Quote:
Originally Posted by TimW
Can't set the clock?? You're describing a K2...have you used a K3 at all? The clock can be precisely set. If you put an MP3 in the Audible folder, it has the same interface as an Audible book. It has very precise controls. The alt commands are merely shortcuts, by the way. Everything is accessible by the menus.
Edit: I just noticed your issue about having to register the device before the time could be set. My Kindle was registered before I got it out of the box so I can't attest to that point.
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Yes, I was talking about the K3 - Until it is registered with Amazon, the time set menu is unavailable. So far as I can tell there is no reason for this, since Kindles will keep reasonably good time (plus or minus a few minutes a month) even while the WiFi is disabled. So this was just a dumb ass foul up on the part of the Kindle programmers.
On my Sony I was gratified to see how 'orthogonal' the software is in it's organization. This means that things are logically organized and that once you learn a very few basics, all the features work the same way.
Kindles user interface layout, and menu organization, made me think of a spastic monkey throwing darts at a dartboard labeled with features (in the dark).
So far as MP3 playback goes - Yes, I also knew about the K3 hack of putting your music files in your Audible folder; unfortunately, though this does let you select tracks, it has three equally unacceptable side effects -
- It clutters up your book listing with potentially hundreds of song titles.
- Forget about Shuffle Mode, Track Repeat, Album Repeat, because when playing the tracks in your book listing, the Kindle will play ONE and ONLY ONE track, THEN STOP (not one album, ONE TRACK!).
- While playing a track from the Audible folder, the Kindle 3 thinks you are listening to an audio book, so it will not let you read and listen at the same time!
Even the cheapest 10 dollar no-name mp3 player isn't this lame. In fact I have NEVER seen ANY MP3 player that worked as poorly as the Kindle does.
I know it sounds incredible that that a premier 3rd generation product from a multi billion dollar company like Amazon would be so fouled up on a simple feature like MP3 playback, but that's the way it is.
I guess this is why Kindle owners are always saying things like "When I bought my Kindle, I thought I would use the MP3 player a lot, but it turns out that I almost never do."
I'm not surprised that Kindle users find that they 'almost never' use this feature, since the Kindles 'experimental' MP3 playback is damn near USELESS.
The Sony and Nooks that include MP3 playback don't have the Kindles silly limitations. In fact, the MP3 playback feature built into my PRS-650, supports many of the advanced features that you would find on a sophisticated stand alone MP3 player, like the display of embedded album cover art tags, shuffle playback, etc.
AND YES, before someone asks again, I am talking about the Kindle 3. This is supposedly Amazon's sophisticated 3rd generation Kindle right? So what's with this 'experimental' crap?
Is Amazon selling a real product, or some developer geek's science project?