I just received my Kindle 2 in the mail last Friday and spent a portion of the weekend experimenting with the device. A brief review follows.
Kindle 2 Design and User Interface
In some aspects, the new Kindle is an improvement over the old one. It is thinner, fits the hand better, and does not encourage unintended page turns like the old one did. However, Amazon has introduced two new problems that were not issues with the first version of the Kindle:
- The battery is not user-replaceable (although there are already posts on the web explaining how to do it, anyway.)
- Amazon removed the SD card slot, so there is no way to increase or swap out the storage.
Amazon says the lack of a user-replaceable battery is a result of the new, slimmer form factor. Fair enough. The second issue, however, appears to be a concession to publishers who do not want you to be able to share content with your friends, even if the restriction prevents you from sharing content that is copyright free, or of your own creation. It may also be an attempt to further tether users to Amazon’s online services–such as its online store of content you have purchased. (Personally, I think publishers will eventually figure out new business models that do not require digital rights management (DRM) schemes and crippled hardware–or they will go out of business.) Whatever the motivation, the lack of expandable storage does not serve users well.
Two other minor issues: my Kindle already looks grungy, because the white plastic surrounding the screen picks up dirt and fingerprints easily, and it does not come clean with water. If, like me, you are inclined to do all the things with your Kindle that you do with your books (eat, sleep, throw them in a bag with other stuff of questionable cleanliness), the device is going to loose its tidy look fast. In addition, screen updates are slow and involve flashing that can be annoying at times.
Kindle 2 Software
The Kindle 2 software is, well, odd. It uses the physical hardware (the little, square button which Amazon calls the five-way controller and the delete button) in ways that will be unfamiliar to most users. Further, it is annoying and slow to use the controller move to the links in a page, or to select text for an clipping. A better selection method is needed. (I’m looking forward to a touch screen Kindle, but the current E-Ink technology cannot support touch input without a loss of sharpness. This problem is likely to be solved in the near future.) This problem is more likely to be an issue for most users when reading blogs and newspapers, which tend to be sprinkled with links, than it is likely to be an issue when reading books.
This brings me to another issue: the web browsing experience is poor. JavaScript, flash, and other plug-ins are not supported, breaking many pages. The screen flashing is annoying, screen updates are slow, and, of course, there is no color.
One feature I like very much is the ability to change the font size of any content. When my eyes are tired, I particularly appreciate this feature, and it is an advantage not offered by any books I own.
Kindle 2 as a Service
The Whispernet service that allows you to find, purchase, and download content directly to your Kindle works well. To my mind, this service is the primary reason to purchase a Kindle–especially if you travel and do not like to be caught without a book. This service will only get better if Amazon follows through on its plans to make your purchased content available on other devices, such as the iPhone. The idea is that you will be able to read a book on the Kindle, put it down, pick up your phone, and continue to read the same book at the place where you left off. That would be a high value service for me.
Data Formats and DRM
You can put new, personal content on the Kindle by e-mailing a file of a supported format (HTML, Word, PDF, GIF, or JPEG) to the Kindle at its individual e-mail address. (What exactly, besides the need to guess my e-mail address, prevents my Kindle from being spammed with unwanted files, I wonder?) Personal files, however, are not backed up by Amazon, so back them up before you put them on the Kindle. Text files are converted to Amazon’s proprietary format, sometimes incorrectly. More work is needed on that process. A large but simple word file I tried didn’t convert cleanly. I would rather that my content were not converted at all, but supported in its original format. Worse, some of the content I’ve downloaded from Amazon has suffered from the same conversion problem I saw with my own file: indented paragraphs result in lines that extend beyond the right edge of the screen and cannot be read. This is unacceptable in purchased content.
Of course, all the copyrighted material downloaded from Amazon is in a proprietary format with DRM. Thus, it is not usable on any device not supported by Amazon. Interestingly, you can download a copies of your purchased files to your PC, from Amazon’s “Manage Your Kindle” web page. But you cannot choose a non-proprietary format. I’m guessing this means there will eventually be an Amazon reader for your PC. But it could be intended just for back-up.
Tim O’Reilly, of O’Reilly Media, has pointed out another problem with the Kindle’s proprietary format. It does not support the complex formatting required by many technical books, including tables and monospace fonts for code examples. As a result, many of O’Reilly’s books are not available on the Kindle. All O’Reilly books are available in the open, ePub format on the iPhone and other devices. Presumably, this formatting restriction applies to other technical publishers as well, whether or not they are inclined to support an open format.
Conclusions
The Kindle is a very useful device for reading non-technical content such as novels, particularly when traveling in the United States. The screen is sharp and the reading experience is comfortable. It is also a means of acquiring the latest bestseller at a reduced cost. It is not a good device for reading technical material, because of the restrictions imposed by its proprietary format. Nor does it support blogs, newspapers, or other highly linked content well, because of the limitatations of its browser and its awkward page navigation.