Kindle Fire Full-Color Multi-Touch Display with Wifi

Amazon has been the world’s go-to online retailer for years, and their commitment to innovation and customer service has turned them into one of the biggest and most important companies in the world of web business. So when they got into the eReader business a few years back, many people were excited to go along, and the Kindle has proved a popular item. It has changed the way we buy and read books, and as a result it has sent waves of change through the publishing business and eBusiness in general.

But when the first few versions of Kindle came out, people weren’t reluctant to point out the device’s flaws—and there were some significant ones. They were slow, the screen was somewhat unattractive, and the controls were sorely lacking in the intuitiveness department. Yes, many people loved their Kindles and used them extensively, but there was obviously room for improvement.

To complicate matters further, Apple released the iPad in 2010. Although some people were initially unsure of what the iPad’s intended purpose was, it quickly became clear that as an eReader, at least, it blew the old versions of the Kindle out of the water. It was colorful and had touchscreen controls, and of course the eReader functionality shared space on the same device with countless other applications. By the end of 2010, anyone new to eBooks who could afford an iPad was likely to bypass the Kindle and opt for the flashier Apple device.

The Kindle Fire arrives

With the Kindle Fire Full-Color Multi-Touch Display with Wifi, released at the end of 2011, the eReader picture has changed again. Rather than attempting to directly take on the iPad, the folks at Amazon smartly decided to keep the Kindle relatively simple. With the Fire, users can get apps from Amazon’s Appstore, but the selection is of course far smaller than that available through the Apple app store. But the Fire was not designed to be the all-purpose tool that the iPad is marketed as. Instead, Amazon focused on the core functionality of their Kindle products and opted to make the Fire a top-notch media tablet.

For anyone who has used the older Kindles, the Fire is not merely an upgrade. The first thing you’ll notice is how much better it looks than the old versions of the Kindle. The screen is bright, colorful, and alive, and its touchscreen functionality is on par with anything Apple has released. So for anyone who thought the old Kindle book presentation was a bit lackluster, things have changed.

But the Kindle’s core functionality now includes more than just reading books. You can now use the device to watch movies and TV shows on a bright and vivid screen. With a Cloud Storage account and Amazon Prime membership, you can easily stream whenever you have a WiFi connection.

Is it worth buying?

So while the Kindle Fire doesn’t directly challenge the iPad on apple’s turf, it offers some amazing features and a beautiful presentation that does equal, if not exceed, what the iPad can do. But there’s a kicker: While the iPad is now selling for $500 on up, the Kindle Fire is selling for $199. This obviously makes the Fire much more attractive as a gift or an impulse buy. Especially now, when so many people around the world are struggling financially, the iPad is out of range for many people. The Fire, by comparison, is cheap.

And with all the cool things you can do with the Kindle Fire—and don’t forget, the Amazon Appstore is growing—it is hard to imagine a better gift for someone’s birthday or Christmas. The Fire is almost addictive. Once you get the hang of its intuitive controls and beautiful graphics, it’s hard to put it down. Even people who are skeptical of the eReader craze might have to think twice after getting their hands on the Fire.