Amazon announces Kindle Oasis

[Shane R]

Originally Posted by kennyc

ZDnet is pretty much calling Amazon a monopoly in this piece on the new reader:


"With Kindle Oasis, Amazon's Apple moment arrives
Amazon achieves near-monopolistic market control, apex agility in terms of supply chain, and sustained consumer zealotry for its devices. A lot like Apple....."

http://www.zdnet.com/article/with-ki...oment-arrives/

That's just one mans opinion.

Also, I think the next two sentences moderate the two sentences you quoted above.

...has with its iPhone and iPads.

Its customers love them and keep coming back to buy new ones, again and again.

Part of this is due to the company's fantastic customer-first focus and its Prime program which brings more and more added benefits every year that leverages Amazon's many online services, and the excellent industrial design of the Kindles themselves.

The article is interesting and well-thought out. I'd encourage everyone to read it.

[344a]

Originally Posted by kennyc

Agreed, there are significant advances in this new reader, just not the ones he was looking for. The size/thinness, the cover, the extra battery life, the new/better front lighting....etc. etc.

The new Kindle is lighter and thinner because they sacrifice the battery, and tell you to pay more for the extra battery in the cover.
In my opinion, the new kindle should be much cheaper because they didn't have to put much money to the investment for R&D. They are using the old tech to make a new look.

[robko]

Originally Posted by fjtorres

Correct.
The uneveness is most noticeable at low brightness settings. The added LEDS are to maintain uniformity at a broader range of lighting settings, especially at the low end of the range.

IMHO that's the marketing spin Amazon is putting on it. The reality is they had to go with 10 because they are up the side and therefore cover more linear length so only using 5 or 6 would have been cones of light everywhere. Because they don't have to go as far (side to side rather than up whole screen) evenness should be better by default.

[howyoudoin]

Originally Posted by 344a

The new Kindle is lighter and thinner because they sacrifice the battery, and tell you to pay more for the extra battery in the cover.
In my opinion, the new kindle should be much cheaper because they didn't have to put much money to the investment for R&D. They are using the old tech to make a new look.

Agreed. There are improvements, but they're merely a rejigging of already existing technology. There were no great technological leaps made here, and nothing that suggests significant R&D or expenditure on Amazon's part.

Amazon's asking for an arm and a leg here not because they've invested that much into this model, but because they think there exist people who will cough it up nevertheless

[Katsunami]

Originally Posted by DiapDealer

I find it humorous (in a mostly non-judgemental way) that dismissing a device for cosmetic reasons seems to be viewed with a lot less disdain than desiring one for cosmetic reasons does.

To my mind, it's quite logical

Not wanting a device because of the design is seen as OK, because the design will detract from the user experience. The device becomes less useful.
Wanting a device BECAUSE of the design is met with disdain, because it looks like as if someone wants it without having a good use for it; i.e., people think it implies greed.

At least, that's my take on it

[DreamWriter]

Originally Posted by June

Now I must find a separate stand for reading while eating

I'm very happy with this one: AmazonBasics Adjustable Tablet Stand. It has two vertical pivot points, so the e-reader/tablet can be viewed at several angles, and base width can be adjusted as well. It's well made.

[ApK]

I think folks are trying to push another false dichotomy, in that either there is advanced innovative new tech in a thing, or it's not worth any more money and spending on it is only a "lifestyle choice."
It's just not so. Putting a set of incremental improvements in a product makes it better.
Better ergonomics, including the balance and lower weight, makes it better (and for people whose health and comfort benefit, I can see this being far more worth spending money on than some geeky new screen technology) and better design is...well...better.
And, while of course there will be a profit premium applied, as Amazon is a for-profit company, good designers, engineers, market research, all of which is need to successfully implement even just incremental refinements, do cost money.
A lot of people here are stating their own (usually tragically uninformed) opinions about what constitutes better ergonomics or worthwhile feature improvements, as if they have not only tested them out, but as if they are the supreme arbiters of such things.

The price of this Oasis is too high for me, even if the improvements in ergonomics and lighting (which do appeal to me) are everything they claim. But I will likely be spending considerably more money than this on a new TV in the next year, because that's where I choose to put my disposable income. For people who put that same sort of value on an optimal ereader, there is nothing odd or surprising or foolish about getting this one to see if the improvements serve them. They are not "falling" for anything or "merely making a lifestyle purchase."

So, in closing: suck it, haters.

[DuckieTigger]

Originally Posted by howyoudoin

There were no great technological leaps made here, and nothing that suggests significant R&D or expenditure on Amazon's part.

