If I buy a Kindle, can I do this?

clskier · 09-22-2010, 10:45 AM

I never really had an interest in a Kindle for reading books, but lately I have a couple of cool ideas that I think the hardware is capable of. Before I buy one to try, I wanted to see if I'm off base here.

First, I have a program used for water-ski tournament scoring. This is an ancient program written in QBASIC. Tournaments are, of course, held outside. I thought the e-ink screen would be a perfect application for this, as laptops and/or tablets are very hard to read in the sun. Would it be very difficult to install dosbox on the Kindle, and run a QBASIC program? Could I use the Wifi to access my home network and print to my print server?

Secondly, I have been searching for an MP3 player with wifi so that I could leave it in my car at night and download podcasts every night. Short of buying an Ipod touch, I haven't been able to find one capapble of this. It struck me that I could probably install podget on the kindle, and accomplish this. Can the Kindle be used as an MP3 player (headphone out into the car stereo)?

I understand that these ideas will include some hacking. I have a basic knowledge of rooting and/or jail-breaking, and am running a Debian server at home.

Thanks

desertgrandma · 09-22-2010, 10:50 AM

Welcome to MobileRead, clskier

If you don't have an interest in using the Kindle for reading books, I don't think its going to be the device for you.

However.....future posts might prove me wrong...

Mike L · 09-22-2010, 11:23 AM

Hi CLSkier, and welcome.

I can't answer your questions on a technical level, but I can tell you that the Kindle would probably be a bad choice from the user interface point of view - particularly for your water ski application.

The Kindle doesn't really have any usable input device. The keyboard is just about OK for entering search terms or short annotations, but it will be of limited use for entering data into an application. Similarly with the pointing device. It's fairly difficult to control, and not particularly intuitive.

As far as podcasts are concerned, it might or might not be possible to do what you have in mind, but the quality of the audio output isn't very high. You could certainly listen to a voice podcast on it, but with music the quality would be questionable.

You mentioned the iPod Touch. Personally, I would think that would be a better bet for what you have in mind, although, again, I can't comment on the technical issues.

09-22-2010, 10:45 AM	#1
clskier Junior Member Posts: 1 Karma: 10 Join Date: Sep 2010 Device: none	If I buy a Kindle, can I do this? I never really had an interest in a Kindle for reading books, but lately I have a couple of cool ideas that I think the hardware is capable of. Before I buy one to try, I wanted to see if I'm off base here. First, I have a program used for water-ski tournament scoring. This is an ancient program written in QBASIC. Tournaments are, of course, held outside. I thought the e-ink screen would be a perfect application for this, as laptops and/or tablets are very hard to read in the sun. Would it be very difficult to install dosbox on the Kindle, and run a QBASIC program? Could I use the Wifi to access my home network and print to my print server? Secondly, I have been searching for an MP3 player with wifi so that I could leave it in my car at night and download podcasts every night. Short of buying an Ipod touch, I haven't been able to find one capapble of this. It struck me that I could probably install podget on the kindle, and accomplish this. Can the Kindle be used as an MP3 player (headphone out into the car stereo)? I understand that these ideas will include some hacking. I have a basic knowledge of rooting and/or jail-breaking, and am running a Debian server at home. Thanks

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09-22-2010, 10:50 AM	#2
desertgrandma Enjoying the show.... Posts: 14,270 Karma: 10462843 Join Date: Jun 2008 Location: Arizona Device: A K1, Kindle Paperwhite, an Ipod, IPad2, Iphone, an Ipad Mini & macAir	Welcome to MobileRead, clskier If you don't have an interest in using the Kindle for reading books, I don't think its going to be the device for you. However.....future posts might prove me wrong...

09-22-2010, 11:23 AM	#3
Mike L Wizard Posts: 1,479 Karma: 3846231 Join Date: Apr 2009 Location: Edinburgh, Scotland Device: Kindle 3, Samsung Galaxy	Hi CLSkier, and welcome. I can't answer your questions on a technical level, but I can tell you that the Kindle would probably be a bad choice from the user interface point of view - particularly for your water ski application. The Kindle doesn't really have any usable input device. The keyboard is just about OK for entering search terms or short annotations, but it will be of limited use for entering data into an application. Similarly with the pointing device. It's fairly difficult to control, and not particularly intuitive. As far as podcasts are concerned, it might or might not be possible to do what you have in mind, but the quality of the audio output isn't very high. You could certainly listen to a voice podcast on it, but with music the quality would be questionable. You mentioned the iPod Touch. Personally, I would think that would be a better bet for what you have in mind, although, again, I can't comment on the technical issues.

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