Kindle Fire: $199 with free Amazon Prime subscription

It could be a cardboard assemble-yourself tablet and Amazon could shift them in the thousands at this price. And the talk is that this bargain-basement tag will include a subscription to Amazon Prime. Manufacturers of competing seven-inch tablets have just been blown out of the water. Completely. I wouldn’t like to be sitting on RIM stock this afternoon.  There is little doubt that this device is a loss-leader for sale of content. Samsung and other Android tableteers will need a stiff glass of whisky. Even Apple, safe at ten inches with 3G and lots more pedigree, will be watching.