Voyage to Nowhere: The Amazon Kindle Story • Hacker News Board

Re: Voyage to Nowhere: The Amazon Kindle Story

#51

Post by delecti » Mon, Apr 13, 2015, 3:52 AM UTC

MBCook wrote: post #11

sliverstorm wrote: post #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 d…

I own a voyage, but can't come up with the answer to one simple question. In what way are those stupid little touch strips actually BETTER than real buttons? Since there's no actual physical feedback you can't tell how hard you have to press. They've tried to fix this by letting you set sensitivity levels, but that doesn't work great. Then I thought it would be a good idea to add a pager motor to fake physical feedba…

> The project doesn't feel like anyone who actually likes books is working on it. It doesn't feel like a passion, it feels like a terrible afterthought that people rotate in and out of making random changes to try and look like they did some management.

You couldn't imagine how right you are.

Re: Voyage to Nowhere: The Amazon Kindle Story

#52

Post by pinkunicorn » Mon, Apr 13, 2015, 3:57 AM UTC

" Since Amazon hasnt updated anything about their typography since 2009 I wouldn’t hold my breath."

That is actually not true - http://www.onemanandhisblog.com/archives/2015/01/bookerly_am...

Oh and this - "Speaking of highlights: Amazon has no graceful option to update books. Updating a book, in Amazon’s world, is the digital equivalent of handing you a new book, then burning your old one. Hope you didn’t have any notes or highlights in there." Hey that's actually not true. I beg the author to please provide examples and scenarios. Amazon goes to great lengths to not impact the reader by erasing their notes.

Re: Voyage to Nowhere: The Amazon Kindle Story

#53

Post by pookieinc » Mon, Apr 13, 2015, 3:59 AM UTC

AndrewUnmuted wrote: post #22

I had been planning to launch a big, public campaign about Kindle typography to try and get Amazon to change her ways. But I came to the conclusion: why bother? This is precisely the feeling I had right before I resigned from my position at Amazon. Though I worked at a subsidiary, not Amazon proper, the culture at Amazon everywhere can be absurdly stubborn. In the presence of a bad team, the "leadership principles" c…

I agree with this post, but not with regards to the Kindle, but more Amazon as an entity.

Also, perfect timing to read this article, after just purchasing a Kindle Paperwhite and having it for a few weeks now.

As a casual reader, I find the Kindle Paperwhite as the perfect medium for my reading needs. I can hold it in one hand, I can read it any time of the day with adjustable brightness, and the e-ink is very clear and the font is fine. With respect to the article, I don't think the typical person cares much for typography, as long as it can be read and understood. The justification notion, I would argue that the typical user may not notice it as much as the hardcore reader. This is where I disagree with the parent post here, as in Amazon may understand "the customer" in this particular case, or at least the majority. Everyone who I've come across absolutely loves, and heavily uses, their Kindle(s). Some people even collect them! All reviews love them and it's a great experience.

The point of the article: Now, I'm all for making the Kindle the best reading device ever by adding all these cool features (justification, typography, different modes for different things like iBooks, etc.), but instead of targeting the Kindle as being deficient for most users, the article is targeting Amazon more so for it's lack of pushing the product to all it can be and I think this can be extracted toward larger companies doing what they can to push the envelope with their product. This is where I agree with the parent post, Amazon seems to be lacking in this area. The blogpost written and the parent post both point to deficiencies in how Amazon looks to their customers and pushes their products to the best they can be.

Re: Voyage to Nowhere: The Amazon Kindle Story

#54

Post by WalterBright » Mon, Apr 13, 2015, 4:12 AM UTC

pnathan wrote: post #35

WalterBright wrote: post #30

I was fortunate enough to get a Kindle DX. It's the best of the Kindles. The second best is the Kindle 3. I have some other Kindles, but I always go back to the DX and the 3. No, I don't like touch screens. The buttons are much better. The Kindle 3 nailed it. The only thing it is missing is a backlight.

The Kindle DX is a great device. I have one; it's the Kindle made for serious readers. It needs overhauling and improving though. Sigh. I don't know of any good ereaders through.

I'd buy a new DX if it had: 1. a higher res screen 2. a glow screen 3. the screen saver was my last page read

but if they make it a touch screen and take the buttons away, no, I'll stick with the old DX.

