-
Hey, guest user. Hope you're enjoying NeoGAF! Have you considered registering for an account? Come join us and add your take to the daily discourse.
Amazon Kindle |OT| of eInk superiority
- Thread starter HiroProtagonist
- Start date
I have never used a Kindle. How well do you think the cheapest Kindle works for Seniors who have never really used a PC?
I'm wondering if the basic Kindle would be a good device for my grandmother. Seems like a nice device for reading and the adjustable font size seems pretty great for seniors. Also they seem to have a lot of free and cheap offers.
Is it easy access ones books? Pick up where you left off? Look at the available, free ebooks and 'purchase' those? Not accidentally purchase other books?
Would it be a good idea to have my grandmother use my amazon account (would be easier for me to make purchases and manage the account)? Or would there be any issues if e.g. I would at some point use Kindle myself (what about when someone picks up a kindle and wants to pick up reading where they left off, but someone else has recently read a different book on another device)?
Any issues specifically with the cheapest Kindle (navigating with the cursor)?
I'm wondering if the basic Kindle would be a good device for my grandmother. Seems like a nice device for reading and the adjustable font size seems pretty great for seniors. Also they seem to have a lot of free and cheap offers.
Is it easy access ones books? Pick up where you left off? Look at the available, free ebooks and 'purchase' those? Not accidentally purchase other books?
Would it be a good idea to have my grandmother use my amazon account (would be easier for me to make purchases and manage the account)? Or would there be any issues if e.g. I would at some point use Kindle myself (what about when someone picks up a kindle and wants to pick up reading where they left off, but someone else has recently read a different book on another device)?
Any issues specifically with the cheapest Kindle (navigating with the cursor)?
SquiddyCracker
Banned
$69 kindle:
It looks like it has buttons, but I don't think they're on the edge of the device.
That's a deal breaker.
Maklershed
Member
The toughest thing for a senior will be ordering the books - whether they do it on the PC and let it synch to their device or they purchase straight from the Kindle itself. And finding free books can be a challenge. Other than that though everything about the Kindle is simple and intuitive. The books synced to the kindle show up in a menu, its easy to click on what you want, your place in the book is kept at all time, you can have huge font sizes, the buttons are easy to use, etc etc
They are on the edge of the device. A button is directly beneath her thumbnail.
EDIT: Perhaps this will help ...
Necromanti
Member
So are the main differences between the $69 Kindle and the Paperwhite the inclusion of built-in lighting and a touch-only display versus buttons? Ugh. 
I really want a Paperwhite with buttons...
I really want a Paperwhite with buttons...blainethemono
Member
So are the main differences between the $69 Kindle and the Paperwhite the inclusion of built-in lighting and a touch-only display versus buttons? Ugh.
same here, I don't want a touch screen at all. I just need the lighted screen and page turn buttons. I don't know, I might get a paperwhite anyway but i'm still pretty happy with the kindle keyboard
SquiddyCracker
Banned
They are on the edge of the device. A button is directly beneath her thumbnail.
EDIT: Perhaps this will help ...
Then it's probably a buy.
Does this have the same screen as the backscreen lit big brother?
Maklershed
Member
Nope. No light and 167 PPI compared to 212 PPI. Also the screen is a tiny bit smaller.
VistraNorrez
Member
SquiddyCracker
Banned
What's with the obsession with buttons? I used to prefer my nook touch to my kindle touch because of the buttons on the nook, but in actual use, really not a big deal.
People just hate change!
Because you rest your thumb at the edge of the device, which makes skipping to the next page a really comfortable experience.
Sure, moving your thumb to the screen might work well, but I highly doubt it's as good as pressing down a side button.
As a current owner of a Nook Simple Touch, I'll say the bare minimum of effort for grazing the screen quickly becomes second nature. How on Earth did any of you handle reading paper books all these years, with the comparable orders of magnitude more effort that goes into actually turning pages?
Is it also easy to get purchased books to synch to the kindle?
