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Why I Love My $79 Amazon Fire HD Tablet

I don't usually buy cheap. As a matter of fact, that's about as far from my behavior in tech gear as people who have known me will tell you. I've always bought (or overbought) the latest and greatest Apple gear. I would dive in and buy whatever was newest in Android, usually from Samsung, then OnePlus (I still do buy their gear for Android). I would almost always buy a Pixel from Google.

The rationale was simple, those brands build the best of the best, so paying more for it, meant I had the best. But when it comes to tablets, I haven't rushed out to buy a new iPad, as my iPad Pro 9.6 does all that I need. It's still is as fast as any iPad on the market, runs the apps I use, and can be my companion at dinner or when on the plane. But it's got one problem. Even at 10" with the case, it's just too big for me sometimes to tote around.

The iPad Mini is a better device for that, but price and performance wise, it's not justifiable anymore. It doesn't have the fastest processor, and it's not really a phone, even if I can add all the VoIP and Conferencing apps I use.  Even at $399 for a Wi-Fi only iPad Mini 4, it's over 4 times the cost of a tricked out; case carried, keyboard enhanced Amazon Fire HD 8.

But there's something else that has had me fall in love with the Amazon Fire HD 8. It's the audio and video quality when I cast to any Chromecast HD in the house.  It's fuller, richer and more robust than my iPad. Hands down. That and the facts that it's also so small and light and if it's damaged or stolen, I've lost all of $100 (case, keyboard included).

It's become my go-to jukebox to send music to my 4-year-old Samsung 43" SmartTV, and my two less than a year old TCL Roku 65" or 55" Toshiba Amazon Fire TV's that dot the house in different rooms. Each has Google Chromecast's or Android TVs, and even some have built-in Chromecast themselves. Video streams flawlessly. Audio hits the highs and lows, and by choosing the best quality, it's delivering the audio as good as any mobile device can.

When I take it with me on the go, I can tether to either my OnePlus 6T or iPhone 7. It connects quickly to Wi-Fi, and when I need to, I can always latch on to a Boingo powered hotspot.

Amazon's private label program for hardware doesn't end with the HD Fire for me. I also needed a soundbar to connect to my TV. While it's not the best on the market, it sure is good enough to do what I need, and priced at under $75.00 it sure fills the living room, enhancing the audio enough to keep me happy.

Here's the bottom line. Amazon's line of gear is value priced. Yes, you have trade-offs, but for where we've gone tech wise we don't need to buy only Apple to have what we need.

 

 

Why People Don't Upgrade iPhones Fast Anymore

The New York Times story about people not upgrading their iPhones as fast as in the past has more to do with consumer behavior than any other product ever made by Apple. 

Let's face it, there comes a point where something other than Moore's Law drives technology. And that's where consumer needs outweigh the need for an improved device. As someone who upgraded every iPhone from day one to the iPhone 6, Plus and 6S and even carried an SE for a few years, I stopped with my iPhone 7 as it does all I need right now. 

1. It's unlocked so I can switch carriers as I need to.
2. It's a global device, so I can use it anywhere I travel with a local pre-paid SIM
3. It runs the latest OS (if it didn't I would upgrade)
4. It makes and receives calls (isn't that why we have a phone)
5. It sends and receives iMessage and SMS everywhere
6. It has Wi-Fi calling
7. I can use a Google Fi SIM or one from any mobile operator
8. It still delivers the fastest speeds available that the mobile operators offer (this is another reason not to upgrade)
9. It has all the bands that are in use today by the mobile operators
10. It still takes great pictures
11. The apps I use daily all work on it (this would be deal breaker number 3)

What would cause me to upgrade? 

1. Real 5G being really available everywhere I am
2. New services that require an iPhone 11 or better
3. Better pricing

It's really time for Apple's razor blade strategy to come into play. Sell phones for less, offer more services that consumers, SMB and Enterprise workers are in need of vs. the want generation they have been serving.

Apple's Sky is Not Falling

There has been a lot of analysis going around surrounding Apple's Guidance announcement. For starters Apple did the right thing by making the announcement, something any Investor Relations counselor would agree. They also did a lot more and three articles really demonstrate just how Apple is using the media to message the market.

Slate

500ish Words

Wired

What Apple did was:

1. Addressed their issues surrounding product declines and communicated why they have to move full bore in to services.
2. Admitted without mentioning the competition from the likes of Xiaomi and Huawei that hardware battles in China are never going to be won by Apple any longer.
3. That with services moving at the rate they are, there's less need to upgrade hardware as often as in the past

I would contend that Apple's strategy has been known internally all along. They have been hiring more and more for core service technologists for the past three or four years. This speaks to their direction, even if they have been slow to launch anything of any major notoriety. But why should they? After years of being first with everything they did, they grew and grew market cap and market size on the back of the iPhone, just as they built market share from miniscule to massive with the Macs. But even with the PC market share growth, Apple is largely a west coast dominator for Macs vs. Windows, and with the Google Chromebook coming online and growth in that sector plus the cloud early Mac adopters have moved on to the less expensive Pixlebooks which offer people like me all I did on the Mac Book Pro or Mac Book Air for less money.

The battle in China is not Apple's alone. Qualcomm went through this a few years ago and is now playing cozy with the Chinese. Apple's announcement skirted the licensing battle but reading between the lines, Apple was referring to it. You just need to read the Tim Cook dropped tea leaves.

