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Voyage to Nowhere: The Amazon Kindle Story

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Re: Voyage to Nowhere: The Amazon Kindle Story

#131

Post by codfrantic »

WalterBright wrote: post #92
Derbasti wrote: post #67

After having owned three kindles, I have switched to a kobo about a year ago. The kobo has many of its own problems, but it gets the reading experience right: it uses (very un-aggressive) hyphenation, and the lock screen displays the book cover. I miss going on Amazon, clicking some button, and immediately start reading a new book. Now that's a multi step process that involves a computer and a DRM removal tool. But t…

> the lock screen displays the book cover. That's almost right. It should display the last page read!

It can do both, it's up to you.

Re: Voyage to Nowhere: The Amazon Kindle Story

#132

Post by equoid »

lmm wrote: post #104
cbsmith wrote: post #83

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> The justification notion, I would argue that the typical user may not notice it as much as the hardcore reader. The fact of the matter is it impacts all readers, whether they recognize it or not, and there is a reason the printing industry generally doesn't do it.

At what point would you acknowledge that maybe the large number of people who think they prefer full justification... actually prefer full justification?

Are there a "large number of people who think they prefer full justification"? Citation required. I think most people don't think about it.

Re: Voyage to Nowhere: The Amazon Kindle Story

#133

Post by cthalupa »

stupidcar wrote: post #97
cthalupa wrote: post #78

>and white light is the worst for reading in bed. It’s proven to keep you awake. This is not a great argument. First, because the Kindle allows you to dim the screen, and in fact, does so automatically in dark rooms. Pulling my Voyage out and comparing it to my screen with Flux, anecdotally, it looks to be producing less light than my laptop does. And what are the alternatives? Not lighting the kindle display, and ha…

It's not the luminance of the light that's a problem, it's the colour. White light contains a lot of blue, which is associated with melatonin suppression that in turn throws out sleeping patterns[1]. This problem remains even with very dim light sources. The alternative therefore is to use LEDs with a lower colour temperature[2], producing the kind of orange light associated with flames and traditional incandescent l…

While the colour is the main factor, the lux probably matters as well. Your article there specifically mentions eight lux, or twice the brightness of a night light. Would a faint light at four lux also have an affect? The articles don't seem clear.

I don't have a measurement handy for the lux on a kindle at the dimmest setting, nor can I find any details on if brighter lights have a more pronounced affect on melatonin suppression.

The thing is no matter what, this is still assuming that your preferred method of reading is the right one. Some people do not like the look of orange lights - personally I hate incandescents, and have been using CFLs and LEDs putting out white light for a long time now. Perhaps using said lighting directly inside the kindle looks particularly bad. Perhaps they assumed people want to stay awake while reading.

Making a design decision you don't agree with means they made a design decision you don't agree with - not that they don't care or are incompetent.

Re: Voyage to Nowhere: The Amazon Kindle Story

#135

Post by hyperbovine »

pookieinc wrote: post #53
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…

Exactly, Amazon understands and targets the majority, and they wind up very satisfied. This article lost me at "you’ll find hundreds and hundreds of people asking, begging for Amazon to change this." Ooh, hundreds! Amazon has manufactured at least 10 million kindles by now.

Re: Voyage to Nowhere: The Amazon Kindle Story

#136

Post by jkestner »

Question: why does the Voyage exist? After progressively getting the price down, a very Amazon thing to do, a high-end model seems un-Amazonian. Especially if it doesn't really meet the needs of serious readers. Did Amazon just see an unmet market at that price point? Curious as to when companies move upmarket with a product line - it's usually the other way around.

Re: Voyage to Nowhere: The Amazon Kindle Story

#138

Post by andrewla »

cwmma wrote: post #100

As a commuter the kindle paperwhite was such a step back, the removal of the side buttons effectively prevented you from reading it left handed, I find myself halving to turn the page with my nose if for some reason I have to hold on with my right hand while on the subway.

I've found that there are two things that let me use the Kindle Paperwhite left-handed -- one is that the "back" area of the screen is small, so pressing close to the center with my left thumb, once I've gotten used to the "sweet spot", is very reliable. The other is that it recognizes swiping gestures, so a small swipe with the thumb will also turn the page if my hand is in an awkward position.

That said, I would love to have the physical buttons back -- when the touch screen works, it is okay, but when it decides for some reason that I want to change my font size instead of turning the page, or just decides that I didn't press it, or turns the page twice when I think it didn't register my first touch, I get unaccountably mad.

Re: Voyage to Nowhere: The Amazon Kindle Story

#139

Post by plg »

I've been reading books on my iPad and it's fantastic. I recently switched to buying books from apple rather than from amazon and reading using iBooks. Again, fantastic. Great typesetting, great UI. Also I can share books with my family with Family iCloud sharing. I know there's a kindle version of this sort of thing but it seems like a hassle.
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