Maklershed
Member
Oh yeah definitely. Nothing to it as a matter of fact. Just keep the wireless connection on (only problem with that is it will drain the batteries much faster) and the Kindle will synch automatically.
VistraNorrez
Member
As long as the wireless is on and connecting, syncing requires no thought.
SquiddyCracker
Banned
As a current owner of a Nook Simple Touch, I'll say the bare minimum of effort for grazing the screen quickly becomes second nature. How on Earth did any of you handle reading paper books all these years, with the comparable orders of magnitude more effort that goes into actually turning pages?
Bah, that's why I abandoned physical books!
Good to know. Thanks.
Now about that multi-user (for account) scenario:
VistraNorrez
Member
Your books sync across devices on an individual basis. A separate Kindle will not open up a book and display that one when it syncs. That is to say it will sync your version of The Sirens of Titan and prompt you if you want to go to the furthest page read, but it will not automatically open Cat's Cradle just because it was being read on another device.
chickdigger802
Banned
No big issue unless and your grandma read the same book.
so if I buy a new kindle, and hand my kindle 3 to my son, we can have separate libraries on the same account? eg I go to the website, buy 'ultra gore 5' and send it just to my kindle, and he'll never see it, and likewise I can send harry potter 8 to his kindle and it won't clutter up mine?
and if we access the kindle store directly from the kindles, they'll only download to that kindle?
VistraNorrez
Member
There should be an archive "folder" on each Kindle. You can choose which books to put on the Kindle.
The latest Kindles have Parental Controls:
The latest Kindles have Parental Controls:
chickdigger802
Banned
Yeah it should work pretty well, just make sure you don't buy too many erotic fictions on Amazon. Not too sure how parental controls work for archives.
Marty Chinn
Member
As far as I know, he can see what books are on the account. You can push a book to the Kindle so it's there, but I believe at all times you can obtain a list of all the books associated with the account so you can pull down books that aren't currently on the device.
chickdigger802
Banned
whelp just preordered a paperwhite.
lol I can never get the name right, always call them paperweight or paperlight lol.
lol I can never get the name right, always call them paperweight or paperlight lol.
source? everywhere I've seen says they are both 6" screens.
You can't import from amazon, they won't ship to the uk. You could go through a service, but then youre getting expensive. I don't think the delay will be as bad as the original touch.
Maklershed
Member
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B008GG93YE/?tag=neogaf0e-20
The chart at the bottom.
Paper white: 6.7" x 4.6" x 0.36"
$69 Kindle: 6.5" x 4.5" x 0.34"
EDIT: Ahh my bad ... I guess the entire unit itself is smaller but the screen is the same. Oops
Touché! I do appreciate having the option, and it was one of the few reasons I went with the Nook last year when upgrading from my first generation Kindle. I really haven't found myself making use of the physical buttons at all though - touch has worked great.Curious to see how the capactive touch implementation will work versus IR sensors. I read reports of the latter being imprecise or unreliable, but I haven't had such experiences. Since the touch screen is now capactive, I assume that means it won't work with gloved hands anymore. Bummer for anyone that utilized a Kindle Touch outdoors during the winter, hm?
CrunchinJelly
formerly cjelly
Bizarre how the UK misses out on the Paperwhite.
I might go with a Kobo Glo instead.
I might go with a Kobo Glo instead.
I was looking to buy from eBay. Quite a few sellers advertising already. Including quite a few how will be shipping from within the UK for around £117 which is less than £10 more than the UK Touch.
Not automatically. But brightness can be manually adjusted. It's shown in the Quick Tour video on http://www.amazon.com/Kindle-Paperwhite-3G/dp/B007OZNUCE
Palette Swap
Member
I'm in that boat. I was willing to import but since Amazon won't let me, I'll just buy a Kobo Glo.
Phantast2k
Member
I just found out that the Paperwhite doesn't have audio (at all). MP3, Audiobooks, read aloud: why would Amazon cut those features?
