Word Processing on the Kindle 3

[rcuadro]

I dont even like using the keyboard for too long...

[DMcCunney]

Originally Posted by catsittingstill

I think the latest version of the iPod can hook up to a bluetooth keyboard, and I think there are bluetooth keyboards that fold up for transport. The iPod can certainly also display e-books of various flavors, so I wonder if some combination like that might more closely approach your reading / writing needs than a Kindle?

I think you mean iPad above, no?

And yes,there are bluetooth keyboards available for it. One example is this, which doubles as a case and stand. The iPad is a general purpose tablet, so a means of keyboard entry will be useful. The question will be what sort of word processing apps will be available.

I use a folding keyboard with my old Palm OS PDA. It connects via IR rather than Bluetooth, though BT models exist. I have apps on the PDA that let me deal with Word and Excel files, and an excellent word processor for creating text on the device.

That said, while I can use the device for stuff like that, it's an "in a pinch" action. The small screen is a drawback, and the folding keyboard is nowhere near as easy to type on as the full sized model on my desktop.
______
Dennis

[tomsem]

I would get one of those 'journal' ebooks from the Kindle store (most are 99 cents) to collect and organize your notes. Your annotations will be accessible on your kindle.amazon.com page, and synced between Kindle devices or apps that are registered to your account, and have the 'journal' ebook downloaded.

I'm sure there are plenty of rich text web editors that work with Kindle's browser as well, but probably it is not going to be as usable.

[Exer]

I have a friend who ran into a world of financial trouble recently; multiple layoffs, death in the family, losing her home, etc etc.

She basically went from a very comfortable living to literally being homeless, in the span of a year. That isn't a very unique story anymore with the way the U.S has been the last few years, but it sucks to have seen it happen to someone I know.

When she started losing everything, one of her biggest hurdles was the sudden lack of communication. So I sent her my K2, told her about the free 3G and how she could access her Gmail acct. for free. That just made a huge difference for her. She was able to get back in touch with people and get things moving. She was able to access Facebook and arrange for a place to stay with another friend.

The Kindle was her sole form of communication for just shy of 4 months. It wasn't ideal or perfect, but it worked, and was worlds better than nothing at all. She just had her first day of work today after being unemployed for over a year. She is going to finally be able to get her life back in order, and she owes it to all the "fluff" in the Kindle that most people don't even use.

[TheKindleWorm]

Originally Posted by Exer

I have a friend who ran into a world of financial trouble recently; multiple layoffs, death in the family, losing her home, etc etc.

She basically went from a very comfortable living to literally being homeless, in the span of a year. That isn't a very unique story anymore with the way the U.S has been the last few years, but it sucks to have seen it happen to someone I know.

When she started losing everything, one of her biggest hurdles was the sudden lack of communication. So I sent her my K2, told her about the free 3G and how she could access her Gmail acct. for free. That just made a huge difference for her. She was able to get back in touch with people and get things moving. She was able to access Facebook and arrange for a place to stay with another friend.

The Kindle was her sole form of communication for just shy of 4 months. It wasn't ideal or perfect, but it worked, and was worlds better than nothing at all. She just had her first day of work today after being unemployed for over a year. She is going to finally be able to get her life back in order, and she owes it to all the "fluff" in the Kindle that most people don't even use.

So glad your friend is getting back on her feet again now - and a great story about the Kindle. Where there simply isn't a better alternative, the web browser on the Kindle is perfectly usable.

I travel a bit (home and away) and visit many places which have no wifi connection or do have a wifi connection if I'm willing to pay a hefty fee! At least with the 3G I can check my emails which is the most important thing for me and browse my fav websites including this one.

To get back to the Word Processing issue - not really. I possibly use the Kindle keyboard for more typing than the average user.

I often use www.simpletext.ws on the Kindle web browser because this syncs up with the WriteRoom app on my iphone. You can only write basic notes with no formatting using this.

