[djgreedo]

Originally Posted by ApK

I sure can. If the little superscript number can't be hit accurately the first time, every-time, then even the Kindle's 5 way would be better.
If hitting the screen looks up a word or starts a highlight, or turns the page by accident, there's no plus at all.

If I have to get to a footnote halfway down the page I have to press the 5-way (or press and hold it) several times...down, then across to the correct work, then click to select. You're telling me that's as elegant as simply touching the link with a fingertip? I can understand if you prefer the clicky way, but to say it's easier boggles my mind. Even if the first word on the page is the one you want to click you are using twice the actions as touching the screen would need.

You're assuming that Amazon would take little to no care in the interface. I sometimes read on my phone (Kindle app in Windows Phone 7) and it is very easy to tap a footnote marker even on a phone screen. The touch (at least in WP7 OS) can tell the difference between a deliberate swipe and an accidental brush.

Ideally certain controls could be disabled or sensitivity could be adjusted.

I disagree. One, while I do think touch could make things less tedious in many cases, I have no need to waste screen real estate or time looking at cover pictures. I can look up the covers if I need to see a picture. The Kindle's text list and search capability makes finding a book far faster and easier than on, say, my PRS-350. I hate that 'cover flow' type stuff.

My old Sony solves this quite easily: you could view books by a list or by covers. I personally like to see covers, and you can fit 3x3 covers easily on a 6" screen. My current Kindle displays 10 books in a list. To open the book at the bottom of that list currently requires pressing down 9 times. On a touch screen it would require a single touch on the book title and/or cover image.

The keyboard is one true all or nothing proposition. Unlike features like audio, browsers, touch, which cn all be ignored if you don't want to use them, the mere presence of keyboard is great if you want it, but can only screw up the form factor of the device if you don't.
That's going to be hard to address if a good number of customers are on each side of the keyboard issue.
I wonder if Amazon will consider this in their next move.

You're absolutely right. But I don't think Amazon is going to worry too much about the minority users, and I believe (though I don't have any actual data to base this belief on so it could be very wrong) that most users simply don't use the keyboard much, and could easily handle a touch keyboard.

No matter how much of an outcry removing the keyboard would cause on a forum like this Amazon will be doing the right thing if 90% of their customers only use the keyboard to search for a book or look up a definition.

I am using a touch keyboard on my phone after previously only using physical keyboards. It's a compromise, and my next phone will probably have a physical keyboard, but as long as I'm mostly typing single words at a time I can handle the compromise.