[fpgeek]

Say what now? I just opened my Kindle app and the store hasn't gone anywhere.

Are you maybe thinking of Google blocking Amazon from including the Amazon Appstore in the Amazon shopping app? That's a different issue and, more importantly, that doesn't really affect what's possible on Android, just how convenient it is. After all, anyone who wants to can download the store Google blocked from Amazon directly.

[madeofpalk]

Just like how if anyone wants to purchase a Kindle book on the iPad, they can do it via Safari (they could make it more convenient by pinning it to the home screen as well)

[bookwormAT]

Actually, no. Being able to purchase a book over a web browser and installing a native application store on your device are very different things.

I think you can argue that a browser itself is an app store (you download and execute (web-)apps with it). But Apple does not allow the installation of different browser engines, so you can still not install an app store on your device.

[Mikeb85]

To my mom, it comes down to this:

She has an Android phone, with which she can buy books through the Kindle app (without messing with a website).

She has an iPad, on which she can't buy books through the Kindle app, and she does have to go through a browser to their website.

To her, the Android experience is better because of this (she reads a lot).

[madeofpalk]

I understand what you're saying, technically they are different things.

But not to my mother.

I would guess (and only guess, I haven't tried to look for any numbers) that the percentage of people who go out and install an alternative app store, let alone Amazon's, is quite small (especially once you take out the HN audience)