Firmware Update 5.4.2 has arrived with Goodreads integration

[sirmaru]

Originally Posted by Geralt

Big fat NO.
I hate to break it to you, but are you even a member of MobileReads??
Because, I don't get how you fail to notice a big number of members who read in 1 year, the amount of books you have read in your entire life.

So no, you don't have a hunch. You're projecting.
Average avid reader will read somewhere between 30-60 books a year, and most of the people I know who read are like that.
Older people in my experience read even more, if they are retired.

I can't tell you how silly your post sounds, and if people bought books from amazon in the quantities you read them, amazon would go under in a jiffy.

As I mentioned in another post, I am a GADGET Collector, not an eBook Collector. I have FOUR Kindles now and would buy any gadget Amazon introduces with their brand name at any price up to $ 1,000.

I doubt anyone else but me in this Forum would buy FOUR Kindles in one year to read just 6 eBooks in that time frame.

[Geralt]

Originally Posted by sirmaru

I doubt anyone else but me in this Forum would buy FOUR Kindles in one year to read just 6 eBooks in that time frame.

I doubt it too.

It should also tell you, that you really have a crooked view of reading habits of majority of people, since you are obviously a gadget collector and not an avid or an average reader.

[fearindex]

Originally Posted by max99

Looks like this update is a a bit of a flop. Yet again the greedy Amazon fails to produce a universal update for their line of devices. Cloud collections should be available on every Kindle device, not just the ones Amazon want you to buy.

Yet again we see no support for the Kindle DXG, despite Amazon still selling it. Can anyone give me a valid explanation for why the DXG cannot support Cloud collections, and why they still haven't allowed it access to Personal Docs from the device itself?

Interestingly there is now a fork between PW1 and PW2 firmwares too, not only does not PW1 have any of the new PW2 features yet, it has one PW2 doesn't have even in 5.4.2: "None" option for Reading Progress. That is an odd one, but tells us those firmwares have been developed separately. Apparently PW1 and PW2 firmwares were forked because the latter uses newer kernel and a newer type of CPU. I wonder if they merge them back later or if this separation will continue.

Of course Amazon has had such splits or forks before and the DXG you mention falls victim to one of those. DXG is basically a facelifted Kindle 2 with a big screen and runs Kindle 2 software. It has less memory than Kindle 3 or 4, so it never got all the stuff 3 and 4 did - and it is by now so obsolete - considering not even 3/4S/4B have been updated in some time - I don't expect DXG to get any more updates really. They are just getting rid of old stock. The touch Kindles again were forked in software, leaving Kindle 3 and 4 with similar, but dead-ended firmwares - only Kindle Touch, PW1 and PW2 got the "new Kindle UX".

Now it is interesting to see if Kindle Touch and PW1 were dead-ended firmware-wise with the release of PW2, or if they will get some more goodies. I think Kindle Touch will probably be left behind, but there is still some hope for PW1 I guess that maybe the development is just lagging behind or intentionally delayed for the benefit of PW2.

[Josieb1]

Originally Posted by fearindex

Interestingly there is now a fork between PW1 and PW2 firmwares too, not only does not PW1 have any of the new PW2 features yet, it has one PW2 doesn't have even in 5.4.2: "None" option for Reading Progress. That is an odd one, but tells us those firmwares have been developed separately. Apparently PW1 and PW2 firmwares were forked because the latter uses newer kernel and a newer type of CPU. I wonder if they merge them back later or if this separation will continue.

Of course Amazon has had such splits or forks before and the DXG you mention falls victim to one of those. DXG is basically a facelifted Kindle 2 with a big screen and runs Kindle 2 software. It has less memory than Kindle 3 or 4, so it never got all the stuff 3 and 4 did - and it is by now so obsolete - considering not even 3/4S/4B have been updated in some time - I don't expect DXG to get any more updates really. They are just getting rid of old stock. The touch Kindles again were forked in software, leaving Kindle 3 and 4 with similar, but dead-ended firmwares - only Kindle Touch, PW1 and PW2 got the "new Kindle UX".

Now it is interesting to see if Kindle Touch and PW1 were dead-ended firmware-wise with the release of PW2, or if they will get some more goodies. I think Kindle Touch will probably be left behind, but there is still some hope for PW1 I guess that maybe the development is just lagging behind or intentionally delayed for the benefit of PW2.

Personally there's nothing on the PW2 software wise that compensates for the disaster of Cloud Collections so I'll be quite happy if they never upgraded the PW1 again.

