//WL2K Amazon Fire - NOT

When my :ASUS eeePc died I purchased an Amazon Fire. I needed something light weight that I could carry easily to WiFi hot spots and do my mail, banking, etc. The Fire seemed the perfect device. And it was....

UNTIL>>>

As happened with my Kindle on my Atlantic passage about 3 days out of Panama the Fire told me I had a rights management issue. It would not let me read any of the books I had loaded up for the trip. More importantly it would not let me read the cruising guides I needed to make good decisions and safe landfalls.

When we arrived in Hiva-Oa and I could make an Internet connection the Fire continued to give me fits. Among other things I could not contact Amazon tech support. I finally asked Paul to contact them, their answer "they all do that." Great! The answer was simple. De-register the Fire, then re-register it. So I de-registered it. It refused to re-register. It also turned off my access to my email, the web browser, and anything else I might have found useful in debugging the problem.

I finally called Amazon tech support on the satellite phone (at $2.50 per minute.) Nice person on the other end. He said, not sure what is going on, can I put you on hold? Sure, why not, only $2.50 per minute. He came back rather quickly and told me that the Fire was registered and that it needed a good Internet connection. So the plan is to fly to Tahiti, stay in a hotel, download the registration, fly back to Hiva-Oa. I am sure Amazon will be glad to pay for the trip. NOT!

Fair winds and following seas :)