Amazon Wants You To Buy Tablets the Way You Buy Cheap Beer

Commoditization may well be the future of technology - or of hardware, perhaps - but the question is whether that will also begin to affect the knowledge it contains in the era of big data. JL

Alison Griswold reports in Slate:

An Amazon exec said, joking, that “it was definitely inspired by PBR.”

Amazon on Thursday announced seven new devices, among them the Fire tablet, a “groundbreaking new tablet for under $50.” By under $50, it really means $49.99, unless you choose to purchase the Fire tablet via the other super-exciting deal that Amazon is offering: in a six-pack for $249.95.

Yes, Amazon wants you to buy these tablets the way you’d buy cheap beer. Business Insider reports that an Amazon exec said as much at the product briefing, joking that “it was definitely inspired by PBR.” The Fire tablet is slated for release on Sept. 30, and the official tag line on the deal, per Amazon’s order page, is “Make it a six-pack. Buy five, get one free.” After that, you might as well buy a 24-pack of Gatorade and a 48-pack of light bulbs so you can just skip the trip to Costco altogether.

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Jokes aside, you can potentially see the Fire tablet six-pack being an appealing option for people looking to buy cheap tablets en masse. So, families, schools, anyone who wants an easy holiday gift to distribute, and perhaps even some companies? Jeff Bezos says in Amazon’s release that the Fire tablet is “incredibly durable” and “sets a new bar for what customers should expect from a low-cost tablet.” The specs include a quad-core 1.3 GHz processor, front- and rear-facing cameras, storage capacity that goes up to 128 GB with an SD drive, and all-day battery life.

Oh, and lest you worry about keeping those six Fire tablets straight: Amazon is also selling protective covers in five different colors. Though at $24.99 apiece, you might be better off just buying another six-pack of devices and labeling them with stickers.