The little monochrome Kindles at $79 are a fair value for a single-function device. Though I find monochrome anachronistic in a device that emulates print on paper. Have they never heard of four color lithography??? How do you like National Geographic rendered in monochrome?

The Kindle Fire came out when real tablets with color screens cost at least $500, so they could get away with charging $200 for a color screen on what still is pretty much a single-function device. As you note, a Kindle's strength is not in the "peripheral" apps like the Web browser; and the set of available apps is artificially limited to those that don't step on Amazon product lines.

But hey presto all hail the miracle of capitalism and cutthroat competition, and half a year later Samsung comes out with what the previews uniformly called the "Kindle (Fire) Killer": A $250 tablet running Android 4 "Ice Cream Sandwich", unhobbled and able to run all the Android apps, including the Kindle and Nook readers. For $50 more. Ain't competition wonderful?

Wait six months and Amazon will hit back with some kind of "Kindle Konflagration". Just you wait and see.

Oh, and there's an Android app that turns a tablet or smartphone into a flashlight. Who needs to pay extra for a night light?