PlayBook bashing + Kindle Fire reality check
So, what frustrates the **** out of me is to see hardly anyone gripe about the Kindle Fire 7" form factor. When RIM introduced the PB, almost everyone bitched and moaned about the fact that it was too small...
Anyway...
One thing I'm surprised by is that people tend to overlook that, while affordable, the *real* cost of the Kindle Fire comes AFTER you purchase the thing, which is the whole point for its existence! First, in order to make proper use of it, you will need Amazon Prime to get (some) free video + music + storage. Sure, $80/year ain't that bad a deal but now we're already looking at $280 for the KF for year one. And once you're invested, you're likely to renew year over year, especially if you store lots of personal content on their servers.
Now that you're plugged in, you'll probably make a number of impulse buys, just because you can. A magazine subscription here, couple of movies there, the odd CD to listen to, bunch of games / apps... Let's be conservative here and call it an even $120/year.
Without even TRYING, that $199 Kindle's price tag has already DOUBLED! Yes, you can argue that that's the whole point, but is it, really? You can buy an iPad and NEVER pay for anything as there are so many free apps out. Same goes for the PlayBook. Both are different in that they're geared more towards doing things / productivity rather than consuming digital content. That's not to say you can't, it's just not the primary function. The Fire's sole function is for consumers to buy digital content. Even just as a surfing-only device, you're feeding Amazon valuable information (read the privacy policy!) they can use to sell you more.
TBH I'm still on the fence. For $100 more I can get a PlayBook and use it on a day-to-day basis once 2.0 comes out -or- I can get the Kindle Fire and give Amazon a steady stream of my money until it either dies or something better comes along.
Thoughts?
-Mux