Quote:
Originally Posted by astra_lestat
In my previous post I didn't say: Kindle is ugly.
I said it is a failure as a dedicated ebook reader.
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The only reason I can ascertain for your referring to the Kindle as a failure is because it has a dedicated keyboard??!!
I personally think the Kindle is the best of the Gen III ereaders out there (Gen I being PDAs, Gen II being ereaders with LCD screens). Amazon did a great job at OOTB thinking, asking themselves "what would be ideal in a book?" and then making the Kindle have many of those features.
What would make the Kindle better? How about
- access to libraries (many libraries with ebook inventory use the DRM MOBI format)?
- the ability to 'rent' a book for a week or two, or for one front-to-back read?
- a killer PDF conversion service that would actually do a great job reformatting PDFs to display well on the Kindle... so I could do things like read my CACM or IEEE articles easily on the device?
- a color screen?
- a two-page layout via a device that unfolded?
- the ability to read AZW on my PC?
- better organization of the books on the device, like by user-defined folders?
What makes the Kindle the greatest of the Gen III devices is the EVDO modem that is built-in. Being able to buy any one of 90,000+ books while at the airport, in a strange hotel room, etc., is killer. Being able to browse the web on a much better screen than on my smartphone is killer. Asking stupid (and not-so-stupid) questions on a device I happen to have in a meeting, and getting an answer back quickly, is killer. Not to count all of the free books, including some of the classics that I've always wanted to read but never wanted to buy, available from other sources.
I'm happier with my Kindle every day that I own it, and I've read over 100 books on it since buying the darn thing in early December. It is the most-used electronic device I have. I get my free news via RSS feeds and Mobipocket Reader every morning. Yes, it has a few rough edges, but I'd buy another if it got broken, lost, or stolen.