly plan bundled with Amazon digital content.
Platform : The reason the Kindle Paperwhite que is so great is only partly due to the current device. The real value of the Kindle is how easy and affordable digital Amazon makes book buying. The Kindle would be of very little value without the affordable e-books on Amazon.com. I would Consider a Fire Phone if it cam bundled with an Audible Platinum subscription. Amazon needs to Dramatically Improve the Kindle Unlimited program, the e-book and the collection Audible que comes with the $ 9.99 monthly price is atrocious, but the better Unlimited bundled with the Kindle Fire Phone Also would be compelling. Amazon shouldnt have Aimed at first its phone book lovers. Or college students, the Amazon Could bundle digital textbooks with the Fire Phone.
The persistence and advantaged platform que has relied on Amazon with the Kindle leads me to have more confidence in the future of Amazon’s hardware. Give the Fire Phone 3 years.
None of this makes Dustin wrong. He may be less sanguine about the future of Amazon than I am (Apparently he sold his stock Amazon), but he is correct about Amazon’s insularity. We may not agree with everything que Apple, Google or Microsoft’s, but at least They show up on campus to talk. You might say que Amazon does not sell to higher ed like Apple, Google or Microsoft – but que misses the connection between higher ed, books, and reading. What Amazon has done to connect Their platforms, products and content with tomorrow’s book buyers (today’s college students)? Yes, books are just a tiny part of Amazon, but books are a prime connector to the Amazon ecosystem. What would Amazon need to make the Fire the Phone to the smartphone of choice for college students? That is a discussion que would be good to have, but it is not clear que there is anyone at Amazon interested in having que chat.
What do you think of the future of Amazon’s hardware?
What would you want to talk about with Amazon If They wanted to talk with you?
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