[ecaron]

Go for it! Amazon's track record in new media has been very solid. If you're nervous, push for more non-monetary perks (like giftcards for their video service or a chance to tour their HQ). Being their goto-guy for a new platform would pay off in spades and be an incredibly unique opportunity.

I'm sure if you explain your hesitation to them they'll make adjustments to accommodate you. Propose an arrangement that, though still plausible, leans in your favor. They need you & your skills on their platform more than you need them (they're probably trying to skip the lag-of-quality-app problem that Android is still wrestling with).

[krumjahn]

Thanks for the encouragement. I actually tried to ask them for a discount on a kindle but was rejected. As for being their go-to guy, I'm not sure what I can gain down the road. Maybe another beta license for the "KindlePad"?

[earl]

Wait, seriously, they didn't give you a kindle?

Email them back and tell them to send you a kindle when they get serious. In fact, one of each model for testing.

I have no idea what your app does, but they are going to be, if not already, way more androids in the world than kindles.

[hga]

"Email them back and tell them to send you a kindle when they get serious."

Agreed ... at least with the point that they aren't very serious about their offer to you, which puts into question some of the benefits that are being posited. They're proposing a wild jump into the dark and expecting you to shoulder all the costs, opportunity and out of pocket (not even a discount???). The idea that you'll be "their goto-guy" looks unlikely; perhaps check out the developer agreement to see if you can even talk about what you learn to others, if you're the sort of person who can turn that into an advantage (assuming the platform takes off in this way).

So I'd say it comes down to how much of a gambler you are (compare Digital Research and Microsoft when IBM came calling for an x86 OS, although note that Bill Gates was very well connected through his parents) and what your current non-Kindle prospects are. Can you turn your current iOS position into something greater? Does an Android or whatever port have a serious chance at getting traction? Right now you have no idea whatsoever if a Kindle app will or even can gain traction; Amazon's success at selling books is as you note elsewhere no indication of their likely success with apps.

Another way of looking at this is that few are likely to buy a monochrome Kindle to run apps on. Many customers have a Kindle for it's fantastic convenience (the ability to read any of a large selection of books while running the kids around town, on a vacation, etc.) and a Kindle app market is a de novo marketing and sales proposition, although Amazon at least has a rather captive audience for the marketing (I'd pay real money to Amazon to have a switch for their site so that I'd never ever see anything about the Kindle outside of reviews). But that doesn't mean they'll ever make any (serious) app sales, beware of the Chinaman Sales Fallacy (http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=1223405).