[brudgers]

>"Disruption requires asymmetry but it also requires the ability to go up a trajectory of improvement along the basis of performance that a majority of users demand"

The premise upon which this depends requires construing the Fire as Amazon's ground zero entry into the segment and dogmatic acceptance of the standard narrative in which the market segment for tablets or slates did not exist prior to the introduction of touchscreen devices in the form of Apple's iPad.

But neither is the case, just as smartphones were available for years before the introduction of the iPhone, likewise, the Fire is an extension of Amazon's well established product line - an extension which given the naming convention Amazon has employed (Kindle -> Fire), one may reasonably suspect has been on the drawing board for quite some time.

Another way to look at the potential for disruption which the Fire may hold is to consider it as an extension of the disruption Android caused in the smartphone market; i.e. making touchscreen smartphones ubiquitous commodity devices. Indeed, Amazon's agenda with the Fire (and Kindle) is more analogous to Google's with Android than to Apple's for the iPad.