News Amazon abandoning its Appstore only makes Google's lock stronger

[AC News]

Amazon is not your friend. They aren't Google's, either.

Amazon abandoning its Appstore only makes Google's lock stronger : Read more

 

[Windroid 2483]

As I said on another thread:

Amazon doesn't seem to be taking the Kindle Fire seriously, and that's a mistake. Perhaps the best way to rekindle the Fire is to bring back the Fire Phone, and make it what it should have been from the start: A cheap smartphone which comes with Amazon's apps, and is tied into the Amazon ecosystem.

Removing the Amazon app store from non-Fire Androids is just another sad step in that direction. Amazon should be doing the opposite:

Bring back the Fire phone, and gave a free Fire phone to everyone with Amazon Prime! If that's not enough to get app makers to put their apps on the Amazon app store, push them to get their apps there.

Amazon could have easily become a big name in Android, in the world of tablets and smartphones, and still can!

 

[Mooncatt]

Bring back the Fire phone, and gave a free Fire phone to everyone with Amazon Prime!

Oh heck no. Why would I want to pay more for a Prime subscription to get a sub-par "free" phone that I'll never use and that they could ban your access at the slightest hint of impropriety? I've already been banned from their included photo backup service for some mysterious reason that they refuse to tell me. I'm not even taking a chance with phone service.

 

[Windroid 2483]

Oh heck no. Why would I want to pay more for a Prime subscription to get a sub-par "free" phone that I'll never use

It will pay for itself! Amazon will get more money, because folks will have a phone with an emphasis on Amazon services.

Still, it will not be a locked-down phone (assuming the new Fire Phone works like the Kindle Fire tables)! It will come with the Amazon app store, and Amazon services. But if you want to install another app store, you can. If you want to install the Google app store, and use that to install the Barnes & Noble Nook app: Go ahead.

I'm not even taking a chance with phone service.

I said a phone, not phone service.

 

[Mooncatt]

Sorry if I don't agree with your optimism that they would give you a phone free of restrictions. I would fully expect them to have it locked down in some way and able to deactivate it if you do something they don't like.

There will also likely be very limited selections of phones, and the phones you can pick from will be low spec. Or at best, you'll have to pay a higher subscription fee for a higher tier "free" phone. That's getting awfully close to the "you'll own nothing and be happy with it" territory. I'm also very picky about what to get when it's time to upgrade. I have no desire to use cookie cutter Samsung or Google phones, which is what they are likely to have to please the masses.

My initial point still remains. If they offer a supposed free phone, the Prime subscription price is going to go up to pay for it. Nothing is ever free. So I'll ask again, why would I want to pay more to get a phone I'll never use?

My mistake mixing up phones and a phone service, but that doesn't really change anything about my opinion.

 

[Windroid 2483]

Sorry if I don't agree with your optimism that they would give you a phone free of restrictions. I would fully expect them to have it locked down in some way and able to deactivate it if you do something they don't like.

That's not the way the Kindle Fire tablet works.

My initial point still remains. If they offer a supposed free phone, the Prime subscription price is going to go up to pay for it. Nothing is ever free. So I'll ask again, why would I want to pay more to get a phone I'll never use?

Fair point, but by that measure, why have a Prime subscription at all? A Prime subscription is, by it's nature, a bundle of services. Why not drop the Prime subscription, and (for example) pay for your shipping fees on Amazon purchases directly?

 

[Mooncatt]

That's not the way the Kindle Fire tablet works.

You are getting the tablet as a stand alone purchase. Anything bundled with a service is likely to have restrictions.

Fair point, but by that measure, why have a Prime subscription at all? A Prime subscription is, by it's nature, a bundle of services. Why not drop the Prime subscription, and (for example) pay for your shipping fees on Amazon purchases directly?

The prime subscription was originally just to save on shipping fees, and it's still the core function of it. It still saves money over all if you shop there a lot, even without bundling anything with it.

 

[Windroid 2483]

You are getting the tablet as a stand alone purchase. Anything bundled with a service is likely to have restrictions.

True, but that would be a bad move on Amazon's part! If I were running the show there, I'd try to make Amazon a big name in the world of smartphones and tablets. I would not want to sabotage my own mission.