Live data from Hacker News

Voyage to Nowhere: The Amazon Kindle Story

cgpgrey.com

1–10 of 192 posts

Re: Voyage to Nowhere: The Amazon Kindle Story

#3
I really pity the author. He's lost the ability to enjoy a book and throws a fit when typesetting is flawed. A sure path to disappointment and unhappiness is to demand only "the best" in everything. He should just learn to read his books as they are.

Re: Voyage to Nowhere: The Amazon Kindle Story

#4
To be fair, I find it much easier to fall asleep after using my Kindle Paperwhite than I do with an iPad. But, virtually every aspect of the Kindle ecosystem user experience is an experience in mediocrity. In some respects, I feel like the company is like what you'd get if you crossed the worst aspects of Microsoft and Google.

(And apologies to my friends who work at Amazon, but let's be honest: you're all going to quit within a year or two to work somewhere that's less abusive of its employees.)

Re: Voyage to Nowhere: The Amazon Kindle Story

#5
post #3

I really pity the author. He's lost the ability to enjoy a book and throws a fit when typesetting is flawed. A sure path to disappointment and unhappiness is to demand only "the best" in everything. He should just learn to read his books as they are.

"Reading books is a large part of how I make a living."

Sounds like he spends a lot of time reading, and it's natural for minor annoyances to become like Chinese water torture when one does something often.

Re: Voyage to Nowhere: The Amazon Kindle Story

#6

To be fair, I find it much easier to fall asleep after using my Kindle Paperwhite than I do with an iPad. But, virtually every aspect of the Kindle ecosystem user experience is an experience in mediocrity. In some respects, I feel like the company is like what you'd get if you crossed the worst aspects of Microsoft and Google. (And apologies to my friends who work at Amazon, but let's be honest: you're all going to q…

I too fall asleep easier while reading on my Paperwhite. Rather annoying actually.

Re: Voyage to Nowhere: The Amazon Kindle Story

#7
To replicate the experience of the Kindle Voyage ‘button’ find an immovable surface in your house: a marble kitchen countertop will do. Place your thumb upon the surface, then press down – deforming your thumb.

Not pleasant, is it?

I don't follow. It feels like I'm pressing down on something.

Of all the things I can think of that would cause an RSI, pinching a pressure-sensitive button seems low on the list.

I also don't understand why, if the author loved his first kindle so much, he doesn't just keep using it. They release new ones frequently enough (and old ones keep working long enough) that you can skip several generations and pick out the revisions that you like most.

Re: Voyage to Nowhere: The Amazon Kindle Story

#8
Totally agree with this article, but I'm surprised he doesn't mention the train wreck of the touch screen on the Paperwhite.

For a start it's incredibly flaky. Sometimes the slightest accidental touch will cause it to jump randomly to somewhere in the book. Other times I can press it hard or rub furiously and still nothing happens. Then sometimes it will pause for a few seconds, then do something incomprehensible.

If it had simply retained touch for "go forward" and "go back" it would be acceptable, but it seems that the Sales Department insisted that the engineers overload it with extra features.

When I'm reading I'm constantly interrupted by the idiotic "change font" or "look up dictionary" or "take notes" function when I don't want them. It's infuriating.

And then when reading a Magazine, the actions change and suddenly there's a jump forward (or back) one chapter which causes you to completely loose your page.

I love my Kindle, but I hate the touch function.

Re: Voyage to Nowhere: The Amazon Kindle Story

#9

To be fair, I find it much easier to fall asleep after using my Kindle Paperwhite than I do with an iPad. But, virtually every aspect of the Kindle ecosystem user experience is an experience in mediocrity. In some respects, I feel like the company is like what you'd get if you crossed the worst aspects of Microsoft and Google. (And apologies to my friends who work at Amazon, but let's be honest: you're all going to q…

Haha your parentheses is what I hear every week since I came living at Seattle. Too bad for Amazon I suppose.
Post reply on HN