Paperwhite Second Gen: First Impressions

Originally Posted by Stringer

So I too received finally the PW2 today.

Please resize your images--they are way too wide and screw up the page.

[soulfuldog]

I'm hoping the Cloud Collections mentioned will be part of a redesign to the Manage Your Kindle pages.... probably just wishful thinking though.

Originally Posted by Blossom

I don't think we are talking about the same thing. This is something new. This is not the import collection feature that all Kindles has.

It actually does it all for you now. No need to transfer content to each PW or KF it will download the books and well as the collections. Mantano does this.
It not only sync the collections but uploads the books and downloads them to each device. So you have an exact copy that mirrors each other.

Yes, the Amazon Paperwhite web page states:

Organize Your Books

COMING SOON—As your collection grows, use Cloud Collections to arrange titles in custom categories and see your collections on your other Kindle devices and reading apps.

But unless they finally allow us to clean up the old collections from devices we no longer have, it will be a mess. It just sounds to me like we can use the Cloud to view all the collections we have on all our devices (probably even ones long since retired). When I imported collections into my iOS app, it brought in some I haven't seen in years! It was a mess. So maybe we will be allowed to edit the Cloud Collections before importing. I hope so.

[sirmaru]

Originally Posted by Blossom

I don't think we are talking about the same thing. This is something new. This is not the import collection feature that all Kindles has.

It actually does it all for you now. No need to transfer content to each PW or KF it will download the books and well as the collections. Mantano does this.
It not only sync the collections but uploads the books and downloads them to each device. So you have an exact copy that mirrors each other.

I have five different Collections stored in the Cloud. Plus I have different eBooks on each device / app of which most are the same.

If it happened automatically, how would it make its choices?

You will get your HDX before me. I'm especially interested to see if it supports Collections. Let us know when you get your unit.

[Stringer]

Originally Posted by jswinden

Please resize your images--they are way too wide and screw up the page.

Better?

[NiLuJe]

Slightly, thanks . [I put them behind spoiler tags to avoid the surprise broken layout effect ].

[Blossom]

Originally Posted by jswinden

Yes, the Amazon Paperwhite web page states:



But unless they finally allow us to clean up the old collections from devices we no longer have, it will be a mess. It just sounds to me like we can use the Cloud to view all the collections we have on all our devices (probably even ones long since retired). When I imported collections into my iOS app, it brought in some I haven't seen in years! It was a mess. So maybe we will be allowed to edit the Cloud Collections before importing. I hope so.

I do have concerns about it. The more I read about it. Right now you have to add content then import collections from another device. It's my understand you will be able just sync everything (Collections Books, Docs, Magazines and Periodicals) from one device to another device or app it doesn't look like you can pick or choose like you can in Mantano but who knows.

So far it doesn't look like K4 or K3 will get this.

On the Kindle Fire you can sync more than just books. Pretty much everything will sync now including Apps and Amazon Videos!

[Blossom]

Originally Posted by sirmaru

I have five different Collections stored in the Cloud. Plus I have different eBooks on each device / app of which most are the same.

If it happened automatically, how would it make its choices?

You will get your HDX before me. I'm especially interested to see if it supports Collections. Let us know when you get your unit.

I think it will work like the current import does, I don't think you will be able to select what does comes over though but it wont auto update by itself you will have to choose it from the menu to sync but knowing Amazon we wont able to pick and choose what comes over from which device.

My concern is that we had to use kludge means over the years to get Collections to show up in the order we preferred. I remember using naming schemes like:

• .CollectionName
• @CollectionName
• 01-CollectionName

Mostly I abandoned those schemes but they are still in Amazon's database. When I chose to import Collections into Kindle for iOS I got everything I had ever put on any Kindle! So lots of duplicates with multiple naming schemes. Yuk!!!

[tomsem]

Originally Posted by Blossom

I'm surprise no one has mention this but the Paperwhite II will have cloud collections sometime in November. This makes me more interested in it!

The only reference to Cloud Collections that I've seen is this (from the Fire product description):

Cloud Collections
COMING SOON—Organize your content library into Collections like "Favorite Books" and "Sports Apps" that are synchronized with your other Kindle devices and reading apps.

This does not mean PW2 is going to get them then, or that PW1 and other Kindles will not get them, it just does not go into the necessary details.

And there are many ways to implement this rather vaguely described feature, and as with any new feature there will be a diversity of opinions about it once it arrives. Some will like it, some will not.

The current implementation of Collections does nothing useful for me, so I don't use them at all. If Cloud Collections looks something like they do on the Kindle iOS app, I think I might start to use them a little bit.

But we will have to wait and see.

[Blossom]

Originally Posted by tomsem

The only reference to Cloud Collections that I've seen is this (from the Fire product description):



This does not mean PW2 is going to get them then, or that PW1 and other Kindles will not get them, it just does not go into the necessary detail.

And there are many ways to implement this rather vaguely described feature, and as with any new feature there will be a diversity of opinions about it.

But until Amazon actually delivers it and we know the details, there is not much to discuss.

Yeah the Paperwhite II will have it. It says so on the Kindle Facebook page (Where I found out about it) and on the PW's detail page. So far only The PW, KF and Apps will have it.

[tomsem]

Originally Posted by Blossom

Yeah the Paperwhite II will have it. It says so on the Kindle Facebook page (Where I found out about it) and on the PW's detail page. So far only The PW, KF and Apps will have it.

Thanks for that.

But at this point we still don't know what it really means.

[Blossom]

Originally Posted by tomsem

Thanks for that.

But at this point we still don't know what it really means.

We do on the Kindle Fire so I figure it will work similar. There are reviews out there on the HDX that explain Cloud Collections.

I think I read that the Kindle iOS already has this feature? Can anyone confirm that?

[tomsem]

Originally Posted by Blossom

We do on the Kindle Fire so I figure it will work similar. There are reviews out there on the HDX that explain Cloud Collections.

I think I read that the Kindle iOS already has this feature? Can anyone confirm that?

Can you supply a link to such a review (the ones I see say 'mid-November')? And if the feature exists, why does the description say COMING SOON if the review devices (and those already shipped) already have it?

The iOS app has something like Cloud Collections in the sense that you can see all the items that belong to it whether they are on the device or not. But they don't sync with other devices/apps. It was last updated September 17.

Kindle HDX may have something similar, but again the key feature is collection sync between apps/devices. I assume there will have to be an option on MYK to turn it off for people that do not want the collections to sync.

And I'm very curious about what it will look like when that is enabled: do you have to see all the collections on all the devices/apps? If you delete one from a device, does it go away for all the other devices?

[Skydog]

Originally Posted by sparklemotion

Where did you pick up your Kobo HD from? I'm wondering where I could see one in person. Do you know if Best Buy carries them?

Unfortunately, directly from Kobo.