Re: Voyage to Nowhere: The Amazon Kindle Story

#55

Post by hysan » Mon, Apr 13, 2015, 4:18 AM UTC

pinkunicorn wrote: post #52

" Since Amazon hasnt updated anything about their typography since 2009 I wouldn’t hold my breath." That is actually not true - http://www.onemanandhisblog.com/archives/2015/01/bookerly_am... Oh and this - "Speaking of highlights: Amazon has no graceful option to update books. Updating a book, in Amazon’s world, is the digital equivalent of handing you a new book, then burning your old one. Hope you didn’t have any n…

It could have been true at the time of the post though. You can't tell from the post, but the article was put up on Dec. 15, 2014 so writing occurred before then (I have his blog in my rss reader). The Bookerly font, from my short searching, was released that same month on limited devices and was not pushed out to the Voyage until January (time of your linked post).

Re: Voyage to Nowhere: The Amazon Kindle Story

#56

Post by hackles_raised » Mon, Apr 13, 2015, 4:19 AM UTC

AndrewUnmuted wrote: post #22

I had been planning to launch a big, public campaign about Kindle typography to try and get Amazon to change her ways. But I came to the conclusion: why bother? This is precisely the feeling I had right before I resigned from my position at Amazon. Though I worked at a subsidiary, not Amazon proper, the culture at Amazon everywhere can be absurdly stubborn. In the presence of a bad team, the "leadership principles" c…

Disagree but commit. Idiots.

Re: Voyage to Nowhere: The Amazon Kindle Story

#57

Post by dotBen » Mon, Apr 13, 2015, 4:22 AM UTC

aaronbrethorst wrote: post #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 q…

Why would Amazon want to help you fall asleep while reading a book. More awake time, more books read, more $$$ :)

Mostly a tongue-in-cheek comment but somewhere deep in the halls of Amazon I bet that discussion was had...

Re: Voyage to Nowhere: The Amazon Kindle Story

#58

Post by hysan » Mon, Apr 13, 2015, 4:45 AM UTC

jccalhoun wrote: post #47

He mentions lack of including any allegedly dyslexic-friendly font as one strike against Kindles. I thought that there wasn't actually a lot of evidence those work: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dyslexie I hate justified margins though so that's reason enough not to be happy with Kindles.

I've read through that study before when I was reading about fonts for dyslexics a long time ago. The study didn't come to any conclusion and even states itself that the same size was too small and further studies needed to be done. Specifically, some major points where the study needs to be more robust are:

  1. font comparisons
  2. age range (university students were tested, but these fonts will most likely have the greatest effect on younger people who have not learned to adapt to being dyslexic)
  3. languages

Overall, there isn't evidence either way. But there is one thing that the studies consistently find, that the majority of dyslexics, both anecdotally and from the participant pool, have a favorable opinion of the font compared to normal ones. For that reason alone, I think it would be wise for Amazon to include such a font on the Kindle.

Re: Voyage to Nowhere: The Amazon Kindle Story

#59

Post by zetax123 » Mon, Apr 13, 2015, 4:49 AM UTC

  "Their Firephone is so terrible they literally can’t give it away"

Okay, fair enough -- it was a disastrous product.

  "and the existence of the Amazon Echo strains all reason."

Wait, what? How do you extend your hatred for typesetting and buttons on the Kindle to a product that has neither? At this point, you are just being presumptuous.

Re: Voyage to Nowhere: The Amazon Kindle Story

#60

Post by Zombieball » Mon, Apr 13, 2015, 5:04 AM UTC

hackles_raised wrote: post #56

AndrewUnmuted wrote: post #22

I had been planning to launch a big, public campaign about Kindle typography to try and get Amazon to change her ways. But I came to the conclusion: why bother? This is precisely the feeling I had right before I resigned from my position at Amazon. Though I worked at a subsidiary, not Amazon proper, the culture at Amazon everywhere can be absurdly stubborn. In the presence of a bad team, the "leadership principles" c…

Disagree but commit. Idiots.

"Leaders are obligated to respectfully challenge decisions when they disagree, even when doing so is uncomfortable or exhausting. Leaders have conviction and are tenacious. They do not compromise for the sake of social cohesion. Once a decision is determined, they commit wholly."

It's essentially saying fight for what you believe is right, but if the group decides an alternative approach don't sabotage the project from the inside because your ideas were not chosen just so you can say "A ha! Told you!"

I don't buy into most of the Amazon dogma (I currently work at Amazon). But I don't think the lesson behind this leadership principle is idiotic.