Not an unfair review, but seems like he missed the killer feature: price tag.
Which should also color your expectations of the device. I don't think there are many people wouldn't rather have an iPad, or maybe even a Honeycomb tablet, but $200 with Christmas around the corner?
edit: Also, the complaints about interface seem very similar to ones about Android in general. Not to say that he's biased or wrong, just that those are things you can get used to, as many Android users will tell you. It's also something that a lot of full-time iOS users can't get past, which is understandable.
There are lots of bad $200 Android tablets out there. The Kindle Fire was supposed to be a good tablet, sold at low cost because it was tied closely to Amazon's digital products. Instead, the reviews are suggesting that it's just another bad $200 Android tablet, albeit one that aggressively pushes Amazon's products at you.
I've played with another $200 Android tablet. It wasn't bad. It was terrible. Awful. I wouldn't take it for free. If the Kindle Fire is as bad as that, then this review wasn't nearly bad enough.
That's a total cop-out. $200 is a fantastic price, but at that price, wouldn't you agree that the device should at least work correctly? Constant crashing, missed touches, really poor and sometimes unusable default applications... do you really expect all that from a device just because it's priced to move? Comparing it to an iPad is unfair, and almost anyone doing it should immediately be dismissed, this much is true, but the device should at least be able to stand on its own merits.
If this were some no-name Android tablet ordered on some ugly website and shipped directly from China, sure, I'd say go ahead and expect these problems. But it's not, it's from Amazon, it's sold at a loss, it's their flagship to the tablet/media consumption world and it's currently their most marketed Kindle device... and it's not getting a lot of favorable response from real customers even at that reduced price.
Common failing of tech writers/bloggers/enthusiasts. A few hundred dollars is of little concern to us. For the average person $300 is a huge difference. They might be scared away of a no-name brand but with Amazon's logo on the thing they will buy it. Apple's going to have to justify why the iPad costs $300 more in a way normal people can understand.
price is an advantage, only if nook wasn't around. I played with nook today, it is way better than Fire. after looking at both devices (I bought fire, without using it) I'd say it is worth spending extra 50$ on nook. Amazon has other advantages (prime, videos, better and bigger ebook store than Barnes etc) - but the hardware itself, is definitely meh. In short, play with both devices before deciding.
Except... almost all of the brokenness is with the software.
The hardware itself feels fine. A little plasticky, but surprisingly solid and well-made for $200. The screen is beautiful too - heads and shoulders above anything else seen on Android tablets yet.
This makes the disappointment all the worse. I was expecting corners to be cut on the hardware side to hit $200, but opened the box to find a perfectly fine piece of hardware crippled with atrociously bad software - the one component where there is zero marginal cost.
I think that point was addressed: Tablets are a hard sell. It’s not like anyone really needs them like PCs or phones. If they are not fun you might as well not buy them.
It’s nevertheless going to be extremely interesting to see how well they will sell. The Kindles are well loved so I think there are going to be a lot of people who blindly buy this tablet for Christmas. How the Fire will sell beyond that is anyone’s guess.
Recalls a radio ad that ended "...sure you could go somewhere else and get a burger for fifty cents, but then you'd have to eat it."
I keep seeing people get non-iPad tablets because of the price tag, and then discover "oh, now I have to use it" and soon don't. Would that a tablet come out true to its own goals and limits.
Which should also color your expectations of the device. I don't think there are many people wouldn't rather have an iPad, or maybe even a Honeycomb tablet, but $200 with Christmas around the corner?
edit: Also, the complaints about interface seem very similar to ones about Android in general. Not to say that he's biased or wrong, just that those are things you can get used to, as many Android users will tell you. It's also something that a lot of full-time iOS users can't get past, which is understandable.