Kindle 3 gripes

[Kumabjorn]

While I completely agree with NormHart that folders and sub-folders would be a logical and efficient method of organizing your books, I do have a special place in my heart for Bezo's irrational fear and eccentricity. There is a certain humanity to it, like when you see him making a large scale presentation and compare it with Steve Jobs. There is something endearing quality in his fumbling hee-haw ways. That kind of aww shucks mentality is why Amazon is so proficient at bringing you the best possible shopping experience.

[susan_cassidy]

I think that the reason they did not simply implement folders, as on a pc, is because with the lack of screen real estate, you could not easily show the entire folder hierarchy, and people would end up down in a folder, then call CS complaining that most of their books had disappeared! There is certainly no room for much indentation, etc.

Although it does seem like there should be a way to have multiple levels in Collections.

Personally, I don't keep all that many books on the Kindle at one time (only 12 or 13 pages worth), not my whole library, so I've never really been interested in a heavy-duty organizational system. I just back everything up on my pc, in folders by author.

[NormHart]

Originally Posted by Tiersten

The Kindle just dumps everything into one directory. You can have subdirectories in there but it doesn't care and will just show everything as one big list.

But clearly the OS has the capability of using folders already so introducing any other organizational method is adding yet more code and, at this stage, code that is barely "better than nothing".

Originally Posted by susan_cassidy

I think that the reason they did not simply implement folders, as on a pc, is because with the lack of screen real estate, you could not easily show the entire folder hierarchy, and people would end up down in a folder, then call CS complaining that most of their books had disappeared! There is certainly no room for much indentation, etc.

Although it does seem like there should be a way to have multiple levels in Collections.

Personally, I don't keep all that many books on the Kindle at one time (only 12 or 13 pages worth), not my whole library, so I've never really been interested in a heavy-duty organizational system. I just back everything up on my pc, in folders by author.

Yes, I do the same thing, in fact I have the folders/files on my PC organized by authors and, in a separate folder, by title and, in yet another folder, by subject. Exactly what Mr. Bezos is trying to avoid.

However, if the OS supports this organization isn't any other method going to introduce overhead on performance, memory utilization, and general inefficiency? And isn't the current method inadequate for most users?

[Tiersten]

Originally Posted by NormHart

But clearly the OS has the capability of using folders already so introducing any other organizational method is adding yet more code and, at this stage, code that is barely "better than nothing".

Amazon want you to have the ability to have 1 book in multiple collections which wouldn't work under the folder system unless you actually duplicate the file multiple times.

Whatever their design is for the organisation of books, it doesn't involve using the underlying filesystem as a method of organisation. They could have used it but it appears they're trying to do a more flexible method but its just not quite there yet.

[NormHart]

Originally Posted by Tiersten

Amazon want you to have the ability to have 1 book in multiple collections which wouldn't work under the folder system unless you actually duplicate the file multiple times.

Whatever their design is for the organisation of books, it doesn't involve using the underlying filesystem as a method of organisation. They could have used it but it appears they're trying to do a more flexible method but its just not quite there yet.

Yes, well this discussion is, perhaps,

Perhaps another thread should be started.

[NormHart]

Originally Posted by Kumabjorn

I do have a special place in my heart for Bezo's irrational fear and eccentricity.

[Viseguy]

Originally Posted by NormHart

Yes, well this discussion is, perhaps,

I dunno. It's a "Kindle 3 gripe", isn't it? Well, maybe not specific to the K3...

[SpeckledJim]

The all too frequent lock-ups are starting to cheese me off. I've had 2 today, one simply opening a partially read book, the other whilst in the middle of entering a wi-fi password. That incident was particularly annoying, given how fiddly it is to enter a secure key.

I'd also like the option not to hide the key as it's being entered.

[hamfitz]

1) screensavers (except a few of the print ones(ie: birds)
2) lack of page numbers
3) lack of epub support and when converting epub to mobi they have some were margin problems

othwerwise everything is great but i don't think i'm going to keep it.

[MrT-Man]

Coming from a Sony PRS-300, I love the Kindle and I really like the lighted case... but I hate the Kindle fonts! I find the Sony fonts look much more like a real book. The Kindle serif font almost has a cartoonish feel to it.

Other than that (and the collections issue) I'm very happy with it!

[Harmon]

Originally Posted by AdrianM

Nope. They are fine for me where they are. But what I would have liked to see is back/next page buttons the same size and a way to swap the function of each and even turn off the ones I don't use. A pretty trivial thing to code I would have thought.

I was just thinking today that on the left side, I'd like the buttons reversed. But your proposal makes more sense, because it would allow both lefthanders and righthanders to tailor the positions, and also allow both buttons on each side to have the same function - i.e, right side buttons page forward, left side page back.

[Harmon]

Originally Posted by kwnewton

I love it when it works, but my Kindle 3 has had to be rebooted three times since Monday night when I got it. And it doesn't reboot unless I plug it in! I just sent Amazon a message. My K1 and K2 never had this problem.

Call them. It's much faster.

[Harmon]

Originally Posted by HarryT

You're not keeping it in a case???

Me, neither. I like my iPad caseless, and that's working the same for my K3. As it did for my Sonys and does for my iPhone.

I might be willing to try out a very thin rubberized case, for a more secure grip. But putting these devices in book-like cases makes them feel awkward to use, for me.

Hmm. Is there a word for when a word, like "awkward," looks like what it means? We have "onomatopoeia" for words that sound like what they mean...

[Harmon]

Originally Posted by kingduct

I'm with the crowd that prefers to use a device as designed. After all, what's the point of getting something that is light and easy to operate with one hand if I'm going to block some of that advantage by sticking it in a case?

(I do have a small bag I carry it in to keep it safe when not being read.)

So take that shocked emoticon off your face!

I have a Book Armor case I got for my Sony 505 which my K3 fits into. It works very well to transport the K3. If a BA case comes out for the K3, I'll probably get one, though, since it should fit in my coat & cargo pockets better.

[Kumabjorn]

Originally Posted by Harmon

Hmm. Is there a word for when a word, like "awkward," looks like what it means? We have "onomatopoeia" for words that sound like what they mean...

Mimesis?