The hardware sales decline in their third largest market is really fortelling. You can't beat the Chinese in China when they can produce look alike devices for 1/3rd the price and sell them on home turf. It's like trying to beat the team that has the home court advantage.

Wall Street is also reacting to the wrong metrics. Sure sales is one indicator, but hiring growth, investment in real estate, establishing new offices in more places is about Apple lowering the costs of rent and people, and those moves are all cloud and chip tech based. 

Apple has a plan-you just have to look past the sales numbers and sales accounting to see it. 

It's all about Services, something Google and Microsoft got a head start in, but Apple is Apple, and I would never count them out.

 

 

The CES Ramp Up

If you're a techie, a gadgeteer or an electronics junkie or simply someone who enjoys entertainment gear, CES is where the action is every January. It starts next week, and already, the ramp up is happening.

So next week, as the publicity machines crank up there will be lots of news surrounding what some will call "the next big thing," but in reality, it's not what's on the floor that's big. It's CES that is the "big thing" as it takes over the entire city of Las Vegas. It's where every brand fights for attention and where every attendee fights for a cab ride.

Already, rumors are floating around about this being the big show for Google (I disagree as I/O, and Next are where Google shows off). Apple never really does anything at CES except walk the floors, and Amazon, which has Re: Invent every November only needs to be there to support licensees. 

The mother of all trade shows is for the mega brands and the want to be brands to generate "heat" around their newest products. That's why CES has morphed into so much more than just "consumer electronics" and is why FoodTech, SportsTech, AutoTech, GreenTech, SeniorTech and BizTech are all there. CES creates new markets, builds awareness and is where the exhibiting companies are selling in.

And CES is about just that. SELLING IN. It is not about selling through. CES is where new products are seen, where meetings are held and where orders get written.

In many cases, the hype around the new products is so early that consumers salivate for the next big thing. It used to be TV and Stereo gear, but now it's about smart devices, smart homes, smart kitchen appliances-seriously, does anyone want dumb anything? 

This year marks the third year I'm skipping CES because, in this era of instant journalism, you can know all that's going on in more places more quickly by just using Google.

And that's why for Google, CES is really a big deal.

Amazon Will Go Prime at Retail

At a time of the year, well, the New Year, often there are SWAG (stupid wild ass guesses) that pop up from every corner of the media, all now magnified by the ability to self publish, um, I mean contribute to sites like Forbes, Huffington Post, Entrepreneur, Inc and many others. I tend to stay out of the prediction game, but I do seem to have a knack for seeing things evolve. That's why I'm thinking Amazon goes Prime at retail, with Prime Markets. The signs at Whole Foods are already there.

So let's start with Amazon, and really Whole Foods. You see, Amazon has a problem, just like Google (now Alphabet) has or had. It's a brand naming convention problem that is only going to get worse before it gets better.

In Google's case, everything was Google. GoogleVoice, Google Cloud, Google Ads. You get the idea. So for everything, not Google they've come up with other brand names and made them a part of Alphabet. Honestly, I need Google just to find what's in Alphabet these days. But I digress. Back to Amazon.

Right now Amazon's push in the consumer retail food world has the following (that I know of) which as a customer is starting to get confusing:

1. Amazon Prime
2. PrimePantry
3. Amazon Fresh (only in select market areas)
4. Whole Foods (with delivery in some market areas)
5. Subscribe & Save
6. Delivery Day (get it tomorrow)
7. Amazon Launchpad (new food products from startups)
8. Wickedly Prime
9. 365 (line of low cost, high value products in select categories)

That's nine brands that I can track, all in the mold of Proctor and Gamble, the massive CPG company. Different brand names for different parts of the consumer market. For now, let's put aside the conspiracy theorists angle that the DoJ or the White House wants to break up Amazon. Granted there's thought that Amazon is much Microsoft and before that IBM as there's always some company that's a likely target if for no other reason that there's a reason to justify why they need to have so many people on staff. That could be a thought of as to why the Big A has to have so many different brands. It's not.

It's really all about the various subsets of markets by buyer types and categories.

People love AMAZON. They shop on Amazon. Consume content on Amazon Prime Music and Prime Video. The pay for Amazon Prime and many of the product deliveries are now being delivered by the Amazon Prime's own delivery team. Heck, there is even a Prime Air.

For all that, people use their Prime membership at Whole Foods to get discounts on products that are already on sale. They've yet to name that publicly, but that's all really about Prime Pricing. The only thing missing is Prime Rewards (but I bet that's coming).

So as Amazon expands Whole Foods, both in the number of locations and in products, they have a problem. Whole Foods core value proposition is about healthy, organic, environmentally friendly products. That means as they take over more market share at retail, the fight for shelf space from non-environmentally friendly products, non-organic, not as healthy items need a place to be sold. That's way beyond the 365 line for everyday low pricing of products, which is why I'm thinking Amazon rolls out Prime Markets.

Why? Prime Markets becomes the retail storefront and online presence for all things not Whole Foods, and it will be where the consumer package goods industry wants to see Amazon go. Many retail supermarket chains are floundering. The CPG industry needs retail storefronts. Delivery to C & D counties is not as fast as it is in metro areas, and those communities need to have supermarkets. While I may be wrong, it's too logical. Prime Markets also gives Amazon a way to consolidate all these other brands (Pantry, Fresh, Wickedly, etc.)

Time will tell, as with Amazon, anything can happen.