I was looking forward to replacing my print subscription with something that was more convenient to read and didn't generate so much waste paper. In that sense, the Kindle edition of the Seattle Times succeeds. I found the delivery very prompt and you can't beat the convenience of getting the paper in bed on Sunday morning. I found the display on the Kindle sharper than the newsprint and easier on my eyes. It is nice not to have to wrestle with the big floppy sheets of a newspaper. Reading it on the bus would be a pleasure. I like not having to hunt for the continuation of the stories on inside pages.
BUT...just too much useful content is missing. Here is a list of content I found in my print edition but not in the Kindle edition:
- Maps, charts, statistics boxes. A story on home sales/prices was crippled by not having the charts to illustrate it. A map can be critical to understanding where a news event occurred.
- Most of the photos and their captions.
- The "Newsline" and "Biz line" columns of shorter articles. As the print edition has shrunk, sometimes important stories can only be found there.
- Pacific and Parade magazines.
- Sidebars showing where to find follow-up information, ticket information, addresses, etc.
- Comics, puzzles.
- All sorts of useful sports information, anything that is not an "article": league standings, box scores, batting averages, line scores, the entire page of statistics from various sports.
- Sub-headlines and drop-quotes that give you a hint about whether you want to read an article.
- Weekly review.
- Weather.
- Letters to the editor.
- Movie show times.
- Stock listings, charts, other economic indicators.
- List of things open/closed during holiday.
- A handful of miscellaneous missing local news stories.
- Advertisements. In a local paper, ads can be an important source of information about new businesses and products, sales, movies and other arts performances, new property developments, etc.
All-in-all, I can't imagine subscribing to the current Kindle edition if I have the option of the printed edition.
