184 of 194 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
Formatting needs work, November 8, 2008
This review is from: Asimov's Science Fiction (Kindle Edition)
I've read Asimov's for years, and when I saw it available for the Kindle, I returned to my favorite source of short fiction. What an appropriate setting for a science fiction magazine.
I knew that in going to the digital version, I would loose the wonderful artwork that frequently graces the pages of Asimov's. What I didn't expect was the poor formatting of the content. The text runs continuous through each edition, with no page breaks. The end of each article has a link to take you back to the table of contents, but otherwise, one line down brings you to the next item in the magazine. I'd appreciate page breaks at the end of each article or story -- something to bring some mental closure before being jolted immediately into the next.
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113 of 120 people found the following review helpful:
3.0 out of 5 stars
Good Magazine, Terrible Formatting for Kindle, April 20, 2009
This review is from: Asimov's Science Fiction (Kindle Edition)
This is a very good magazine. But, as another reviewer has said, there is no advantage taken of any of the Kindle's features here. There are no links to a Table of Contents, and, there is no way to navigate the issue easily.
This might seem like a minor annoyance. But, if you don't create a "note" immediately to the first page, you will need to page back, page back, page back, etc. to get back to the first page. It becomes a pretty big hassle navigating if you don't create a note on page one immediately, before reading any further. There is a "Contents" page on page one, with links... But, you need to craft your own link to it.
That's just how periodicals are on Kindle; if the publisher takes no care to format the issue, it is essentially a flat core dump of text.
It is a pity that the publisher of Asimov's didn't put at least a tiny bit of effort into formatting this to be user-friendly.
You do pay a premium for a format that is greener; and it must cost less for them to produce. Yet, you don't get anything in the Kindle edition (as of this writing anyway) that takes advantage of the fact that this is a digital medium.
I want to give this full marks, but this is not a great effort on formatting for us!
But, you do get the convenience of portability. Just remember though -- it is not a magazine that puts any thought into the medium...
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155 of 168 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
What is up with the Kindle Price???, May 7, 2008
This review is from: Asimov's Science Fiction (Kindle Edition)
I just wonder why the print version on this magazine is $3 less per year than the kindle version?
Seems a bit odd to me. Doesn't the Kindle eliminate the need to print and mail this?
Once it is lowered in price, I am all over it.
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