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(Another) Kindle 2 Review
I know what you’re thinking. The Kindle 2 Has been covered endlessly. And you’re right. It has.
But not by me.
I have a new manifesto of product purchasing. I used to research products into the ground. Was it too heavy? Too big? What about connectivity? Oh, and the reviews. Professional, consumer, it didn’t matter. I would scour the depths of avsforum.com and the vast plains of circuitcity.com for little snippets of information and other people’s thoughts, hoping to get a feel for something you simply can’t portray: personal experience.
This is not the way to do it. You’ll find that you can never be satisfied with anything if you know everything about it. Sometimes the joy you get out of a product is in the serendipity of finding a delicious little gem of a feature that you had no idea existed. The best way to get a sense of a product is to jump right in. Just make sure there’s a return policy.
So in following with my new manifesto, I heard the Kindle 2 came out. I knew people loved/hated the old one. I knew this one was better. I bought one.
With all that said, here’s what I think of the Kindle 2.
The Device
There’s very little not to like here. The device is solid and comfortable to hold. The buttons lie where they should, except for one: the Home button.
This isn’t a big deal, but if I could see how it might bother certain people. The size and shape of the Next/Previous buttons are the excact same on both sides of the device, but on the right, the Home button is where the Previous button should be. I don’t get it. Why not just put the Home button around the joystick with the other secondary functions?
Other than that the physical controls are decent. The keyboard is actually pretty good and it seems to kind of melt away when you’re reading. The joystick is common and easy to understand. The only niggle I have with any of the physical controls is the volume rocker. Quite honestly, I think mine is broken. The volume down control has a satisfying click-in, while the volume up doesn’t really move. In fact, it doesn’t depress at all, but still registers the command. Weird.
Overall though, very well designed.
Reading Experience
I got this e-letter that came on my Kindle 2. It was from Jeff Bezos. Here’s what he said towards the end of it.
“Our top design objective was for Kindle to disappear in your hands – to get out of the way –so you can enjoy your reading. We hope you’ll quickly forget you’re reading on an advanced wireless device and instead be transported into that mental realm readers love, where the outside wold dissolves, leaving only the authors stories, words, and ideas,”
If that was the top design objective, then Amazon has a long way to go. The device has yet to “disappear in my hands” during a reading session. Here’s why:
- A giant Kindle logo top dead center. All the time. Look, I know that its a Kindle. I don’t need to be reminded every time I turn a page. Leave it on the back where it belongs.
- Chrome. You’re constantly reminded that you’re reading on an electronic device because you’re always aware of the battery charge, WhisperNet connectivity, page location and pre-folded page dog ear (why is this even here?). Fade this stuff out. It has nothing to do with reading. You can let me know when the battery hits a low charge with a modal dialog and bring up the UI when I touch the joystick.
Anyway, let’s talk about the most important part. The screen is a good size for reading, and is remarkably strange. If you’re used to an iPhone the screen is going to throw you for a loop. There’ a 180º viewing angle. The tone of the background recalls the original GameBoy. It is slow (from what I understand it’s actually quite quicker to refresh a page than the last generation, but from a total outsider’s perspective it will feel slow). Also, the tone of the ‘ink’ is also a touch light for me. I’d like a little more contrast.
There is something magical about it though. The fact that you can change font size on the fly and hold it at any angle is extremely convenient. The imagery (despite being grayscale) is actually quite stunning. You can go on reading for much longer, and in most scenarios it’s quite a bit more convenient than a traditional book due to its diminutive size and massive storage capacity. And if you’ve never experienced it, quietly flipping pages with one hand is a godsend.
All the other stuff
Outside of the core reading experience, there’s a lot to like about the Kindle 2.
Hilighting and annotating is done as well as can be expected with that little nub, though the Kindle is screaming for a touchscreen. Can’t say enough about the dictionary either. What a perfect little feature. The web browser is, as expected, spartan. It can get the job done in a pinch if need-be.
Let’s be honest though, the killer app here is the Amazon Kindle store. It’s just as dangerous as the App Store is on the iPhone. Except that it might be better. You can sample the entire first chapter (and sometimes the forward) of any book that they offer in Kindle format. Think about that for a moment. That’s where you’re either hooked by the story or resigned. It’s quite simply, brilliant.
The other thing that happened recently is that Amazon revealed Kindle as a platform and released an iPhone/iPod Touch client. I’ll spare you the details. The important thing to note is that they have major plans for ebooks, and that for the moment, Apple (probably) does not. In fact it wouldn’t shock me if we saw an Apple netbook/tablet in the near future and that Amazon made a Kindle reader for that, too.
Now, if the Kindle had an API…
Wrapping it up
There’s definitely something here that I can’t portray. The device is far from perfect, but you get the same feeling holding it as you did the first time you experienced an iPod. It feels like something’s happening. Something that you want to be a part of. Something big.
Did I mention that Amazon has a good return policy?
