Last night during a bout of insomnia, I decided to investigate the rumors that you could add the Google Play Store to an Amazon Fire tablet. Since I only paid $40 (US) for it, I didn't have much to lose if it got bricked. I bought it on a whim and discovered that it was so Amazon-centric as to be almost useless for anything not directly connected to Amazon.
So after a bit of research, it turns out that you can add the Google Play Store to an Amazon Fire tablet. No hacking or jail-breaking required. All it requires is downloading and installing four files and ta-da, within minutes, you have access to the Google Play Store! So, I've turned a device whose main purpose was to get me to consume Amazon media into a useful, inexpensive tablet with access to all my favorite apps. Plus, having a 7-inch screen, it is both easy to carry around (unlike my 10 times more expensive 10-inch tablet) and easy to read the screen (unlike my 5-inch cell phone screen).