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Old 11-26-2007, 11:09 AM   #1
Nate the great
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new Kindle review

Robert Scoble posted a 1 week review of the Kindle yesterday. Which is rather odd, since he couldn't have had it before Tuesday.

His complaints
Quote:
1. No ability to buy paper goods from Amazon through Kindle.
2. Usability sucks. They didn’t think about how people would hold this device.
3. UI sucks. Menus? Did they hire some out-of-work Microsoft employees?
4. No ability to send electronic goods to anyone else. I know Mike Arrington has one. I wanted to send him a gift through this of Alan Greenspan’s new book. I couldn’t. That’s lame.
5. No social network. Why don’t I have a list of all my friends who also have Kindles and let them see what I’m reading?
6. No touch screen. The iPhone has taught everyone that I’ve shown this to that screens are meant to be touched. Yet we’re stuck with a silly navigation system because the screen isn’t touchable.
http://scobleizer.com/2007/11/25/dea...kindle-review/

The only one I think is a good suggestion is #4. Other than that, I think he's an idiot. He really doesn't understand the device or its intended market.
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Old 11-26-2007, 11:17 AM   #2
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Well, I could see Amazon getting some traction with some social networking features. Maybe they wanted to wait and see what the network load was going to look like, first.
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Old 11-26-2007, 11:21 AM   #3
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Nate the great View Post
Robert Scoble posted a 1 week review of the Kindle yesterday. Which is rather odd, since he couldn't have had it before Tuesday.

His complaints


http://scobleizer.com/2007/11/25/dea...kindle-review/

The only one I think is a good suggestion is #4. Other than that, I think he's an idiot. He really doesn't understand the device or its intended market.
I could see (1) as useful, though certainly not necessary. Just because one person is Kindle-centric, it doesn't mean all of his friends are. It would be kind of nice for a Kindle-centric person to do all of his Amazon interaction through it.

Since I don't have one, I can't speak to items (2) or (3).

(4) strikes me as a really smart idea that Amazon ought to implement in the future, but I understand why they didn't. Locking the unit down was far more important.

(5) is just dumb. MyAmazonSpace? I don't flippin' think so.

(6) is so stupid I can't even begin to disentangle all of the compounded idiocies involved.
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Old 11-26-2007, 12:15 PM   #4
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These complaints strike me as being ridiculous (I'm primarily commenting on points 5 & 6). I agree that there is plenty of room for improvement in the arena of eBook readers, but these grievances are, quite frankly, ignorant. He fails to understand the purpose of the device.

Complaining that the Kindle doesn't have a social function and lacks a touchscreen is like buying a car and complaining that it doesn't have an integrated hairdryer and deployable tank treads. Are they useful in limited circumstances? Sure, but it all it does is bloat the device with unneeded features that don't fit the scope of the intended audience.

Plus, I'd bet a weeks pay that this is the same kind of person that would be complaining that the device was too unwieldy and complicated had those features been included.

-FlyTags

Last edited by FlyTags; 11-26-2007 at 12:18 PM.
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Old 11-26-2007, 01:27 PM   #5
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1. Meh. That might be nice but I'm not really looking at this as a websurfing device and I don't think they are either. It's ok in a pinch but I'd rather do my shopping at home on a big screen. The main purpose of the wireless connection here is to get content for the Kindle and to search.

2. Of course. It's subjective. It'll be comfy for some and not for others.

3. See 2.

4. Absofreakinlutely! I've emailed them about this, too. At least let us put books on our wishlist! I can't believe they went into Christmas without that simple functionality on their site. The only thing I want for Christmas is books for my new toy and I can't put them on my wishlist.

5. Meh. I bet you it'll come later if this thing is successful.

6. *head explodes*
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Old 11-26-2007, 02:15 PM   #6
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Quote:
1. No ability to buy paper goods from Amazon through Kindle.
2. Usability sucks. They didn’t think about how people would hold this device.
3. UI sucks. Menus? Did they hire some out-of-work Microsoft employees?
4. No ability to send electronic goods to anyone else. I know Mike Arrington has one. I wanted to send him a gift through this of Alan Greenspan’s new book. I couldn’t. That’s lame.
5. No social network. Why don’t I have a list of all my friends who also have Kindles and let them see what I’m reading?
6. No touch screen. The iPhone has taught everyone that I’ve shown this to that screens are meant to be touched. Yet we’re stuck with a silly navigation system because the screen isn’t touchable.
1) Why do we need to? You can already do that on the web and can't take delivery of hard goods except at a real physical address anyway.
2) That may be true according to other reviews - I will let you know, mine due in a few hours.
3) I will let you know, mine due in a few hours.
4) They could easily add this but it is not that important, really
5) Huuh? That is totally stupid. It is a friggin READER!
6) Would be spendier and likely use more battery power.

