Three months ago I wrote about the then-unannounced Kindle Fire, and speculated as to what some of its weaknesses may be.  It’s been out for a few weeks now, and reviews seem to be mixed.  I’d like to revisit that analysis and see how it panned out.

Lack of Buttons is an issue that was actually mentioned in several reviews.  Apparently changing the volume is something of a hassle because the on-screen menu is not responsive enough.  In a similar vein, there’s been some grumbling about the placement of the power button and headphone jack.  I’m not sure if this is because the bottom of the device is actually a bad place for them, or if people just don’t like it because it’s different from the iPad.

Screen Size also turned out to be an issue.  Both in usability and its ability to display non-book reading content.  In both instances, although the size gets the blame, the problem really appears to be software-based.  I still think 7” tablets are a good size, ergonomically.  

The Interface seems to be the biggest problem.  With Android hitting a new high in usability and polish, going back two major revisions to a pre-tablet version of the OS, and then throwing their own homebrew skin over the top was a big risk.  The Cover Flow-esque main menu moves at a great framerate, but this is countered by its slow loading art on other screens, and stuttering page turns.  Were they so inclined, this would be a good place to start the process of improving the Fire.

The Google-Free Experience is causing some concern among developers who dislike the Amazon App Store experience, and see this as Amazon’s attempt to break into the wider Android app market.  While it’s entirely possible to sideload apps, or hack the Fire to use Google’s app store, I doubt your average consumer will know this.

I was wrong on my last point - that it would sell well enough to cause outages of its related services.  If there have been any huge upticks in the usage of Amazon’s services, they’ve been handled smoothly.  Though it’s not Christmas yet.  Ironically, the opposite problem cropped up.  Early reviews of Silk were mediocre, prompting a statement from Amazon that it would get faster as more people used it.  If Apple gets a pass for Siri’s occasionally mediocre performance based on the excuse that the system is “learning,” I’m inclined to give Amazon the same benefit of the doubt.  This is somewhat new territory, and I’ll be interested to see if the Fire’s browser speed issues clear up in the coming months.

And me? I just grabbed an original Galaxy Tab from Woot.  What can I say, it seemed more my style.