Amazon announces Kindle Oasis

[badgoodDeb]

But it is fun to see you all enjoying a new Voyage, once you got to see one in person and got hooked!

[Yolina]

Originally Posted by badgoodDeb

But it is fun to see you all enjoying a new Voyage, once you got to see one in person and got hooked!

I'd been wanting one for some time but it was simply more expensive than I was willing to pay At the reduced price, it would have been rude not to.

I'm not getting an Oasis until, amongst other things, they fix the asymmetry my brain really cannot deal with that wider bezel on one side.

[booklover6]

Originally Posted by Yolina

I'm not getting an Oasis until, amongst other things, they fix the asymmetry my brain really cannot deal with that wider bezel on one side.

Same here. I don't want a device that doesn't lay flat.

[badgoodDeb]

Originally Posted by booklover6

Same here. I don't want a device that doesn't lay flat.

I can't see me ever laying my Voyage flat - too much light reflects from the screen that way. If I'm at a table, I prop it up (but who needs a fancy case to rearrange the salt shakers??). If I'm sitting down, I hold it.

[tubemonkey]

Originally Posted by booklover6

Same here. I don't want a device that doesn't lay flat.

Then get one of these handy dandy ereader flattening devices. Guaranteed to flatten your ereader every time or your money back. Also great for squishing out tuna water.

[badgoodDeb]

My grandmother used to have one of those .....

(she must have been a *very* early kindle adopter)

[booklover6]

Originally Posted by badgoodDeb

I can't see me ever laying my Voyage flat - too much light reflects from the screen that way. If I'm at a table, I prop it up (but who needs a fancy case to rearrange the salt shakers??). If I'm sitting down, I hold it.

No, not while reading, but when I lay it on my ereader shelf.

Yes, I have an ereader shelf.

Yes, I know it would bother me. I had a Jetbook Lite that didn't lay flat. It always annoyed me.

[DuckieTigger]

Originally Posted by booklover6

No, not while reading, but when I lay it on my ereader shelf.

Yes, I have an ereader shelf.

Yes, I know it would bother me. I had a Jetbook Lite that didn't lay flat. It always annoyed me.

When you lay it on your shelf, put it in its case to recharge. It will lay flat then.

[tomsem]

Oasis is designed to be held in one hand while reading, and when cover is not attached. If you want to 'lay it flat', leave the cover attached.

As for some brains 'not liking' asymmetry, I would give it more credit about being able to adjust to things. Brains are really good at re-wiring, given the opportunity.

[badgoodDeb]

Originally Posted by tomsem

Oasis is designed to be held in one hand while reading, and when cover is not attached. If you want to 'lay it flat', leave the cover attached.

As for some brains 'not liking' asymmetry, I would give it more credit about being able to adjust to things. Brains are really good at re-wiring, given the opportunity.

After all, your brain has re-wired and become able to do without a paper book that requires turning of actual pages.

[rcentros]

Originally Posted by tomsem

As for some brains 'not liking' asymmetry, I would give it more credit about being able to adjust to things. Brains are really good at re-wiring, given the opportunity.

My main issue/question with/about the Oasis right now (besides the price) is whether or not the case can be independently charged. In my opinion, the whole point of a rechargeable case goes away if you can't charge it independently. (Waiting for someone to actually get one.)

[booklover6]

Originally Posted by DuckieTigger

When you lay it on your shelf, put it in its case to recharge. It will lay flat then.

That's a very good point! Maybe I will get one in a year or two, used or refurbished.

[tomsem]

Originally Posted by rcentros

My main issue/question with/about the Oasis right now (besides the price) is whether or not the case can be independently charged. In my opinion, the whole point of a rechargeable case goes away if you can't charge it independently. (Waiting for someone to actually get one.)

I don't think it is going to be an issue or even inconvenience in practice, for most people. Some people will complain, no matter what. So yes, we will benefit by having opinions if not actual experimental data to refer to.

But by going only by Amazon's fuzzy specs, we can say that there is more reading time stored up in there than for any other available Kindle ('months' - meaning at least two months and assuming no more than that - versus 'weeks' - which we must assume is less than 2 months or they could call that 'months' too, so at most 'seven weeks'). We know this is not 'continuous' reading, more like 30 minutes a day but whatever: more is more.

The cover is good for about (I think this is how the milliamperes work out) 3-1/2 complete recharges of the Oasis. If you run out of juice on Oasis, you can keep reading immediately by attaching the cover and letting it recharge as you read. If you take breaks for food or other activities, it recharges from the cover as you do those other things and maybe you never actually have to read with cover attached or even plug into external power even on your most marathon day of reading. Eventually you have to sleep, and if you have access to external power, problem solved, everything is completely charged up when you wake up and continue the reading marathon. If not, you still have more recharges available, and again it's all better than any other Kindle is.

[DuckieTigger]

Oh, one thought sprung into my head for quite a while now about the Oasis. The asymmetric design is no coincidence - well no doubt it is useful for holding to have the outer margin bigger. But not because of that. Much more simple: it is borrowed from books. Paper books. Van de Graaf canon ring any bells? Or putting a golden ratio proportioned page on the left and right page of a book?

Granted the Oasis does not follow it 100%, and it cannot do that due to the restriction of having both the left and the right page in the same device. The inner margin is the smallest followed by top, bottom, and outer margin. Since the Oasis can be flipped over, top and bottom margin have to be the same. The outer is still larger. (See Wikipedia reference on it in slightly more scientific terms and with pictures: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Canons...e_construction )

While I appreciate the ease of being able to flip from one hand to the other in the middle of the page on my Voyage, I can see how it looks pleasing on the Oasis to have the margin flip. If you hold with your left hand you read the left page, with the right hand it is the right page.

Now one cool feature Amazon could implement is paging forward by flipping the Oasis around from one hand to other hand (instead of simply turning the same page around). That would be as close to turning a paper page as possible. The hardware is there, just needs an option added in software. Are you listening, Amazon?

[Yolina]

Originally Posted by tomsem

As for some brains 'not liking' asymmetry, I would give it more credit about being able to adjust to things. Brains are really good at re-wiring, given the opportunity.

Maybe, but I absolutely hate the asymmetry of the Oasis, and there's a few other things I don't like about it - in fact, the only 2 things I like are 1) no logo at the front (yes, obnoxious in-your-face branding is another pet hate of mine ) and 2) PT buttons )
Given that I'm not forced to have one, why would I want to buy it on the off-chance that I might eventually not be so bothered by the wider bezel, the small on-board battery, the not-very-nice-but-compulsory cover, having to flip it when changing hands, etc...

To me it's like saying you'll get used to walking with a stone in your shoe You'll put up with it if you have no choice, but frankly you'd rather not have a stone in your shoe in the first place