Kindle – First Impressions
Its been sunny lately. I know, it’s summer – but living in England, summer and sunshine are not necessarily a guaranteed double act. Recently however, it has been beautiful.
I’ve been trying to read outside using my iPad – in the garden, at the beach, cafes – no chance. The beautiful screen is a nightmare in bright conditions and basically turns your iPad into a very expensive mirror.
Amazon recently dropped the price of its Kindle and since most of my digital books are in the kindle app (iPhone/iPad), I decided to buy one to see how it would work. It arrived yesterday.
When you first get it out of the box, you notice the quality feel to the product. It is very thin, but has a nice weight to it. When you add the leather cover, it actually looks and feels like a small book.
The screen initially has instructions with how to switch the device on and it was so clear that I thought it was a laminated sticker that I needed to remove before use. And that really is the core to this device – the screen and e-Ink. It really is amazing. Clear and bright. Can be read in the brightest of sunshine. It is sharp – so sharp you think that the it may “burn” the screen.
It is not an iPad. It does not try to play videos or provide apps. I think that people tried to put the Kindle and the iPad in head to head comparisons in the past incorrectly – its in a different class of device. There is an “experimental” web browsing capability, but it’s not great. This device is for reading and it does that very well indeed.
On the downside, it is not intuitive. The basic navigation system (both software and hardware) are clunky in my opinion. The fact that it needs a user manual is evidence enough that the user experience could be improved. But as with all interfaces, you eventually learn them and it becomes less of an issue.
I am also impressed by the wireless capability of the Kindle. It connects via 3G for free. When you are on holiday in the south of France and need a new book – simply buy one via Amazon on the Kindle free of charge. Amazon is picking up the tab. What a great value add. The temptation must have been great to limit the connectivity to wifi – but they really made an exceptional decision to include global 3G access.
It is not expensive – about the equivalent of 12 hardback books. It can store far more than that and so consider how much lighter your holiday packing will be.
Although I was reluctant to buy yet another gadget (well not really – just added that in case my wife was reading this), I am glad that I did. The Kindle will come on holiday with me. When we go to the beach it will be in my pack. It does not replace an iPad – but it does replace books. I can read outside again.
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