Amazon announces Kindle Oasis

[disconnected]

Originally Posted by tubemonkey

It's two weeks. Skip to 1:47:

Thanks. I still think they should have put it on the product page but if it's really 2 weeks, or anywhere near 7 hours I can live with it.

As annoying as I find the product page it still didn't prevent me from ordering it.

[tubemonkey]

Originally Posted by disconnected

Thanks. I still think they should have put it on the product page but if it's really 2 weeks, or anywhere near 7 hours I can live with it.

As annoying as I find the product page it still didn't prevent me from ordering it.

YW - I hope it works out for you. Lack of waterproofing and a flexible substrate immediately ruled it out for me. But, I still have my Kindle 7; which I like a lot.

[Strether]

I don't know how to display the picture, but the following link from CNET shows a series of 32 pictures displaying the Oasis and this one, with the cover folded under the reader, clearly shows that the case has a charging port:
http://www.cnet.com/pictures/amazon-...s-pictures/28/

[howyoudoin]

Originally Posted by Strether

I don't know how to display the picture, but the following link from CNET shows a series of 32 pictures displaying the Oasis and this one, with the cover folded under the reader, clearly shows that the case has a charging port:
http://www.cnet.com/pictures/amazon-...s-pictures/28/

That's not the cover folded underneath. That's the voyage placed below the coverless oasis.

[344a]

Originally Posted by howyoudoin

That's not the cover folded underneath. That's the voyage placed below the coverless oasis.

It seems the thinnest side of Oasis is the thinnest among the Kindle products. However, the thickest side of Oasis is the thickest among the Kindle prodcts as well.

[DuckieTigger]

Originally Posted by 344a

It seems the thinnest side of Oasis is the thinnest among the Kindle products. However, the thickest side of Oasis is the thickest among the Kindle prodcts as well.

Only thickest when comparing with Voyage. Even a PW is thicker (9.1 mm) vs the Oasis at its thickest (8.5 mm). I assume you meant without cover. The thin part is significantly thinner with less than half the thickness of a Voyage.

[rcentros]

Originally Posted by Strether

I don't know how to display the picture, but the following link from CNET shows a series of 32 pictures displaying the Oasis and this one, with the cover folded under the reader, clearly shows that the case has a charging port:
http://www.cnet.com/pictures/amazon-...s-pictures/28/

As mentioned by howyoudoing, that's not the Oasis cover, it's the Oasis sitting on top of a Voyage. Even though Len Edgerly of Kindle Chronicles says the cover definitely has a USB port, I sure haven't been able to find it in any picture -- and these pictures that you linked to are some of the clearest yet. I'm beginning to think that Len Edgerly got a prototype cover and the standard Oasis cover is not the same.

[WT Sharpe]

Originally Posted by meeera

Some people really want genuine cowhide leather; for other people, the presence of any cowhide is a dealbreaker. This is why crystal clear disclosure is a good thing.

Exactly.

[WT Sharpe]

Originally Posted by tubemonkey

It's two weeks. Skip to 1:47:

[YOUTUBE]

I have to admit that video makes me wish I had one, but at the current price, I'm going to keep on wishing.

[Yolina]

Originally Posted by WT Sharpe

I have to admit that video makes me wish I had one, but at the current price, I'm going to keep on wishing.

It's good for my bank account that I hate the Oasis so much Even if I were given one, I don't think I'd use it.

[WT Sharpe]

Originally Posted by Yolina

It's good for my bank account that I hate the Oasis so much Even if I were given one, I don't think I'd use it.

I have no idea how much I'd use an Oasis if someone were to give me one, but if anyone here is curious enough to run the experiment, I'm game.

[lkmiller]

Originally Posted by Yolina

It's good for my bank account that I hate the Oasis so much Even if I were given one, I don't think I'd use it.

Yup, me too.

To me, all of the features being touted are just marketing spin on the consequences of making it lighter at all costs. And I find the Paperwhite thin and light enough already. (I think designers place too much importance on this because I have a Samsung tablet that feels a little too thin and flimsy.)

Again for me, the "features" of this design are things I'm indifferent to at best (the lighting) or find inconvenient (flipping to switch hands) or actually dislike (the book-style cover).

