Aaron! Font size! Bigger!
iPhone and double tap font. There's something amusing about reading this particular article on an iPhone more easily than on a computer. Your right, it reads terribly on the desktop computer next to me.
Apple and the Kindle
61–70 of 101 posts
Re: Apple and the Kindle
#62> Or (and this is incredibly aggravating) when you select a word in the Kindle, depending on how common a word it is, the option that comes up highlighted by default is either “full definition” or “start highlight”. Since e-ink’s refresh rate is so slow, you typically don’t see what’s actually come up until you’ve pressed the button for the second time. So I often “double click” on words to highlight them, but some p…
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.
I guess the difference for me is that UI speed just seems irrelevant. 99% of my interaction is page forward or back, which is fast enough.
Re: Apple and the Kindle
#63"And this is all before I’ve even got to the disastrous incompatibilities between the Kindle device, the Kindle for Mac app, the Kindle for iOS app, the Kindle Online Reader (read.amazon.com), and the kindle.amazon.com social network — all of which are full of gruesome interface annoyances of their own." I just bought a Kindle, and besides my first attempt at buying one resulted in returning it to Best Buy because of…
I'm 100% sure you can cancel whatever you accidentally ordered on Amazon.com. Just like One-click ordering, the point is to make a purchase easy and let only the people who don't want to go through with it cancel, not to bilk people out of money via misclicks.
I'm 100% sure you can cancel whatever you accidentally ordered on Amazon.com.
Amazon, in my experience, are very good with returns & customer service.
However, for the record of other readers, if you're in the EU, then you are legally entitled to a refund on anything you buy online within 7 days, even if you buy it non-accidentally and you've just changed your mind.
cf. http://ec.europa.eu/consumers/cons_int/safe_shop/dist_sell/i...
Re: Apple and the Kindle
#64I was a big fan of the original Kindle's wheel navigation. It just felt right, like a Model M keyboard.
Re: Apple and the Kindle
#65Earlier quoted context omitted.
> 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?
I guess I don't see how they could improve the Kindle drastically this late in the game.
The Kindle should be faster, lighter, and the UI should be a bit easier (but the touchscreen version due out at the end of the month could solve that already).
Amazon's already reduced it almost as much as can be. I feel like if Apple came out with an eInk reader it would be tough to be anything but a "me too" product. Perhaps they could do color eInk? I think it would take an advance like that to make it worthwhile.
Re: Apple and the Kindle
#66I 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?
Maybe you found that section particularly interesting and would like to look back at it later? Maybe you're reading the book for a class and instead of taking notes in the margin, you're taking notes on the Kindle.
I actually find myself highlighting stuff all the time. You can also see areas of the book that other people highlighted, which adds a kinda neat social aspect that isn't usually present in reading.
Re: Apple and the Kindle
#67> 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 atten…
Remember no right-click anyone?" I have yet to forget the right click and more importantly middle click...
Re: Apple and the Kindle
#68So 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…
"Unboxing" experiences with Apple products have become a religious experience for a reason
Really? Unboxing my Macbook Air cavalcade of annoyances. First wanting my address and phone number just to boot up, then having to create an Apple account and enter a credit card number just to download the latest updates to the software it ships with. How is that a religious experience?
Re: Apple and the Kindle
#69So 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…
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.
In an even nicer twist, when I upgraded to the latest model from my original Kindle, the new one showed up with all of my books already synced so I could literally just open the package, turn it on, and pick up right where I'd left off with the old one. This is pretty small and probably caused more by coincidence based on how the system works than actual intent but it impressed me a lot. I've been a big Kindle user since it came out though.
(FWIW, I use mine to buy books that I previously would've got in paperback form, allowing me to slowly begin the process of rebuilding my physical library by pruning out paperbacks and things I don't care much about in favor of high quality hardbacks.)
Re: Apple and the Kindle
#70Earlier quoted context omitted.
Are you inferring it's not possible to read material from a non-approved source on the iPad or iPhone? Because that's not the case. Neither is it the case with videos or music for that matter.
Nope, I know all of the above (have both devices). I would think that when the primary use-case is reading, then books are to e-readers what apps are to smartphones, and I'm not really a fan of the "single point of acquisition" model.
When the primary use case is reading, then books are to e-readers what music is to iPods.