[Blossom]

Originally Posted by Josieb1

Personally there's nothing on the PW2 software wise that compensates for the disaster of Cloud Collections so I'll be quite happy if they never upgraded the PW1 again.

What she said!

I have seriously lost alot of faith in Amazon since October. After seeing the crafmanship in the HDX 7 and the raised priced I was shocked at the quality of the tablet. It seems thrown together. The last two Kindle Fires were solid builds. Oh and there is a bug on the HDX if you delete download Prime content while downloading other Prime Content you brick it. Several people's HDX units are dying within a week's time of hardware failure.

I will stick to my PW1 which I got super lucky has no uneven lighting or color blobs just a super tiny pinhole that you can't see without moving your head back and forth real quick.

[Josieb1]

I gave up after two faulty Paperwhite 2s and finally bought a Kobo Aura, I liked the smaller size for travelling, and I'm really happy.

[eschwartz]

Originally Posted by Blossom

What she said!

I have seriously lost alot of faith in Amazon since October. After seeing the crafmanship in the HDX 7 and the raised priced I was shocked at the quality of the tablet. It seems thrown together. The last two Kindle Fires were solid builds. Oh and there is a bug on the HDX if you delete download Prime content while downloading other Prime Content you brick it. Several people's HDX units are dying within a week's time of hardware failure.

I will stick to my PW1 which I got super lucky has no uneven lighting or color blobs just a super tiny pinhole that you can't see without moving your head back and forth real quick.

How can that possibly brick your device?!?

How do you mess up that badly?

Well, I think I'll stick with my KT for now. Hopefully by the time they push Cloud Collections to the KT they'll have fixed it.

[Blossom]

Originally Posted by eschwartz

How can that possibly brick your device?!?

How do you mess up that badly?

Well, I think I'll stick with my KT for now. Hopefully by the time they push Cloud Collections to the KT they'll have fixed it.

I don't know but the reports coming in and it makes the screen go black and nothing will turn it back on. One guy went through 4 of them before he figured out what was doing it and others spoke up saying it happened to them too. I don't know if the 8.9 has the same bug.

[tomsem]

Amazon has a history of shipping half baked features, and this is just another instance of that. Consider the Kindle Touch, which shipped without landscape reading and the ability to highlight across pages and no KF8 support. It took months to address these deficits, but they did address them, and continued with significant updates after that. They are going to do that with PW too.

Having announced these features would be delivered in November (they want to sell these things for Christmas season, remember), they had to deliver something to maintain credibility. And so here they have done that. They didn't say the features would be finished, they always have more on the feature roadmap than they can get to at any given time. There is nothing about the update that can't be addressed in a future update.

At a minimum, I would expect them to add Cloud & Device buttons to the bottom of a collection view so you can hide the Cloud items when you want to, and maybe rename Add to Collection to something like 'Add to or Remove from Collection'. I think too they need to have a switch on MYK to stop sync of collections so that they can behave exactly as they did before Cloud Collections (that is to say each device has its own set of Collections).

I think it would be worth exploring Collections that behave more like Items in the library. So you could Remove them from the device (without deleting them from Cloud or removing any items therein) and restore them from the Cloud on demand. Add a Delete From Cloud long tap option. Show them on MYK page and allow you to create, modify, delete, Send To there. (Of course, MYK itself could stand an overhaul...)

So I would advise some patience.

[eschwartz]

The KT shipped with a bunch of features missing. It didn't ship with bugs that would brick your Kindle, nor did it have the worst UX nightmare re:cloud collections in Amazon history.

But I hope you're right, ESPECIALLY a revamped MYK page, which has needed doing for years.

[fearindex]

Originally Posted by sirmaru

As I mentioned in another post, I am a GADGET Collector, not an eBook Collector. I have FOUR Kindles now and would buy any gadget Amazon introduces with their brand name at any price up to $ 1,000.

I doubt anyone else but me in this Forum would buy FOUR Kindles in one year to read just 6 eBooks in that time frame.

Actually, I'm very close you in my reading gadgets vs. books read habits. I have bought four Kindles within a year (not counting replacements and Kindles bought for relatives) and read I guess less than 10 books on them. I love gadgets, I also love reading but prioritize less time for it than some people.

Then again, I have no issues discerning the different types of needs people have. And I can clearly see why Amazon dropped the ball on Cloud Collections as they function now, even though it doesn't affect me at all. These people are not asking for the moon from the sky, they are asking for a logically functioning, basic categorization functionality from their e-reader - that used to be there but has now been changed into something that will be a problem for quite a few people. This is not a hardcore feature they are asking, but very basic stuff.

