24 hours with the Fire
24 hours in with the Kindle Fire and I feel like I’m coming to the same emotional place as I did with the Droid. The first 10 minutes were “wow, I think this might actually make it!” — but it buckled under extended use from lack of polish.
The good.
Hardware: A better form factor for media consumption than the iPad. ”woah it looks tiny!” were my first thoughts on unboxing. But after a day of use I actually really like the dimensions. Making a tablet able to be held in one hand makes it feel more portable, usable. Ultimately because I have a Macbook Air, I often stare at the iPad when I’m putting things in a bag and think they are just too close to each other to bring both. The Kindle Fire feels like what it should be, a media consumption device somewhere between a phone and a laptop. It makes the iPad feel a little like an underpowered laptop in comparison.
The build quality is pretty good as well, it feels solid in the hand. But you can tell it has cut corners to hit a price point - from the spray-grip rubber backing to the lack of volume buttons. It has the feel that it could have been produced by anyone, not uniquely Amazon.
The Bad
Software: Wonderful home screen and browser, weak app selection. I disagree with Marco on the homescreen here, it is far superior for a media consumption device than iPad. It presents me with the right information (do you want a book? video?) and I get the things I was doing recently in my face instead of a double-tap away. It’s a cleaner way to start a session, and an interesting place where Amazon picked the constraining but simplified interface, while Apple’s is more free form but more confusing.
But the software selection is just too weak once you get past the Amazon apps. A thin selection of games that won’t run, and I just couldn’t find apps I’m starting to rely on (Spotify, Sonos). And why Amazon decided to exclude the core Google Apps (mail, maps, etc) is beyond me — they are the only apps for Android that are actually superior to their iPad counterparts and it is a ridiculous omission.
The Ugly
The UI: If you can’t trust it, it won’t get used.
- Requiring a tap to bring up core menu options (like going back to Kindle’s home screen) will be at best unintuitive to the average user and at worst destructive to the user experience (what if I’m playing a game that requires a single click?)
- The back button is maddening. Sometimes doesn’t work.
- There is often no button to go back to the “Home” of the app you are in, forcing you to hit the back button a lot to get back to home menus (remember, back button only sometimes works). I was often left just exiting the app and re-entering hoping maybe that would take me to the main menu.
- In general when I press my finger to the screen I’m not sure if it’s going to work — this is the same problem i’ve had with my Nexus One and other Android devices and it is ultimately the dealbreaker. Touch interfaces require you to feel like you are moving things, as soon as that illusion is broken the entire experience breaks down.
Basically, it feels like the v1 of a typical product (not a typically Apple product). There are enough positives to make it better in some areas, but it’s nowhere near an iPad and the underpowered hardware makes responsiveness destroy the experience.
I love that Android and Amazon are knocking on the door, they are making Apple better (notification tray anyone?) and I’m just waiting for a device that finally turns the corner. Perhaps the new Galaxy Nexus?
