Fast forward to the post-iPad Era. Apple's first-generation iPad made it clear that mobile technology was powerful enough for a media tablet, and that consumers were ready to adopt a tablet, in droves. Pair that development with the wild upswing in Google Android's popularity, and the release of Google's Android Honeycomb platform, and the door suddenly opened wide for Amazon to develop a viable competitor to Apple's iPad.

The details of the Amazon tablet remain vague. Rumors put the screen at "roughly nine inches", per the Wall Street Journal's report. The tablet will run Android, presumably Android 3.2 (or later, if another version comes available). The Journal also says its sources claim there won't be a camera.

Frankly, if those specs pan out, they will make an Amazon tablet something of an odd duck. The vast majority of Android tablets-including notables like Samsung Galaxy Tab 10.1 and Toshiba Thrive-use a 10.1-inch screen. Apple's iPad 2 and HP's TouchPad each use a 9.7-inch display. Only LG and Samsung have announced 8.9-inch units. Samsung still hasn't disclosed U.S. availability for its Galaxy Tab 8.9, while LG's has shipped Stateside in the form of the T-Mobile G-Slate. In use, the 8.9-inch size is a tweener that's too large to hold for long periods in one hand, but not quite large enough to impress. More trouble: Some developers have said outright that, until Google's Ice Cream Sandwich unifies the company's fragmented mobile operating systems, they won't support anything but 10.1-inch displays for Android 3.x.

The lack of a camera would also be a competitive oversight. I'd understand omitting the camera if Amazon was positioning its tablet primarily as a reading and media consumption device, much like Barnes & Noble has done with its Nook Color (which runs on a variant of Android 2.3, but only has access to B&N's own app store). But based on steps the company has taken this year, that's an unlikely direction.