[tomsem]

Ironically, the white space is made possible because there are no longer banner ads with Special Offers Kindles.

In Grid view (which I believe is the default for new Kindles, and I can believe is the option most people like), the ‘extra white space’ is not as prominent, as the images fill most of the screen, and it is hard to see how space is ‘wasted’. You might be able to fit a slightly taller grid of 3 rows by 4 columns, but the smaller covers might be too hard to read. But you cannot get 3 rows in otherwise, and any designer would lay things out pretty much as they are.

So starting from there, it is easy to see how List view came to look the way it does. Sure you could probably fit another row in there by shrinking the outsized Search bar, but not without adversely affecting the way Grid view looks, having list items packed together too tightly, or having entirely different layouts.

I don’t think anyone will miss the banner ads. Shouldn’t we be celebrating their demise, and not bemoaning about white space?