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Wal-Mart recently decided that it will no longer sell Amazon Kindle products. Target made the same decision earlier this year. I always thought it was remarkably stupid for either company to sell Kindles, particularly the Kindle Fire. Prior to the launch of the original Kindle Fire in 2011, I wrote (for another web site) that it was a “gateway drug” and “Trojan horse” product. While Target and Wal-Mart benefit in the short term from Kindle Fire sales, Amazon wins in the long haul by selling digital and physical products to those consumers. I was astounded by the shortsighted thinking of the brick-and-mortar stores and impressed that Amazon duped these dinosaurs into carrying its Trojan horse.
Obviously the Kindle Fire makes it easy for people to buy digital media. That’s less CDs, DVDs, and Blu-ray discs consumers would buy at a brick-and-mortar store. The really clever tactic is Prime Instant Video. With an Amazon Prime subscription, Kindle Fire owners get access to a large library of streaming movies and television shows. They also get free two-day shipping on most physical products sold by Amazon. This makes buying from Amazon really attractive. Consumers can buy nearly everything they can find at Target and Wal-Mart, but without the hassle of going to a store and with the benefit of fast (and free!) shipping. It’s awesomely conveniently, as well as a bit dangerous to impulse shoppers and those prone to addiction.
Why would you allow a Trojan horse like the Kindle Fire to be sold in your stores? I’ve always wondered what idiot executive thought this was a good idea. Thankfully, logic has prevailed and these companies will no longer be selling a product that makes their stores mostly obsolete. About time, morons.
Glad to see they are at least getting smart eventually. I’m still content with my original kindle fire right now though. I keep thinking that I will eventually get a tablet of some sort for my wife, but I’m not sure what. I like the look of the kindle paperwhite as another kindle to get, but I also really love the look of the Nexus 7’s. Meanwhile my wife is enthralled by the samsung galaxy note 10.1 for some reason. No way I would spend $500 on a tablet when I feel you are just as well off with a $200 or $250 tablet.
They actually canned the Q
I wasn’t aware of that, as it is still up on the Google Play site. Either way I don’t see how they haven’t had an app available for any other products that would allow the streaming of Google Play.
Google claims it is delayed so that more features can be added. We shall see.
To sell the accessories that are marked up a few thousand percent at check out?
BestBuy still sells these I believe. It is where I have to go in order to get a PaperWhite by 10/11 for a birthday.