MobileRead Forums - View Single Post - Walt Mossberg reviews the Kindle in the WSJ

Bob Russell · 11-29-2007, 02:17 PM

If you have been waiting for Walt Mossberg's take on the Kindle, your wait is over.

About the Sony Reader (the obvious comparison point), he says that "Like the iPod, it was linked to an online store where you could buy thousands of titles that could be downloaded to the Reader. Unlike the iPod, it hasn't been a hit with consumers, partly because the store was hard to use and had a very limited selection."

And about the Kindle, "...I love the shopping and downloading experience. But the Kindle device itself is just mediocre. While it has good readability, battery life and storage capacity, both its hardware design and its software user interface are marred by annoying flaws. It is bigger and clunkier to use than the Sony Reader, whose second version has just come out at $300."

He sums it up with the following: "Amazon has nailed the electronic-book shopping experience. But it has a lot to learn about designing electronic devices."

The whole article is available here for a few days without an online WSJ subscription.

Thanks to radleyp and Jane from DearAuthor for the tip.

11-29-2007, 02:17 PM	#1
Bob Russell Recovering Gadget Addict Posts: 5,381 Karma: 676161 Join Date: May 2004 Location: Pittsburgh, PA Device: iPad	Walt Mossberg reviews the Kindle in the WSJ If you have been waiting for Walt Mossberg's take on the Kindle, your wait is over. About the Sony Reader (the obvious comparison point), he says that "Like the iPod, it was linked to an online store where you could buy thousands of titles that could be downloaded to the Reader. Unlike the iPod, it hasn't been a hit with consumers, partly because the store was hard to use and had a very limited selection." And about the Kindle, "...I love the shopping and downloading experience. But the Kindle device itself is just mediocre. While it has good readability, battery life and storage capacity, both its hardware design and its software user interface are marred by annoying flaws. It is bigger and clunkier to use than the Sony Reader, whose second version has just come out at $300." He sums it up with the following: "Amazon has nailed the electronic-book shopping experience. But it has a lot to learn about designing electronic devices." The whole article is available here for a few days without an online WSJ subscription. Thanks to radleyp and Jane from DearAuthor for the tip.