jkOnTheRun looks at the Amazon Kindle

The Amazon Kindle is not particularly new as there have been dedicated ebook readers for years.  What Amazon brings to the table is a huge marketing system that can possibly set the ebook market on fire.  My Kindle arrived today and I shot a 20+ minute video showing the reader and how it works.  You'll see the device and all its features and get a feel for how the Kindle feels when you use it.  I discuss something that I feel is a design flaw and show you why.  You'll even see how the web browser works, which is much better than I expected.  Have a look at the Kindle and see how it strikes you.

UPDATE:  The Double Cross book I mentioned is part of the great Alex Cross series of books and not the Alex Delaware as I stated.  I love the Delaware series too and must have had them on my mind.

Comments

[Rick Lobrecht]

Great video James. I'm with you on the buttons. Looks like a pretty poor design choice. I also read eBooks while falling asleep (on my WiMo phone) and wonder how the eInk tech would work for me.

[Matthew Miller (aka palmsolo)]

How does Google Reader look on the device? I would never pay for blogs, but Google Reader or Bloglines may be a good solution.

BTW, I just ordered one of the new Sony Readers to give it a try since I think the hardware looks better. It doesn't have the wireless capability, but if I just want to try an eInk device for book reading and not for web surfing, etc.

[Anthony]

Is Wiki free to access? When you do get charged (because we all know you will) let us know how much. I actually like the idea of them charging you per usage instead of making you pay a monthly fee if you want to do web surfing because if I do surf the web with it it will be limited.

I get mine tomorrow and I can't wait. It'll be my first ebook reader so I'm hoping I'll enjoy it even though it has gotten a lot of skepticism.

[Scotty]

I discovered two more things about mine today.

Putting it in the provided case (which is the same as the $25 case, so that one is going back...) helps with the button problems when you have it folded over backwards and held closed there with the elastic strap.

However, I discovered much to my surprise that the main clip that holds the case to the Kindle engages the Kindle on it's removable cover plate. On the bus ride home today the back cover came loose from the Kindle and the Kindle slid out into my hands! Oops!

I tried emailing my Kindle a Baen .prc file tonight and now several hours later it still hasn't arrived. Which then got me to wondering how in-secure the email delivery system is. What if someone decided to start emailing advertising to Kindles???

If anyone is interested in learning more about what is inside the Kindle the 32 page legal notices feature is chock full of little nuggets about what open source software went into creating the Kindle.

I haven't seen any pointers as to where to find the source for the Kindle. Sony puts up the source for its Reader's software releases the day the binary ships. The notices indicate Busy Box is present in the Kindle, which is the same software that won the "honor" of being the first legal test of the need to post open source to be in compliance with its license in the USA.

Maybe its at the end of the 32 pages of 8 pt text, I confess I haven't made it to the end yet. :-P

[Scotty]

Holy empty battery Batman! I discovered last night that while I was recumbent in bed my Kindle had to be in the upright and erect position or it had no signal with Sprint.

Just before I fell asleep I set it aside on my bed side table and when I got up this morning the battery was flat. No signal means no battery in very rapid order it seems. :-(

[BlindReader]

James... Thank you for getting your hands on one of these and providing us with such a thorough look so soon. All the quality that we've come to expect.

My concern about these devices is how comfortable they are to read on. I was an early adopter of the Sony line, and ended up feeling like reading on the devices for many hours a week became very uncomfortable. In the real world I prefer to read a full-size hard cover book rather than a reduced size paper back. FOR ME, using these readers is a lot like trying to use an OQO as my primary computer. I could, and I wouldn't enjoy it for any serious duration.

Remember, you're an early adopter too. It's OK to make a stink in your pants if/when Amazon lops a third of the price off in a couple of months (or weeks), but that's NOT something we want to hear about.

[Gordon]

So far I'm digging it...But yeah I wish they had set the buttons back. No one is going to be able to make a snug case for it and, as you said, it's very easy to hit them accidentally.

[Mike Cane]

I had to stop watching about ten seconds in. That self-satisfied grin is too much to take!!!

What a fiend!!

(I'll come back later after I've downed some tranks...)

[James Kendrick]

My fiendetry is being honed to a fine edge.

[Mike Cane]

Man, I cannot deal with this at home. DLed the FLV, converted it to AVI, and plopped it on the SD in my LifeDrive. I will watch it on tonight's ferry trip. This way, I can just jump overboard if need be.

But death won't release you, jk! I'll haunt you!! Bwahahahaha!

[Anthony]

Can someone please explain to me how the page numbers work? I don't understand it it says like 2071-89, then 109-13. I have no idea how to tell how many pages I've read or what page of the book I am on.

[Scotty]

Location codes are only useful for communicating an absolute position inside Kindle content.

They are useful though, I used them this morning to report a Kindle crash that occurred whilst reading a Kindle ebook purchased from Amazon.

I did discover the Kindle is like a cat. If it has an accident it pretends like nothing happened. :-)

[Anthony]

I haven't had a crash yet. Hope that isn't common.

The side buttons aren't a problem for me when reading, and I read with it in the case all the time. Haven't taken it out yet. However I do have a problem with them being hit when the case is shut and I'm either carrying it or it's in a bag or something.

Is there any way to lock all keys so that I don't have to turn it off every time I'm done with it.

[Mike Cane]

Well, I'm glad I had no desire to buy one. Seeing that video confirmed to me that it really can't be held like a *book* with all that damned buttonage all over the place (hey, they missed the back!!).

Yeah, the wireless is a nice feature and not needing a PC will appeal to some people. But I think all of you using it to access the web are going to be in for shocks. You'll wind up with charges.

I'll keep my Sony Reader lust, thank you.

[Mike Cane]

Oh yeah, one more thing (the Colombo Moment!) -- the Kindle uses the *original* version of eInk, not the improved VizPlex the latest Sony Reader has. Believe me, there is a difference between the two! It should be renamed the the KinDULL for that.

[Doug Carmichael]

Is there a way to get the evdo signal when i am out of normal cell range? I recall somewhere here a note abut being able to add a piece of hardware to the dsl router that put out a cellphone signal. Would that work?

[James Kendrick]

No, you must have signal coverage to use this.

[Mike Cane]

BTW, Sony did the Kindle first:

http://www.makezine.com/extras/50.html

See all those buttons?

And this was in gadget-mad Japan.

FAIL!

[Doug Carmichael]

Can the Kindle books be downloaded to the pc and then to usb to the kindle? Can i interact with for example wiki with the usb connected to the PC?

[Doug Carmichael]

James isn't there some device that allows the cell service to come in over the DSL and be picked up by a cell phone - and hence by Kindle?

[Mike Cane]

epub is the future. Kindle can't do epub.

http://idpf.org/