Do Want, Will Have

This is the new Kindle Fire.  Oh, Baby, have I been waiting for this....

I've been eyeing the tablets on the market for quite some time, asking the gurus among my group of friends what they thought about this or that one and biding my time.  Really and truly, I have other pieces of equipment that already do most of the things an iPad or its Android cousins can do as well as or better than they can.  While I've seen a million applications for them (and I don't just mean apps) for education, I haven't been able to justify the massive cost of another gadget that would be so redundant without giving me something extra in return.

And then there's this.  My dear old Kindle 2 is getting a bit ragged around the edges.  I've already super-glued the selector button, and I've managed to crack the screen somehow despite how careful I always am with it.  This new Kindle is first and foremost a touchscreen e-reader.  I am all for that.  I read more and faster with my e-reader, and all the snobs who have a problem with e-text can lump it.

Next, though, and fantastically, it offers access to all my Amazon Cloud music.  I buy all my digital music from Amazon and have for years because I hate dealing with the DMR crap from iTunes that causes problems if I want to use the songs in a PowerPoint or some such.

Because I also keep an Amazon Prime membership for the purpose of free shipping, I also have access to all the streaming videos and content that they offer.  The Fire is going to let me watch that on it, too.  This means I will be able to watch Fawlty Towers and Doctor Who on my Fire.  Freaking Shiny Score.

It is going to do other stuff, too.  It will have a web browser and handle email.  It will run Angry Birds.  There will be other native apps.  The things I've listed, though, are all the things I really care about it doing.  These are all the things I have ever wanted something to be able to do while I travel.  It is all my entertainment in one very small, convenient, independent, rechargeable place.

I'm sure there will be those who say it doesn't do enough.  For them, probably the iPad or something larger is a better answer.  For me, this "superbook" is the right fit.  I may not be able to get my hands on it until November, but I can be happy knowing it's around starting right now.  Well done, Amazon.  Well done.