Amazon announces Kindle Oasis

[tubemonkey]

Originally Posted by Shane R

It's hideously ugly.

That's a valid reason for not wanting it.

[Shane R]

Originally Posted by NickyWithNook

You drop a $300 ereader in a puddle once, you have no chance of saving it and you're out $300.

I don't (often) drop my gadgets.

They're protected when I'm on the move, and I intentionally carry deadtree books when I'm on the water.

But I do appreciate the flexibility waterproofing gives you.

[Shane R]

Originally Posted by tubemonkey

That's a valid reason for not wanting it.

Entirely.

(can't tell if that's sarcasm or not)

[tubemonkey]

Originally Posted by meeera

And won't protect the reader from twisting/bending forces particularly well.

That's a valid point; but a $25 hard shell case will.

[Shane R]

Originally Posted by tubemonkey

That's a valid point; but a $25 hard shell case will.

In any color you want, as long as it's black.

[tubemonkey]

Originally Posted by Shane R

Entirely.

(can't tell if that's sarcasm or not)

It's not. When I do sarcasm, I follow it with one of these --

[tubemonkey]

Originally Posted by Shane R

In any color you want, as long as it's black.

If Amazon was so inclined, they could make their own in black, merlot, and walnut. But shipping dates will be pushed way back if you want the latter two colors.

[Jason90]

Originally Posted by NickyWithNook

I've been reading this thinking that waterproofing wouldn't be useful for me, but then I remembered the time I dropped an ereader in the snow. Bad move. Or the many times I've wanted to continue reading when it's raining at the bus stop waiting for my kid. I live somewhere with lots of various kinds of precipitation, and waterproofing would have saved me one ereader so far, and would have helped me continue reading a good number of times where I chose to stop to save my device from water.

Waterproofing basically means you don't have to worry about taking it anywhere you go and for people who live in countries with regular rainfall the chance of getting a few drops of rain drip into the device and ruin it are not uncommon.

Popular smartphones now have it and the next iphone is rumoured to have it,it just should be a nessesity for devices that people want to use out and about,the whole point of the ereader to me is that i don't have to lug large heavy books with me and that it's portable.

[robko]

Originally Posted by rcentros

... and it has more LEDs, which are supposed to light the screen more evenly.

Except that it HAS to have more LED's because they are across a greater length (up the side of the screen rather than across the bottom). If they didn't add more they'd have a big time cone effect. So claiming more LED's to light the screen more evenly is just marketing B.S. (like a bunch of Amazon claims on this thing).

[Shane R]

Originally Posted by Jason90

Popular smartphones now have it and the next iphone is rumoured to have it

To officially have it. I know of a personal story like this one (four days underwater!!) or this one (10 feet of water), except it happened to a phone that was already 3 years old.

All worked perfectly after drying out! The waterproofing will (presumably) reduce the need to dry them out.

[Jason90]

Originally Posted by Shane R

To officially have it. I know of a personal story like this one (four days underwater!!) or this one (10 feet of water), except it happened to a phone that was already 3 years old.

I've heard of cases like this yes...i also knew of someone who slipped their expensive phone into a mug of coffee...boom there goes half a grand

[Cinisajoy]

On the marketing,
Amazon is not lying. They are embellishing. Just like all other manufacturers.
Look at the new car ads.
They show all the cool features and say starting at $25,000. In very tiny print for 2 seconds or less, you then see $33,500 as shown.

Again, if you don't like it, don't buy it.
Marketing has always been and always will be go with the best features.
Example 1: 8 weeks is roughly 2 months. But the typical brain think months are longer than weeks. Doesn't matter that the time frame is the same. They see or hear months as opposed to 8 weeks as longer.
Yes, I know they leave off the two in the ads. They also leave off reading times.
Thing is: they are not marketing this device to the forum readers. They know we read the fine print. Marketing is for the average consumer. Show them the best features. Oh and the premium. Yes, that word by itself will account for many sales.
Rather like exclusive and select. Both excellent words, but both can have very different meanings.
Oh and special offers. That is because special offers sounds much better than ads. People will think they are getting something just for them. Special is the key word.

In short, Amazon has the marketing down pat from the readers to the authors. And now into TV, Music and some home automation.
Prime: Free two day shipping+tv & movies+music+free books.
Yes, all that sounds fabulous.
Note:in reality only certain items and only 1 borrow and 1 free book a month.

[soulfuldog]

Originally Posted by Purple Lady

So what's premium about this device?

The price?
But also, the design, possibly the clarity of the screen & lighting? I'm betting that there won't be a ton of returns or poor reviews for the Oasis. It's way too expensive for me, but I can see the appeal of it for many.

Originally Posted by robko

Except that it HAS to have more LED's because they are across a greater length (up the side of the screen rather than across the bottom). If they didn't add more they'd have a big time cone effect. So claiming more LED's to light the screen more evenly is just marketing B.S. (like a bunch of Amazon claims on this thing).

It's pretty obvious they put the lights up the side (three on each side or six down one side?) to improve the lighting. So how can claiming more lights helps improve the consistency be marketing B.S.?
Edit: or as tadhgadams just explained better below.

[tadhgadams]

Originally Posted by robko

Except that it HAS to have more LED's because they are across a greater length (up the side of the screen rather than across the bottom). If they didn't add more they'd have a big time cone effect. So claiming more LED's to light the screen more evenly is just marketing B.S. (like a bunch of Amazon claims on this thing).

Dismissing their use of LEDs by saying they HAD to do it that way kind of ignores that they chose to place the lights lengthwise. The placement of the LEDs might necessitate the use of more LEDs but we don't know the rationale behind the design decision. Maybe they chose that design because it was cheaper or easier, or maybe they chose it because the lengthwise lighting is more even.

[tubemonkey]

Originally Posted by tadhgadams

Dismissing their use of LEDs by saying they HAD to do it that way kind of ignores that they chose to place the lights lengthwise. The placement of the LEDs might necessitate the use of more LEDs but we don't know the rationale behind the design decision. Maybe they chose that design because it was cheaper or easier, or maybe they chose it because the lengthwise lighting is more even.

They chose this design to get length-wise holding. That necessitated the need for length-wise lighting, which required the use of more lights.