01-30-2010, 11:04 PM | #1 | |
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Kindle: 'Designed in a Soviet tire factory'
Of all the iPad hype of the last week, this is perhaps the most ludicrous example of techno-utopian fanboyism that I encountered.
I present to you the words of one Darren Wershler, professor of communications at Wilfrid Laurier University (in Ontario, Canada). That this hyperbole was uttered by a grown man who most likely has a Ph.D. just beggars belief. From the Globe and Mail: Quote:
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01-31-2010, 11:39 AM | #2 |
Kindlephilia
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The dude has some of his facts wrong, especially about the ePubs Apple will sell. Sure, Apple is selling ePub but with their own flavor of DRM. That makes 3 different DRM schemes for ePub.
Certainly the Kindle isn't as sleek as the iPad but personally I value function over form. The Kindle does what it does well. For me the reading experience is far better than anything I can get on non-reflective screen. |
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01-31-2010, 12:23 PM | #3 | |
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Highlight of the article:
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01-31-2010, 12:30 PM | #4 |
Bah, humbug!
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With the Kindle, you don't have to pay an additional $30/month for unlimited wireless.
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01-31-2010, 04:59 PM | #5 | |
Wizard
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Quote:
It's important to remember that even when Apple had DRM on Mp3, they still allowed you to use un-DRMed Mp3 in itunes and on ipods. There is no evidence which leads us to believe that they will treat epub books differently. None. The only 'assumptions' we can make are that publishers would have demanded some kind DRM on ibookstore sales. From Apple's past history with Mp3s - If you don't want that DRMed content you should be able to buy from another source and load your own epubs on (just like itunes let you load your own Mp3s from the start). As for the Kindle bashing, I think it's un-necessary. We are talking about different purposes on these devices. A device solely dedicated to text reading VS a device that does all kinds of things. Of course the iPad is more attractive it's newer! The Kindle is attractive as well (slim and functional), just not as flashy. Kindle 3 will be a step up, they are due for a refresh so lets see what they do. |
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01-31-2010, 06:40 PM | #6 |
Groupie
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Boy those soviet tire / tractor guys sure are smart! Love my Kindle. I'd like the iPad too if it wasn't so expensive and required monthly fee for data to get 3G.
As far as I care the 2 are totally different markets, the iPad is stunning but is SO much more than an ereader. It's comparing the venerable apples and oranges. |
01-31-2010, 10:40 PM | #7 | ||
Kindlephilia
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02-01-2010, 02:36 AM | #8 | ||
Bah, humbug!
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Quote:
Last edited by WT Sharpe; 02-02-2010 at 12:52 PM. |
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02-01-2010, 09:46 AM | #9 |
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I am a retired editor who worked at a major publisher for 25 years. I am a reading junky who has owned a Sony 505, an iLiad (still own), and a Kindle DX (still own). I like to read a full page of text rather than parts of one, and that is why I bought the iRex and the Kindle DX (and why I don't read books often on my iPhone). I should add that most of my reading is of pdf files. I have no objection to epub, djvu, chm, txt, rtf, etc. But most of my files happen to be pdfs.
I bought the Kindle DX despite knowing of its absolutely ludicrous design faults: (1) miserable keyboard; (2) lack of unicode support (in a machine supposed to appeal to the college market?); (3) unfathomable lack of support for folders in the file system; lack of what I regard as sufficient storage (my library of English-language publications is about 50GB, of Chinese about 310GB); lack of external storage other than my laptops or desktops. The Kindle is fine if all you do is read English language books and don't have so many that you have to organize them to locate a particular title easily; I read a lot of Chinese and Russian (yes, I know, if I have my pdfs embed the fonts, I can read Chinese and Russian on the Kindle, but that doesn't help with the Kindle's content display unless I translate the file names into English). I am aware of many ways to process my book files so that they are more easily located; dragging all my archaeology books to a folder called Archaeology would be easier. BUT, the Kindle DX does handle my pdfs, most of them, very nicely. As to 3G availability: I use it occasionally in the DX, but since I do the bulk of my reading at home, where I have 802.11n, and at places that have wireless access, iPad wireless would do just fine for me; I don't download books so frequently that instant availability is an issue. And I sincerely doubt that many people do. One thing I've not been able to figure out about the Kindle (among many) is why Bezos decided not to include 802.11g. When people download via their own or other people's networks, Amazon doesn't have to pay for Sprint's carrying the freight. The faults I've listed for the Kindle DX were largely avoided by earlier machines, like the iLiad: it had wireless, folders, external storage -- SD and CF -- (and digital ink input). If Bezos' folk had ever tried to use their own machines for reading, they might have adopted a few of the "innovations" pioneered by Sony and iRex (no folders in a Linux file system?). |
02-01-2010, 10:13 AM | #10 | |
reader
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Quote:
If Amazon had known how hard it would be to get international wireless coverage they might have included WiFi anyway. |
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02-01-2010, 02:11 PM | #11 | |
Evangelist
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It would be nice if those eggheads would understand that we're talking about two devices with entirely different purpose and market. They should not be compared. Kindle's e-ink, non-reflective screen, low distraction environment = pure reading experience - and nothing much more. No, I'm not a fanboy protecting his precious and yes, I'm going to buy an iPad as soon as they hit the market. |
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02-01-2010, 06:15 PM | #12 | |
Wizard
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Quote:
The Kindle folks may bring out a college-centric edition with full unicode support. That's a software update. There's also ver 2.5 or 3 to look forward to. And, taking your first (and one supposes therefore you most important) point, the "miserable" keyboard is the way it is to keep manufacturing costs down but deliver "good enough" access when keyboard input is required. It is there to facilitate buying stuff in the store, doing rudimentary searches within books or wikipedia, and very basic "note taking". I can well see Kindle bringing out a mid-range hybrid which has more bells and whistles designed for the college crowd ... but it will be competing for netbooks and laptops which almost everyone will already have. Just as the iPad is not designed primarily to replace e-readers like the Kindle, the Kindle is not designed primarily to replace a full portable computer experience. That also explains the lower price, etc. But we agree: the Kindle is fine if all you do is read English language books and as it evolves into future editions no doubt it will well embrace the same functionality in other languages and character sets. |
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02-02-2010, 05:51 AM | #13 | |
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02-02-2010, 06:48 AM | #14 |
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“The Kindle looks like it was designed in a Russian tractor factory,” Mr. Wershler said. “The aesthetics of the thing are horrifying.”
He's probably talking about the Kindle 1 and, let's face it, lovable as it is (I love my K1 though prefer the K2) its design does have a certain Soviet air to it. |
02-02-2010, 08:08 AM | #15 | |
Da'i
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