I love to turn out some white noise/ambient music to read to in noisy places. Now I have to drag along an mp3 player or drain my phone battery if I get the paperwhite
I love to turn out some white noise/ambient music to read to in noisy places. Now I have to drag along an mp3 player or drain my phone battery if I get the paperwhite
I just found out that the Paperwhite doesn't have audio (at all). MP3, Audiobooks, read aloud: why would Amazon cut those features?
I love to turn out some white noise/ambient music to read to in noisy places. Now I have to drag along an mp3 player or drain my phone battery if I get the paperwhite
It's called "target price engineering" - you strip out stuff most people don't use.
Maklershed
Member
I just found out that the Paperwhite doesn't have audio (at all). MP3, Audiobooks, read aloud: why would Amazon cut those features?
I love to turn out some white noise/ambient music to read to in noisy places. Now I have to drag along an mp3 player or drain my phone battery if I get the paperwhite
Ha I've had my kindle since 2010 or so and I had no idea it even played audio.
:/
Amazon just made a big deal about the new whispersync for audio and immersion reading for audiobook+text. They shouldn't have restricted that to the Kindle Fires
Phantast2k
Member
Yeah, I figured as much. However, their primary strategy is still to make you consume their media and these features mentioned above were helping with that.
Audible (Amazon subsidiary) audio books have special features on the kindle and are presented with a proper gui (unlike mp3s).
Amazon is supposed to operate like a console manufacturer to some degree because their main interest is not the margin they're selling the product at, but what they can sell you alongside that product. But I guess they're trying to go for both now.
This new range of Amazon products seemed awesome at first but turns sour pretty fast the more I learn about them. I will now most likely look elsewhere to replace my 3rd gen Kindle (to give it to my mom) and will certainly avoid their tablet offerings.
/edit
Then you chose your av wisely
(the mp3 playback is really barren, but functional)
Right on.
/typos²...agh, now it's no use
Maklershed
Member
how is the glo? I've got a bunch of books from amazon because its so easy to buy them from the web or device, plus being able to email to your kindle is useful. But I suppose calibre can get around the first problem, and I can either continue to buy books from amazon for my son (getting the hand me down kindle keyboard), or just switch to another store.
^ and why is Karl sitting on a giant oatmeal and raisin cookie?
CrunchinJelly
formerly cjelly
Glo isn't out until 1st October. Not sure if there are any hands-on impressions, but it'll be in WH Smith etc so at least you can poke around with it before purchase.
chickdigger802
Banned
Speaking of cut features, is it true kindle touch can't load up pictures and cbz files?
I guess it isn't harder to convert to mobi, but that kinda sucks.
Kindles are surprisingly good manga readers.
I guess it isn't harder to convert to mobi, but that kinda sucks.
Kindles are surprisingly good manga readers.
VistraNorrez
Member
The immersion reading is restricted but the whispersync for audio isn't. It's live right now actually.
don't the new ones have a panel-by-panel comic mode? Wonder if they have a new format that supports that, and manga can be converted?
chickdigger802
Banned
Think it was for Fire, google searching 'comics kindle touch' only lead me to posts about people being confused about why it isn't working as before.
does manga even have a real good legit distributor? i dont think it will be happening anytime soon until somene steps up with a comixology of manga to go by.
as for comics in general. i think the best way the kindle ca do it is with individual image files for each frame. and then after the last frame it can display the whole page. i think it would look great. it could also be the pre colored edition of the book that focus on shades and light. i was thinking of trying that myself with the digital edition of Conan that Brian Wood is currently writing.
UltimaKilo
Gold Member
Does anyone know how they've accomplished this? Is there new hardware in the product, or is it just a software update? If it's the latter, has it already been released and have any members actually seen the difference?
If it is software, will this affect the older K3?
They're too low res for that 800x600 is not enough. Kindle DX would be perfect, but it's expensive as hell and hasn't been updated since April 2010.