[citation][nom]chomlee[/nom]The ipad got where it is for 2 reasons. 1 it is a very good device. and 2 most importantly, the android tablet makers lost their chance to get in in time and when they did they thought they could charge a fortune for a device hoping apple haters would jump on the band wagon. Only until Asus and Acer came out with their tablets and priced them at levels that made them competetive to Apple, did the android tablets become feasible. Unfortunately, the ipad2 came out a couple months before them and many people who where waiting to buy a decent android tablet got frustrated and bought an Ipad2.Maybe the kindle fire could get people wanting to buy android tablets for a change.[/citation]
The iPad got where it is because it has a strong following of people with enough disposable income to buy something they don't need badly for several hundred dollars. It really has nothing to do with being revolutionary or a "better product". Android buyers are the type of people who rationalize a purchase and can't justify spending that much for what the device offers. Devices that are priced lower but might not be on equal hardware or might take extra work to bring full functionality out of are what they're looking for. They want the better value. HP Touchpad's price drop showed this to the manufacturers, so this might be the direction many non-Apple tablets go in. They made a mistake thinking they could compete at Apple's price range when there was plenty of room to compete in the lower price range.
[citation][nom]burnley14[/nom]My only concern with the Fire is the small screen, which makes this device almost exclusively media-consumptive. At 10", the iPad can at least pretend to get a little work done, especially with an external physical keyboard. In essence, this will be exclusively a toy instead of mostly a toy with the excuse of maybe getting some work done on it.[/citation]
They're going to release a 10 inch version of the Fire next year.
Ultimately, it comes down to understanding and getting a device which has the hardware you need. If you don't mind squinting, don't pay for a 10 inch screen. If you don't use video chat on the go, who cares about a front facing camera?. If you don't use map apps or other location sensitive features, you don't really need GPS. Google maps can sort of figure directions and location based on wifi anyway. If you don't want to use the device far away from WiFi areas and don't mind some loss of security, you don't need 3G. You're leashing yourself to a cell company with 3G anyway and will be bandwidth capped on it. These other companies can take advantage of the fact Apple prefers to tell it's customers what they need and instead give customers different options to fit their needs.