The longer battery life claim is really annoying to me because I have a Paperwhite 2 which Amazon also said had the same 8 weeks of battery life. "Months" as in exactly two. Under conditions that never apply to me. If I only read for a 1/2 hour, it's a day I was crazy busy. And I usually only use airplane mode when I'm on an airplane.

Obviously, battery life isn't that critical to me. I have other things I don't mind charging more often. But the marketing spin bugs me. Of course, they are going to play everything up. But if I had a day when I did nothing but read for most of it, I might need to stop and put the cover on negating the weight advantage (or sit tethered to an outlet). Whereas, I think my Paperwhite would outlast me every time even in my longest reading session. And it's 32g lighter than Oasis with cover.

I'm fine with others who think the features and the price are worth it, but I'm personally disappointed. It's like they used a focus group of people that are my absolute polar opposites. Hopefully, Kobo's next reader will be much more appealing to me.

[Yolina]

Originally Posted by lkmiller

It's like they used a focus group of people that are my absolute polar opposites.

^^^ that ^^^

[aceflor]

Originally Posted by lkmiller

Yup, me too.

To me, all of the features being touted are just marketing spin on the consequences of making it lighter at all costs. And I find the Paperwhite thin and light enough already. (I think designers place too much importance on this because I have a Samsung tablet that feels a little too thin and flimsy.)

Again for me, the "features" of this design are things I'm indifferent to at best (the lighting) or find inconvenient (flipping to switch hands) or actually dislike (the book-style cover).

The longer battery life claim is really annoying to me because I have a Paperwhite 2 which Amazon also said had the same 8 weeks of battery life. "Months" as in exactly two. Under conditions that never apply to me. If I only read for a 1/2 hour, it's a day I was crazy busy. And I usually only use airplane mode when I'm on an airplane.

Obviously, battery life isn't that critical to me. I have other things I don't mind charging more often. But the marketing spin bugs me. Of course, they are going to play everything up. But if I had a day when I did nothing but read for most of it, I might need to stop and put the cover on negating the weight advantage (or sit tethered to an outlet). Whereas, I think my Paperwhite would outlast me every time even in my longest reading session. And it's 32g lighter than Oasis with cover.

I'm fine with others who think the features and the price are worth it, but I'm personally disappointed. It's like they used a focus group of people that are my absolute polar opposites. Hopefully, Kobo's next reader will be much more appealing to me.

Originally Posted by Yolina

^^^ that ^^^

The exact same. I have been told here somewhere (there are so many pages back of this thread...) that I am not the focus group (fine, I have no problem with that). In an article about the launch, Bezos was quoted as having said something like "Oasis is for devoted readers" (I am not quoting as I don't remember nor can I find the exact wording).

Devoted readers do not read 30 minutes a day. I do get the lightness point, but the battery thing just baffles me.

I think they wanted a super light device for passionate readers, that could be hold easily for hours one handed so one could immerse herself (yep, the devoted reader is a female. just accept that and let's move on ) in the book and forget all about the device. Up till here, I think the story makes sense. But then, of course, the battery cannot be lodged in the reader because it makes everything heavier . So amazon had to find a solution. There comes the cover and in my opinion, this is the damn little stone in the shoe. And they know it.

Even if I put aside the non-existing waterproof and the design (which both do not appeal to me but let's say I am not the target), the story is not round and just not working.

The more information I get on the Oasis, the more I like my Voyage and my H2O.

[lkmiller]

More annoying marketing:

The handgrip tapers to an ultrathin 0.13” display so you can read comfortably for hours.

The part that is 0.13" is opposite the handgrip. The side you grip is squared off. (One thing I would change in my Kobo H2O is to taper its blocky bezels.)

A tapered ergonomic handgrip shifts the center of gravity to your palm, to rest in your hand like the spine of a book. Perfectly balanced for one-handed reading, Kindle Oasis enables you to get lost in your story.

For people who prefer ebooks, making it "rest in your hand like the spine of a book" is most assuredly not the way to enable "you to get lost in your story." I don't think it would really feel anything like the spine of a book, but I still think that asymmetric design would distract me from getting lost in the story.

Whether you choose to read with your left or right hand, Kindle Oasis automatically rotates the page orientation to match.

My Paperwhite does that too because I don't need to flip it!


Ok, I'll stop there because it's just making me mad.