Hacker News Board Hacker News, browsed like a classic message board
Live data from Hacker News

Apple and the Kindle

aaronsw.com

Post reply on HN
Print view View original

51–60 of 101 posts

Re: Apple and the Kindle

#51

Post by inflatablenerd »

subwindow wrote: post #39

So far I've had a pretty frustrating experience with the Kindle (Kindle 4 no keyboard, no touchscreen) from the get-go. Sure, the box was nice, but as soon as I powered it on it was frustrating. Since the Kindle was a gift, I had to enter in my Amazon account information before I could do anything else. Total buzzkill. I wanted to flip through a book and see what the screen was like and how it worked, but instead I h…

Well, compare that to unboxing an Apple product. Like an iPad. Instantly, you have to enter your Apple ID, regardless if you bought it yourself. The device is a brick until this happens. Then, once the set up is complete, the device has zero sample content on there. No music in the music app. No videos. No eBooks. Arguably, the only sample content they provide is web access.

Sound familiar?

Re: Apple and the Kindle

#52

Post by irons »

ConstantineXVI wrote: post #17
danso wrote: post #15

Earlier quoted context omitted.

So this "Special Offer" was a LivingSocial deal. I would agree with you but I looked over the email many times, and my own account page. There is not only no easily visible option to cancel, there is no email contact. I have to call to complain. Even more befuddling is that every Amazon purchase I have ever made has resulted in a confirmation email minutes after the purchase. This "Special Offer"'s confirmation came…

Amazon seems to delay the confirmations on some of their digital purchases; definitely MP3s and maybe video (IIRC). Believe at least in those cases, it's to make the CC processors happy (batching lots of small single purchases). Apple does the same thing for the iTunes/App store, though it seems to be on the scale of days instead of hours there. edit: to be clear, by "delay the confirmations" I meant to say "delay th…

Nothing makes CC processors happier than many tiny transactions. Apple and Amazon defer and batch transactions in order to save a fortune on transaction fees, which traditionally involve a fixed cost on the order of tens of cents, plus a much smaller percentage of the total. It's a huge bite of a ~$1 purchase.

Re: Apple and the Kindle

#53

Post by ConstantineXVI »

rryyan wrote: post #46
WalterBright wrote: post #43

Earlier quoted context omitted.

On the other hand, when you get a Kindle in the mail you don't have to connect it to a computer with iTunes on it to get it to work. I can also load books from my computer onto the Kindle using drag-and-drop without needing iTunes (or any Amazon software) installed.

Connecting with iTunes is actually no longer required for iOS devices starting with iOS 5. You can also add PDFs to iBooks on the device without iTunes -- not sure about epub files though.

The fun bit about Kindles being registered at the factory is that if you've ever bought a Kindle book before (on an old Kindle or an app) your books get pre-loaded as well. I wish they hadn't released a 3G-less model though; it's a major convenience boost (no need to even think about a network unless you're in a very remote bit of the country)

Re: Apple and the Kindle

#54

Post by davidw »

I love my Kindle. One of the best tech buys in recent memory. The thing I want to be able to do is share books with my wife as if they were 'real books'. In other words, one of us at a time gets a lock on it, but there's no time limit.

Re: Apple and the Kindle

#55

Post by slyall »

I wish they had the same "attention to detail" on their website. One reason I stopped buying from them was every time I went to the website I was bombarded for offers for Amazon Prime, Credits Cards, Free Shipping and other products.

The problem was that if I clicked on any of those offers the website would eventually work out I was a non-US user and tell me I wasn't eligible. But Amazon already knew that when they showed me the offers in the first place.

Any site that has 30% of their frontpage taunting me with cool stuff I can't buy obvious doesn't want me as a customer.

Re: Apple and the Kindle

#56

Post by ConstantineXVI »

irons wrote: post #52
ConstantineXVI wrote: post #17

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Amazon seems to delay the confirmations on some of their digital purchases; definitely MP3s and maybe video (IIRC). Believe at least in those cases, it's to make the CC processors happy (batching lots of small single purchases). Apple does the same thing for the iTunes/App store, though it seems to be on the scale of days instead of hours there. edit: to be clear, by "delay the confirmations" I meant to say "delay th…

Nothing makes CC processors happier than many tiny transactions. Apple and Amazon defer and batch transactions in order to save a fortune on transaction fees, which traditionally involve a fixed cost on the order of tens of cents, plus a much smaller percentage of the total. It's a huge bite of a ~$1 purchase.

What I meant to say. Way too long of a debugging session earlier...

Re: Apple and the Kindle

#57

Post by mih »

> small details that delight get buried under small details that annoy

Must point that even Apple software/hardware have their own trivial features that prove to be annoying for some users (remember no right-click anyone?).

Amazon has achieved a very usable device with the Kindle in such a short foray into consumer electronics, for which Apple has had around 3 decades of experience to build on. Here's to hoping attention to detail and UX takes giant strides at Amazon improving upon what is already a very good product.

Re: Apple and the Kindle

#59

Post by manojlds »

breck wrote: post #44
euroclydon wrote: post #20

Earlier quoted context omitted.

After reading ebooks on my iPhone and now iPad, I couldn't go back to the kindle. The UI was just so terrible and slow. I use white on black for night time reading, and can still fall asleep. Incidentally, this is the same reason I could only use Duck Duck Go for one day before going back to Google search. The Google search UI has just spoiled me with its responsiveness.

> The UI was just so terrible and slow. Have you tried the latest one? It's noticeably faster. Worth the $79. (And I'll get the touch screen as soon as it's available). > I use white on black for night time reading, and can still fall asleep. I've heard this from multiple people. I should try it. I read my Kindle on occasion for hours and hours. Not only does it not hurt my eyes, but it's so light. The iPad is quite…

> I really wonder if Apple will ever come out with an eInk screen. After reading how upset Jobs got over Android ripping off the iPhone, I kind of think that maybe they never will and that they'll just let Amazon have that market.

Are you saying that Apple came with iPod because no one had made an Mp3 player before?

Apple made iPhone because no one made a phone before?

Re: Apple and the Kindle

#60

Post by timdorr »

dfc wrote: post #12

I cannot highlight/annotate samples. I have a second generation kindle. Is this a new feature of the newer models?

Serious question: Why would you want to highlight or annotate a small sample of a book?
Post reply on HN