<i>It feels like RIM bet big that networks were always going to be slow and cpu's wouldn't be that fast and then came along the iphone.</i>
Amazon is betting that slow hardware will stay cheaper than fast hardware. It's a good bet. If they could ship a $30 Kindle, they absolutely would. And eventually, they might.
And it isn't to say that both are good biz models.
Expensive (high margin) fast hardware that can do more things
Cheap (low margin) slow hardware that can do some things
The one thing we do know is that WebKit is winning. Now the big question is which JavaScript engine did they use? My gut says V8 due to the optimizations I know they could do with the cloud setup they have.
(disclaimer work for the webkit team at rim and this is all my own personal opinion)
Amazon is betting that slow hardware will stay cheaper than fast hardware. It's a good bet. If they could ship a $30 Kindle, they absolutely would. And eventually, they might.