I also use Evernote - but the only way you can currently make new notes for this with the latest gen Kindle is to deliver a note in an email to your evernote account see:

http://www.kinworm.com/2010/11/evern...-and-more.html

I haven't found any better method but I'm hoping that Amazon release a proper note-taking app for the Kindle soon.

[curstpriest]

I have a cannon laser printer/printserver made by cannon in 1998ish? (I think it's custom made or a prototype or something) I don't use it anymore because newer 100$ printers work much better and have 64 bit driver support =X

ANYWAYS

I installed doom.

so my printer can run doom, that is, until it got shut away in the basement. I mean, who wants a printer that uses a 400w power supply for a computer + the standard 50w or whatever for the printer itself.

I think it's got 2x Pentium 200 mhz processors (pretty sure they arn't pros, but I remember it doing SMP)
It's got touchscreen LCD and runs windows NT4,
512 mb memory I believe
It also has a SCSI Hdd via some adaptec host card
I think ethernet is standard 10 base, though it might have been coaxial when I first got the thing.

Has anyone heard of this? It came from a tech donation when they were getting rid of old equipment.

[Kevin2960]

I bought a Dozen Eggs at the supermarket, They don't support the latest Word Doc format, So I'm taking them back and asking for a refund !!!!

[Kevin2960]

Oh and the Eggs Won't even Display my PDF's ... Unbelievable !!!!

[dougmwpsu]

Way to pile it on guys! Very witty!

I would recommend using mobile gmail to type stuff out on the kindle. The keyboard is going to be a little painful to type on, but you can save your writing to your gmail drafts folder by clicking "save"

use the simple interface: m.gmail.com/x

Alternatively, someone could write usb keyboard drivers and a simple word processing app. You might have to pay a linux guru to do that, I doubt anyone would be motivated to do it for the heck of it.

[Shazza]

Nice story, Exer, you should send it in to Kindle....

[Blog Kindle]

Great story, Exer. It also shows how desperate a situation you need to be in to use Kindle for something more than reading on a regular basis.

[alyxie]

Originally Posted by rcuadro

I dont even like using the keyboard for too long...

Hmmm, maybe you need one of those smart pens for input?

[fallsauce]

I've thought about having this feature as well. It would be quite handy if you wanted to write a story or something. I think it would be kind of neat to get a gauge of how your work is going to appear in an ereader. Sometimes I don't want to haul my laptop somewhere just to write, or I might want to watch a movie on my laptop.

Would definitely need a proper keyboard though.

I would much prefer this feature than a colour screen!

[SaintEx]

I would love to be able to type more on my kindle. the capability to write notes is only a small step away from being a basic text editor. it's a far smaller leap in logic than deciding to incorporate mp3 support. I'm already quite comfortable with the funny wee keyboard, and I write so slowly when I'm thinking that the refresh rate wouldn't be an issue anyway. point is, it's not asking a lot, and nowhere near justifies the amount of sarcastic responses. I'm genuinely quite surprised the developer's didn't consider it as part of the original device functionality. if the kindle is looking to replace paper books, why not replace blank paper books too?

[DiapDealer]

Originally Posted by SaintEx

point is, it's not asking a lot, and nowhere near justifies the amount of sarcastic responses. I'm genuinely quite surprised the developer's didn't consider it as part of the original device functionality. if the kindle is looking to replace paper books, why not replace blank paper books too?

Justified or not, the sarcastic responses are coming from the camp that is satisfied with the functionality they currently have. I'm in that camp myself. I bought an eReader. That's all I need/want. There's nothing wrong with wanting a device that can allow you to do a variety of tasks, but that makes it a different beast. If they could add the functionality you want while guaranteeing me that it would not affect my enjoyment of the device in any way, I'd have no problem with it. But the fact of the matter is: with multi-function, comes multi-problems. You end up with a device that does many things half-assed and none of them well. That type of scenario should be avoided at all costs.

But I'm not hard to get along with. As long as Amazon continues to make a model that simply allows me to read books (with very few whistles and bells), they're free to make you a palm pilot with a fold-out keyboard.