Are you quite sure that absolutely nothing suggest significant R&D? Look how "innovative" some Kindle competitors are. Nothing innovative about the Tolino for example, just a perfect copy of a PW. Waterproofing is not expensive research wise - all it takes is extra seals. Saying that Amazon didn't spend much money on R&D is foolish. Take this review for example:
http://money.cnn.com/2016/04/13/tech...-oasis-amazon/

Amazon (AMZN, Tech30) didn't alter the Kindle lightly. The company is obsessed with studying how people read. It does field research, following readers around on their commute or to a cafe to see how they consume books in the wild (with permission, they're not just being creepy). At the company's R&D office in Silicon Valley, it has a reading lab filled with various lighting and seating options. Readers are invited to settle in with a book while Amazon employees take notes about reading positions and how they hold devices.

[Sweetpea]

Originally Posted by DiapDealer

I find it humorous (in a mostly non-judgemental way) that dismissing a device for cosmetic reasons seems to be viewed with a lot less disdain than desiring one for cosmetic reasons does.

But that's logical! If I find a device ugly, nobody in his or her right mind can find it goodlooking. So, when you like it, you're worthy of disdain!

Serious now, I think you'll get used to the looks of this one rather quick (it's not like the Kindle 1 which was so large you just couldn't look past the device...), especially if you keep it in the cover. But that doesn't mean I still think they made plenty of mistakes with this one (least of all with the price...)

[aceflor]

Originally Posted by DuckieTigger

Are you quite sure that absolutely nothing suggest significant R&D? Look how "innovative" some Kindle competitors are. Nothing innovative about the Tolino for example, just a perfect copy of a PW. Waterproofing is not expensive research wise - all it takes is extra seals. Take this review for example:
http://money.cnn.com/2016/04/13/tech...-oasis-amazon/

I beg to differ. Apart from the Waterproofing, the Tolino has an interesting little feature noone else has: you tap on the back of it to turn the pages. I have tried it some months ago in a bookshop and was actually quite impressed by that. It is not a perfect copy of the PW imho. Nor is the Bookeen Muse Frontlight, which has physical buttons, and quite an impressive display.

There are other fishes in the sea, but with less money to back them up PRwise.

[howyoudoin]

Originally Posted by DuckieTigger

Are you quite sure that absolutely nothing suggest significant R&D? Look how "innovative" some Kindle competitors are. Nothing innovative about the Tolino for example, just a perfect copy of a PW. Waterproofing is not expensive research wise - all it takes is extra seals. Saying that Amazon didn't spend much money on R&D is foolish. Take this review for example:
http://money.cnn.com/2016/04/13/tech...-oasis-amazon/

The tolino has a tap to change page feature, which I could find useful.

Amazon's addition of 4 more LEDs (holy mother of innovation!) reminds me of Gilette's innovation model - just add one more blade to the razor every year and shoot a dazzling ad around it.

Sociological studies of how people use the reader in various environments cost pennies, relatively speaking. It cost them $100 a customer to conclude that a wedge shaped device makes better ergonomic sense? Somebody please fire their lead 'scientists'. I could have told them that for a one time payment of $50.

Plonk a long wedge along one side, and they didn't even make full use of it. A puny 250 mAH (?) battery is what resides in a small portion of it. I guess you gotta keep that battery tiny so you could then sell the battery cover that now becomes vital to making the device last as long as an e-ink device should.

[Jason90]

Originally Posted by fjtorres

The case would simply lie in a drawer, unused, even if the bundle cost $199. The buttons are welcome and worth the price, even if it means reduced battery life. But for her use case the cover might as well be a boat anchor, just more clutter getting in the way.

My sentiment exactly,i'd rather just plug the kindle in at night than deal with the case,i guess amazon had to make a trade off to get the weight down and there was no other way without resorting to a plastic substate which is too expensive i guess.

[tubemonkey]

Originally Posted by pdurrant

I've seen seven hours mentioned (two weeks at 1/2 hour per day).

Correct. That video with Len Eagerly shows him looking off camera twice to confirm 2 weeks (7 hrs) for the Oasis battery and 7 weeks (24.5 hrs) for the case battery. I'm assuming an Amazon rep was still in the room with him.

[WT Sharpe]

This just in! The page turn buttons on the Oasis have proven so insanely popular that Jeff Bezos has wasted no time in announcing the next top of the line model, the Retro. The Retro, which is expected to sell for $1200 retail, not only retains the page turn buttons of the Oasis, but will also feature a physical keyboard! Here's a picture leaked by an anonymous Amazon employee:

[howyoudoin]

Originally Posted by aceflor

I beg to differ. Apart from the Waterproofing, the Tolino has an interesting little feature noone else has: you tap on the back of it to turn the pages. I have tried it some months ago in a bookshop and was actually quite impressed by that. It is not a perfect copy of the PW imho. Nor is the Bookeen Muse Frontlight, which has physical buttons, and quite an impressive display.

There are other fishes in the sea, but with less money to back them up PRwise.

Yeah, the tolino is actually a great reader.

Flush screen, waterproofing, tap to turn page, ePub supprt. If it had the carta screen at 300 ppi, it would blow the paperwhite out of the water (pardon the pun).