I just think these folks do not understand that this is a reader and expect it to be a PC or a PDA or a phone or a music player or all of the above. Maybe someday we will see such an all-in-one device but my experience is that all-in-one devices do everything and do them all badly.

Summary: Dear Robert: IT'S A READER, STUPID!

Last edited by CCDMan; 11-26-2007 at 02:17 PM.
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Old 11-26-2007, 05:08 PM   #7
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Nate the great View Post
Robert Scoble posted a 1 week review of the Kindle yesterday. Which is rather odd, since he couldn't have had it before Tuesday.

His complaints


http://scobleizer.com/2007/11/25/dea...kindle-review/

The only one I think is a good suggestion is #4. Other than that, I think he's an idiot. He really doesn't understand the device or its intended market.
that's funny. i was watching a video of this review and there was a chat window next to the video window and he was on there. we chatted a few minutes (it was about 0200) in the morning. i completely agree with him about not being able to hold it without pushing buttons, but most of his other main complaints were not my complaints, such at his fury about showing the device to someone but not being able to give them the content.

/guy
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Old 11-27-2007, 01:51 PM   #8
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Quote:
Originally Posted by gteague View Post
that's funny. i was watching a video of this review and there was a chat window next to the video window and he was on there. we chatted a few minutes (it was about 0200) in the morning. i completely agree with him about not being able to hold it without pushing buttons, but most of his other main complaints were not my complaints, such at his fury about showing the device to someone but not being able to give them the content.

/guy

Maybe Amazon needs to include illustrations on how to hold it. If you hold it with your left hand, place the thumb to the left of the words AmazonKindle. If you hold it with your right hand, place your thumb to the right of the words AmazonKindle. Those spaces were left blank for that purpose. In both those scenarious, no buttons get pressed. If you use the cover and fold it over, you can hold it on the left side by holding the folder cover edge.
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Old 11-28-2007, 08:21 AM   #9
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I've actually gone so far as looking into removing the right-side button. I tried to pry it up, and from what I can see, it connects similar to how a space bar connects. But I wasn't able to get it off. I'll wait until my return option runs out (if there is a return option!).

I am left handed, which means I want to navigate with my left hand and hold the device with my right hand. I've tried to hold it like rflashman says, you sort of learn to do that. And when I use the cover, it works ok, but the cover is a whole different story.

If anything has my panties knotted up, it's simply that right side button. It's just too much.
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Old 11-28-2007, 09:03 AM   #10
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Then I will offer a suggestion to help alleviate the button problem. It's one I've used on the Kindle here. (Yea, that bar/button/handrest seems badly designed for long reading.)

Just shove a thin strip of closed cell foam under the edge where your hand normally lays. You might have to look around to find some but it shouldn't be to hard to find. The extra resistance at the point of holding is usually enough to prevent it from accidentally tripping quite so often.

For those who don't know, there are a couple different foams out there you can get a hold of. One is the big and fluffy one used in cheap cushions and pillows (generally called "open cell".) The other is a denser and heavier material ("closed cell") usually found in sheet formats only and used for things like tray liners for precision measuring devices or gasket material. I found the best places to find it for most people is large hardware stores and auto supply houses.

NOTE: "Closed cell" foam is NOT the same as rubber! Rubber is...well, rubber. Rubber bends and stretches but really doesn't compact. "Closed cell" will bend like rubber but also has some slight compact ability so placing a thin strip between the bar and the reader basically just makes it a stiffer button.

NOTE DUO: Don't try and shove it all the way under the bar, just a little under the edge. Putting it to far under the edge will just place unneeded strain on the bar as well as make it ridiculously hard to press after time passes.


And personal note: (/whine)I still wish they would just change out the screen on a 1150 to eink and keep the basic form factor and screen flip button. I have yet to find ANY reader that suited my long term reading comfort as well as that did.(/whine)
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Old 11-28-2007, 09:14 AM   #11
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Social networking and a touch screen?

I thought this guy was supposed to be smart or something...
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Old 11-28-2007, 10:42 AM   #12
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Both the eBw 1150 and the iLiad have input screens. The 1150 is a touch screen, whereas the iLiad is Wacom (requiring a specific stylus). Most PDAs have touch screens. Probably he's primarily thinking of the iPhone here.

As far as social networking goes, I guess we have a lot of solitary readers here, but some people really enjoy discussing books with others. There are quite a few email lists out there devoted to specific authors or books, as well as discussion boards on websites. I participate in three myself. A way to set up reader discussion groups via the Kindle could be extremely popular, for example, with those who belong to reading clubs or who read the "Oprah" picks. I don't know if this is what Scoble had in mind or not, but I don't think it's that strange a suggestion.
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