[Thomas Ryan]

Wow - I'm relatively new to this topic. I can't solve it, but here is what I see.

1) Kindle is missing the capability for users to organize their content.
2) Some people care, others don't. The more content you have the more likely you are to care.
3) Any new organizing feature has to be transparent (not bothersome) to those so-called Least Common Denominator users who like things simple and "flat".
4) The debate about Folders vs. Collections vs. Tags is challenging. Here is how I think about it
5) taxonomy:
a) folders - a destination for content, like on Windows and MacOs. Analogy - physical world file drawer and folders. Perhaps they nest to some level, perhaps the hierarchy is only two levels deep
b) Tags - an annotation of some sort that someone can add to a piece of content. Analogy - I can put sticky notes on the covers of my books. The label on the note is the "tag content", or simply the "tag".
c) Collection - a single collection is the group of all the books with the same tag, for some tag (tag content).
d) Grouping - either collection or a folder, depending on context.
6) Collections are not the same as folders. A piece of content cannot be in more than one folder. A piece of content can be in more than one collection (logically, not physically, don't need to make a new copy on a computer;physical world - it's optional).
(-- aside -- Aliases, on Windows, attempt to circumvent the folder limitation, and just confuse everything)
7) Amazon supports a notion of folders for newspapers (they aggregate back- issues into one "place" on Home). "Archive" on Kindle 2 is also like a folder. "View by" in home on Kindle 1, is almost like a "collection" scheme, but not quite.
8) Amazon did not extended this folder feature, nor a general concept of tagging/collections, to end-users in Kindle 1.
9) Some customers wish they would, some don't care. Some say "don't make it more complicated" (imply concern that the feature will be confusing to them, i.e. not "transparent")
10) Amazon did not extend this folder feature, nor a general concept of tagging/collections, to end-users in Kindle 2
11) Some customers wish they would, some don't care. Some say "don't make it more complicated"
12) go to 7; rinse and repeat
--catch exceptions. Some customers have figured out how to hack content and create a folder scheme for their Kindles. It might not work from Kindle 1 to 2 to 3.