And the heavy reader has been a significant target market for Amazon, if not in numbers then at least in philosophy - and maybe in numbers too. Jeff Bezos has made big hay about the importance of reading and readers. Heavy readers have lots of books and many use collections. Now those collections have been broken in several ways for many of these people, it is quite understandable to ask for a change - and actually quite reasonable and likely that Amazon will respond with some fix and/or option down the road, although judging from past it might not fix all gripes, but at least some.

[fearindex]

By the way, I explored today how the Cloud Collections actually work.

Turns out, only "Kindle Paperwhite (2nd Generation), Kindle Fire HD (2nd Generation), Kindle Fire HDX, and Kindle for iPad, iPhone, and iPod touch" actually update Cloud Collections in real-time as of now. Make cloud changes on these devices/apps, and they will show in other listed devices/apps.

For any other Kindle or Kindle app, including Kindle for PC which I tested quite a bit today (the latest version), category import is a one-time, one-way deal. One-time meaning the time you update to 5.4.2 or the time you register a device or reading up for the first time. So, the first time you update or register a 5.4.2 PW2, it will import collections from Kindle for PC and other types of older devices, but after that if you change something in those older devices or the current Kindle for PC version, those changes will NOT come to PW2.

Of course it is possible Amazon will update other apps and devices to support "real-time" Cloud Collections later.

Here is Amazon's help text on it:

"To import a collection: With Cloud Collections, collections are automatically stored in the Cloud and can be synced between Kindle Paperwhite (2nd Generation), Kindle Fire HD (2nd Generation), Kindle Fire HDX, and Kindle for iPad, iPhone, and iPod touch reading apps.

Note: Importing collections from other devices or reading apps to Kindle Paperwhite (2nd Generation), Kindle Fire HD (2nd Generation), Kindle Fire HDX, and Kindle for iPad, iPhone, and iPod touch is currently limited to the first time you register the device or reading app."

[Chi Cygni]

Originally Posted by Blossom

What she said!

(snip)
I will stick to my PW1 which I got super lucky has no uneven lighting or color blobs just a super tiny pinhole that you can't see without moving your head back and forth real quick.

Me too, mine is super even and NO pinholes (touch wood) I've just been wondering that actually I effectively have a wireless reader now. I won't even upgrade with the latest whatever it was. I only sideload my books after tweaking them anyway, I have my preferred font, I don't need anything else. Wish the screen was a little more yellow but at night at 12 it is.

[Josieb1]

Originally Posted by fearindex

By the way, I explored today how the Cloud Collections actually work.

Turns out, only "Kindle Paperwhite (2nd Generation), Kindle Fire HD (2nd Generation), Kindle Fire HDX, and Kindle for iPad, iPhone, and iPod touch" actually update Cloud Collections in real-time as of now. Make cloud changes on these devices/apps, and they will show in other listed devices/apps.

For any other Kindle or Kindle app, including Kindle for PC which I tested quite a bit today (the latest version), category import is a one-time, one-way deal. One-time meaning the time you update to 5.4.2 or the time you register a device or reading up for the first time. So, the first time you update or register a 5.4.2 PW2, it will import collections from Kindle for PC and other types of older devices, but after that if you change something in those older devices or the current Kindle for PC version, those changes will NOT come to PW2.

Of course it is possible Amazon will update other apps and devices to support "real-time" Cloud Collections later.

Here is Amazon's help text on it:

"To import a collection: With Cloud Collections, collections are automatically stored in the Cloud and can be synced between Kindle Paperwhite (2nd Generation), Kindle Fire HD (2nd Generation), Kindle Fire HDX, and Kindle for iPad, iPhone, and iPod touch reading apps.

Note: Importing collections from other devices or reading apps to Kindle Paperwhite (2nd Generation), Kindle Fire HD (2nd Generation), Kindle Fire HDX, and Kindle for iPad, iPhone, and iPod touch is currently limited to the first time you register the device or reading app."

I don't have a PW2 but I do have an iPad and spotted a collection called 'New' in it today that I certainly didn't create. It contained my last ebook sent to Kindle that I obviously forgot to add to a collection on my PW. In fact it's not actually downloaded to my PW yet.


And, isn't this fun, I now have collections on my iPhone, even though I only have two books downloaded to it. Not all four of my Ipad collections though, just two of them.

[Josieb1]

Underneath the Collections display on my iPad and iPhone the Cloud/Device options are both greyed out. Indicates to me it's a static display regardless of what's on the device or not. On my iPhone the books in the collection not downloaded are shown as there but in white, they are all personal docs btw.