KindleFireAmazonThe latest from our pro bono copy editor, Nate, is that we shouldn’t use “Kindle Fire” to describe the Amazon tablet.

I’m always glad to see people care about details, and in fact, I myself went through one of Paul St John Mackintosh’s posts earlier this week to change “Kindle Fire” to “Amazon Fire.” But then I Googled around. The popular reference is indeed “Kindle Fire.” For SEO purposes, then, and out of common sense, too, I reverted.

The issue is whether Amazon’s marketers or popular usage should settle the question. Amazon wants you to buy both E Ink machines and tablets, one reason the company dropped text to speech from the E Ink devices—customers be damned.

It seems to me that this the official dropping of the earlier-used term “Kindle Fire” reflected the same control-freak-ish and marketer-ish mindset.

Normally I’d defer to official usage, but given what Amazon is trying to do, I kinda like the idea of TeleRead using “Kindle Fire.” I myself had been often and perhaps mostly writing “Amazon Fire.” But now I think we’ll defer to popular usage. Paul, please carry on!

Detail: I agree with Paul that the Fire is a great tablet for many people’s needs. At the same time, let’s keep pestering Amazon to help both itself and its customers by giving people the option of paying extra for Google Play-capable Fires, so they don’t have to do a geek act to expand their range of software choices. I heartily dislike the siloing of books and I feel the same about the gratuitous siloing of apps.

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