So, everyone has a fire under their keyboards just before thanksgiving because of the announcement of the kindle. Unfortunately, I do not have high hopes for it. Why? Well:
- Too many hidden fees. There are just too many hidden subscription fees for blogs, books, newspapers and web access.
And with a cellular fee on top of that,customers are going to end up having one for a month, finding out how much it really costs, and returning it or never using it again. Let's hope the e-book market does not get to two-year contracts like the cellular market. - The OLPC has so many more features and can read books for free from Project Gutenberg. Oh, and it costs half of what the kindle does, if they ever sell them seperately. Add in the fees mentioned above and the fact that it has a mode designed specifically for reading and you have what the kindle should have been. Too bad that it's been fraught with problems.
- It is not being marketed as just an e-book reader, it has to do everything else. The keyboard seems clunky and is relatively useless for actually reading books. Honestly, it looks more like a pocket microfilm reader than an internet book-and-what-have-you reader.
Amazon is probably hoping that the kindle will be the new iPod and revolutionize the market. But the original iPod actually pioneered things like the click wheel, and adhered to Apple's standard for usability. What's the kindle got in that respect? A QWERTY keyboard with no spacebar in the middle, and will not be used for reading. Amazon, it's not just the revolutionary new market, you have to make it easy to use.
EDIT: I am sorry, there is no cellular data fee. I suspect it may be included in the $400.
Technorati Tags: Amazon Kindle, Apple, Usability
3 comments:
The display technology is the key feature. Called e-ink or electronic paper, it displays more like printed pages, can be read in sunlight, has 180 degree viewing angle, uses low power, and needs no power to maintain the display, which makes it better for reading long books than LCD. Check out eink.com for information about the technology.
P.S. I believe Apple lost a patent infringement case on the click wheel to Creative Technology. I believe Apple paid about $120 million to settle.
The OLPC also has a no-backlight low power LCD on it that can be read in the sun, but it is still an LCD.
Someone should try putting someone that gets a headache from looking at LCDs (like my mother) and get them to read a book on the Kindle.
Looks like a pocket refrigerator. Hate the keyboard.
For my liking, a thing like this needs to have a keyboard (with decent buttons. I mean, really! Diagonal? Come on!) and which folds or slides away out of sight of the screen (something like some mobile phones do) so that the only things visible are the words--you know, like a book!
It should also have a screensize redolent of a paperback (full page).
Post a Comment