Slashdot Mirror
Hands-On With The Kindle
Amazon's Kindle e-book may have sold out in record time, but there's still a lot of discussion about the device's merits. Neil Gaiman likes it well enough, but it's sent Robert Scoble into a fit of apoplectic rage. For a real, meaty, hands-on look at the way the device operates in everyday life, Gamers With Jobs writer Julian Murdoch has a slice of life with the Kindle. He takes us through his Thanksgiving holiday weekend with the device, noting the quirks (good and bad) that cropped up with Amazon's new toy. "Short of reading in the tub, the Kindle is easier to read in more places, positions, and situations than a physical book ... But it's far from perfect. It is expensive. The cover, which I find completely necessary, is in desperate need of more secure attachment (Velcro works great). The book selection is less-than-perfect, although I imagine this will improve with every passing day. And Amazon needs marketing help. The Kindle's launch reeked of 'get it out fast.' The big-picture marketing efforts (like video demonstrations and blurbs from authors) were great, but simple things like communicating how freakin' easy it is to get non-Amazon content on to the device, for free, remain horribly misunderstood."
Ah, so it's more Kindle-ing for the e-book's fire, eh? OW OW OWWW! No hard fruits! *Watermelowned*
Demented But Determined.
But it's a 14 minute video! Linked from the front page of Slashdot!!
Oh my.
No folly is more costly than the folly of intolerant idealism. - Winston Churchill
I think the Kindle will be to traditional books as this device is to walking.
Inventor of the LOLbalrog meme.
This just in, Gutenberg wins again!
http://greenobyl.com/ please.... think of the children!!
Unless its porn. Porn works better as video than text.
That's like saying you won't drive a car because you like the smell of a horse's ass.
A slashdotter who didn't build his own computer is like a Jedi who didn't build his own lightsaber.
My biggest problem E-books is how easy they are (the DRMed ones) to centrally control. The Ministry of Truth was an expensive operation, what with collecting, incinerating, and reprinting books they wanted to change. E-books can be "updated" at the push of a button. WORM media and the kind of widespread copying publishers hate are our weapons against the rise of the Ministry of Truth.
Amazon is touting this as the iPod of e-book readers ... it's actually the Zune of e-book readers.
http://rocknerd.co.uk
- My paperbacks don't cause radio interference with my speakers
- Zoom is really intuitive - just hold the book closer and closer
- My favorite popup books are 3D. The Kindle won't do 3D for another 10 years.
- I actually like the color Best Buy ads when I read a newspaper since I'm a gadget freak
- I can use crappy books for kindling. The Kindle just doesn't live up to its name in this regard.
- While on the subject of fire, blasphemous book burnings are way cooler than blasphemous ebook deletions.