MobileRead Forums - View Single Post - Reasons I'm not getting a Kindle but the Sony 505 instead.

ginolee · 12-06-2007, 01:32 PM

I'm also a techie (programmer), but I also want things to work without fuss.

For comparison, I used to use the Scientific Atlanta 8300HD as my DVR. Now I use the HD version of Tivo.

If you look at a function matrix of the two, they look to be about the same in terms of basic functionality, but in actuality the Tivo is so much easier to use, it's a no-brainer.

With the Tivo, the translation from will (my) to action is extremely transparent. With the SA 8300HD, I just found myself getting annoyed and frustrated trying to get it work in an intelligent and reasonable manner.

I think when a product is easy to use on a daily basis, that's a strong indication that the developers behind it have transformed the underlying complexities successfully into a simplicity that belies the underlying sophistication needed to support it.

With the SA8300HD it was obvious that a bunch of technogeeks had developed a functional, yet barely usable product, because although they had solved many of the major issues with providing 2 tuner DVR functionality, they had not solved many of the critical usability issues, passing on this complexity on to the end user.

To me the Kindle seems closer to the Tivo than to the SA8300HD in terms of the thought and care behind it.

Gino.

12-06-2007, 01:32 PM	#131
ginolee Member Posts: 10 Karma: 10 Join Date: Nov 2007 Device: kindle	another take I'm also a techie (programmer), but I also want things to work without fuss. For comparison, I used to use the Scientific Atlanta 8300HD as my DVR. Now I use the HD version of Tivo. If you look at a function matrix of the two, they look to be about the same in terms of basic functionality, but in actuality the Tivo is so much easier to use, it's a no-brainer. With the Tivo, the translation from will (my) to action is extremely transparent. With the SA 8300HD, I just found myself getting annoyed and frustrated trying to get it work in an intelligent and reasonable manner. I think when a product is easy to use on a daily basis, that's a strong indication that the developers behind it have transformed the underlying complexities successfully into a simplicity that belies the underlying sophistication needed to support it. With the SA8300HD it was obvious that a bunch of technogeeks had developed a functional, yet barely usable product, because although they had solved many of the major issues with providing 2 tuner DVR functionality, they had not solved many of the critical usability issues, passing on this complexity on to the end user. To me the Kindle seems closer to the Tivo than to the SA8300HD in terms of the thought and care behind it. Gino.