I'm kinda sick of the Kindle 1.0

[markbot]

I wish Amazon would come out with the Kindle 2.0 this year...and address all of the issues we have. I guess we'll have to wait until next year since Bezos said they weren't going to upgrade for a while.

The top item for improvement on the list for me in the Kindle 2.0 is a wider screen. The narrow screen makes me read slower.

[HarryT]

The Kindle has exactly the same screen as the Sony and Gen3. I've never heard anyone say on either of those that it's "too narrow", I have to admit!

[Ervserver]

I doubt the Kindle II will have a wider screen

[HarryT]

Amazon are constrained by the screen sizes that PVI (the screen manufacturer) makes. It's obviously in PVI's interests to have the same screen used in as wide a range of devices as possible, rather than making a different screen for each device.

[dugbug]

I don't mind the hardware the way it is, though there are plenty of improvements taht can be made. The big thing I want to see is a software update that gives us more organization options (i.e. folders and the like). THey did a great job with v1.0. The menus are all clean, the features are well thought out... but it is still 1.0 and there are a lot of things that can be added to improve the experience.

-d

[HarryT]

Originally Posted by dugbug

The big thing I want to see is a software update that gives us more organization options (i.e. folders and the like).

That wish is shared by the user of every eInk device on the market (except the iLiad), I promise you . We all have devices which can store thousands of books, but whose library systems effectively limit them to a few hundred.

[Ceili]

I'm just going to sneak in and say... I rather like the Kindle (it's been 1 Month!) tho' I really wish it weren't so... *sigh* ugly... there! I said it!

Folders would be nice and I know I'll bemoan the lack of them eventually.... but I've been too busy reading to delve into my kindle with any kind of seriousness... something rare for me.

So, make it "purdier" please Truly, since an Iliad was out of the question for now, and the Sony, pretty tho' it is, didn't have whispernet (or wiki, or...), Kindle was my choice and I'm Quite happy with it... even if it does look like it came from one of those space shows in the 50's or 60's..

[Over]

Originally Posted by markbot

I wish Amazon would come out with the Kindle 2.0 this year...and address all of the issues we have. I guess we'll have to wait until next year since Bezos said they weren't going to upgrade for a while.

The top item for improvement on the list for me in the Kindle 2.0 is a wider screen. The narrow screen makes me read slower.

So, you don't
like very much
to read in
narrow screens?
Maybe it's just
a matter of
getting used
to it?
And does it
make you read
slower? I bet
that with a
narrow screen
you'll be turning
pages quickly!
I confess that
I don't like it
too, but I
always thought
that with an
eReader, it would
be like reading a
mass market
paperback book...

[Hadrien]

Originally Posted by HarryT

That wish is shared by the user of every eInk device on the market (except the iLiad), I promise you . We all have devices which can store thousands of books, but whose library systems effectively limit them to a few hundred.

That's part of what we've been doing this week on the Feedbooks device. Folder support is ready, and we also have support for browsing using metadata (title/filename, date added and author).

[zelda_pinwheel]

Originally Posted by Hadrien

That's part of what we've been doing this week on the Feedbooks device. Folder support is ready, and we also have support for browsing using metadata (title/filename, date added and author).

really ! the feedbooks device is sounding better and better, the more i hear of it... (just please do think about the dictionary support !! even if it's not implemented in the first firmware...)

[wallcraft]

Originally Posted by markbot

The top item for improvement on the list for me in the Kindle 2.0 is a wider screen. The narrow screen makes me read slower.

The only screen size choices for a while will be Vizplex: 5", 6", 8" and 9.7". At present only the iLiad offers an 8" screen (pre-Vizplex), all the rest are 6". I like the iLiad, but I find it a bit too large for travel.

The problem with 5" or 6" in portrait mode is that there are too few words per line. This obviously depends on the font size, see Font Sizes for screenshots of the 6 available sizes on the Kindle. On the Kindle, the margins could be smaller but automatic hyphenation (and an option for less space between lines) would help more.

Do any of the current 6" readers have a good landscape mode? This would be particularly interesting on a 5" device. The Kindle probably will never have a landscape mode (because it it designed to look like a book), but this works very well on a Nokia 770/N8X0 using FBReader.

[claymore]

I kind of like the smaller screens (I started reading ebooks on my Jornada Pocket PC years ago) because for whatever reason my mind stays focused on what I'm reading (my thoughts can sometimes wander when I'm reading, but it tends to happen much less with an ebook reader, one of the things I love about them).

[bbusybookworm]

Originally Posted by wallcraft

Do any of the current 6" readers have a good landscape mode? This would be particularly interesting on a 5" device.

The Sony has a reasonably decent landscape mode. On my PRD-500 it allows me to drop into landscape mode universaly with the click of a button, which is really hand when looking at images and pdf's.

But yes it is still pretty basic. and the lack of programeable zooms on the devices is a pain.

[TheJohnNewton]

Could you expand on "all of the issues we have" a bit beyond the wish for a wider screen?

There aren't many incremental imporvements that would make much of a difference to me. I can't think of any I would spend money to upgrade for. As others have mentioned I would like a software upgrade for the content organization. I sure hope we don't have to wait for a new model to get that though.

I can see buying a new reader when either the refresh rate of the screen is improved that allows a much more interactive experience and/or a photorealistic color capability is developed. I don't expect to see either of those improvements anytime soon. For reading pure text content the current readers do a pretty darn good job and that covers probably 90% of my reading anyway.

[Elsi]

Originally Posted by Over

So, you don't
like very much
to read in
narrow screens?
Maybe it's just
a matter of
getting used
to it?
And does it
make you read
slower? I bet
that with a
narrow screen
you'll be turning
pages quickly!
I confess that
I don't like it
too, but I
always thought
that with an
eReader, it would
be like reading a
mass market
paperback book...

My Kindle displays lots of words per line. I don't perceive it as narrow at all. Most of the time, I keep it set on font size 2 and this is typical formatting:

She was at it in a flash and without pausing to think,
still in the exhilaration of her acceptance, she slipped
the catch and pushed the window up. She knew where
Perry had been and was dying to know how he had got
along.

There should be 4 long-ish lines and one line with just the word 'along' on it.

When lighting is poor, I will move up to font size 3 and even on occasion to font size 4. Here's the formatting of that same text at font size 4:

She was at it in a flash and without
pausing to think, still in the exhilaration of
her acceptance, she slipped the catch and
pushed the window up. She knew where
Perry had been and was dying to know how
he had got along.

So font size 4 (2 sizes larger than the original) took the quote to five and one-half lines -- still much longer lines that Over pasted into his message. Even at the largest font size, I get this:

She was at it in a flash and
without pausing to think, still in
the exhilaration of her
acceptance, she slipped the
catch and pushed the window
up. She knew where Perry had
been and was dying to know
how he had got along.

Almost 8 lines.

If I had poor vision and needed the large font, then it would be VERY NICE if the Kindle had a screen rotate function like the Sony Reader. That would allow you to use the largest font and still get reasonably long lines which are easier for most people to read. The total number of words on the screen would be the same so the number of page turns wouldn't be altered.