Hacker News Reader

Comment by Mythbusters | Hacker News Reader

The way android is used by Amazon is essentially how apple used unix core to get the basics right when creating a new software platform. A smart move obviously. What surprises me is how none of the big android players have not seen an opportunity here and created their own experience on top of it. That is the easiest way to differentiate yourself from the myriad of other cheap android device makers.

Im sure there is a lot of hand wringing going on behind the scenes for this to not have happened yet but its inevitable.

View on HN

> What surprises me is how none of the big android players have not seen an opportunity here

I guess you haven't heard of HTC Sense, Motoblur, Samsung's Touchwiz, etc. and how users mostly hate them.

Savvy users seem to prefer taking Amazon's Android Kindles and installing vanilla Androids on them.

Are these savvy users the majority of the kindle users? Sense and Motoblur are but very thin skins on android. Nothing like a end to end experience that Amazon has developed. No wonder majority of people hate these quick hacks.

Amazon has what the others (including Google) don't have--an established digital commerce solution that people use and amazing customer support. Goggle falls flat but sort of seems to be trying to work on it, but I don't trust them the way I already trust Amazon. There's zero reason for me to purchase a book on Play instead of a Kindle as far as I can tell.

You forgot to mention that the kindle app is available free on stock android.

And do you realize that you can't download kindle books on to them unless you already own a kindle device. That app was only designed for portability of your existing library. Amazon in no way give up their biggest advantage over android devices.

That's not true. I don't own a kindle device yet I have books I purchased on the Kindle store (when Amazon had a sale in the past) appear in the Kindle app on my Nexus7.

Maybe it's just that the app does not allow purchasing (never looked)?

The app allows purchasing. If it didn't, that wouldn't benefit Amazon (see: iOS).

How do you manage to get the books the at the kindle sale price when you don't own a kindle? Strange, when I got my Nexus 7, I did give the kindle app a try but it wouldn't let me purchase any books unless I paid the hardcover price. I have amazon prime, but without owning a kindle device, these ebook sales are meaningless to me.

Well, I thought that it was common knowledge that Amazon spreads access widely. AFAIK it's also available on iOS and of course e-ink readers. That platform indirection is a strong reason why I would make an Amazon purchase instead of Play. Similarly, lack of device access for Play (Roku, TiVo) is another reason I prefer to purchase video content on Amazon (I've been purchasing subscriptions for series that are automatically delivered to my TiVo in lieu of cable subscription for a few years now). Not to mention that Play's handling of music does byzantine obtuse things on my phone whereas Amazon MP3 is quite sensible in its directory and file naming. Amazon just feels more open and accessible. Not to repeat the biggie--responsive customer support.

  What surprises me is how none of the big android players have not seen an opportunity here and created their own experience on top of it.

What? We're only now seeing devices without mfg skins/customizations.

The issue for the Samsungs and HTCs of the world is they don't really have the other assets that Amazon has. Thus they are less able/willing to turn down things like access to Google Play and Search.

Because being sucessful on mobile is about creating the entire experience. If any other manufacturer created their own platform on Android, they wouldn't have the Google apps licensed to them, and consequently wouldn't look as attractive to consumers. Gmail, Google Maps, thousands of apps on Google Play, all these are valuable assets that consumers wouldn't be willing to give up.

Amazon is in a better position than most but they haven't yet created a general purpose device. All their tablets are a window to purchase more Amazon stuff. If they could create an entire ecosystem with a proper device to back it up, they could probably up-end Google. But slowly, Android on tablets is taking off now. I mean, Google recently released stats for number of tablets activated daily, which they hadn't done until now. Maybe that's because Google feels Android tablets are finally making a dent in the marketplace.

You're sort of right, but not 100%: It wasn't Apple that added a Unix core to anything -- it was really Steve Jobs at NeXT who did that, and then Apple just happened to buy NeXT.

Amazon's differentiation is price and a content ecosystems together with a great marketing channel, not the UI. Nothing that fits the model of the device makers.

Reply on news.ycombinator.com