I haven’t written about the Kindle lately, but I have noticed some news and I found it interesting.
First I saw recently that a new, large format screen might be coming out soon. This is interesting, and it definitely goes for a different market than the original. And it likely doesn’t include me.
I do like the idea of a flexible membrane, and it would be nice at times to not be concerned about the glass screen of my Kindle cracking. However the large screen I think gets in the way more often than not if you’re not in your house.
If it can do wireless delivery, and it has some protection from liquids (think early morning coffee), then I think it’s a good idea, and it might get more people interested in e-reading.
I have enjoyed my Kindle, and over the last few months I’ve read:
There might be a few more, but these are the ones I’ve gone through this year for sure. I’ve purchased a few books, though I haven’t had much luck in getting publishers to send me Kindle versions of tech books. I also started War and Peace as my “classic” novel.
I still am working on 4 books at a time. I tend to read them as:
I try to read a chapter of each and then switch. It tends to keep me moving through dryer content. I will admit to sometimes reading 2 or 3 chapters of the fiction books at times.
I also saw a note that most Kindle users are old, which makes sense. Most people I know my age or younger tend to watch more interactive media instead of reading. Older people still lean towards reading, as a gross generalization. It’s also an expensive device, at $350, and while I think I save some $$, it’s more the convenience for me. to date I have purchased over 100 books in less than a year, and many of these for under $9.99. They were new books, typically in the $15-20 range for me, so I think I’ve saved money, plus I’ve carried along dozens of books as a travel. The convenience is great.
My kids enjoy it as well. I purchased Marley at karate one night for my 7 year old to read (along with The Jungle Book and a few others as samples), and my 10 year old will grab it to read some of the sci-fi that’s loaded on there. Things that wouldn’t be possible if I were carrying my current book or two around.
I also have found the battery life to be excellent. I read most days, but I plug it in only every 4th or 5th day with no issues.
I love my Kindle, but it uses an older e-ink technology that's a little slow and doesn't support color. Not big complaints from me and I don't mind the refresh time to flip pages, but it's something I've heard quite a few people complain about.
I saw this note that researchers have a faster e-ink that changes color quickly, and could lead to richer, better working displays.
One one hand I think that's great, but on the other I don't like the idea of using more power in the display. I assume color will do that, but I'm not sure I'd want to sacrifice the great battery life I get on the Kindle for color. Maybe in a different device.
However if you read more magazines, or even newspapers, I can really see where this would help. Having the ability to show color would really make the experience better, but it would have to be crisp, sharp colors. At least, IMHO, 65k colors, and 1024 type resolution. If it looks much worse than real paper, it won't really get people excited.
However for many things, perhaps even displays, signage (think menus at restaurants), this could prove very interesting. flyers, advertisements, bulletin boards, etc., all might possibly benefit. Maybe even with coupons personalized to you if you subscribe to services from local businesses.
