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on January 4, 2016
I broke my beloved kindle that I had for 4-5 years. So fear naught, I ordered the newest one.
Let's start off with the good points...
The lighted screen is really a plus. You can vary the light to meet your current conditions.
Touching a word and having a dictionary and wikipedia pop up is very nice.
The increased screen resolution was exceptionally nice.
And now for the downside(s):
The older kindle had a rough, almost rubberized case. It didn't slip, you had a good grip on the thing and didn't worry about it slipping through your fingers and on to the floor. This new one has a polished, hard-plastic case, read that it slips in my old fingers.
When it slips, you grab hold of it. When you grab hold of it, especially on the sides, it blindly launches your reading page into oblivion. You then get to find back where you left off. Very annoying.
Touching a word to get the dictionary, as I mentioned, is great. Except when it selects the whole sentence. That defeats the whole idea behind the dictionary as now you've highlighted that sentence. Annoying but something I can live with. Still, you would think that someone would have a better way to deal with this.
The web page for this goes into great detail about the features. In true marketing fashion, they don't tell you they've left out anything audio. No more text to speech, no more playing audio books. After looking at other kindle models, that's been gone for a while.
The first two problems, while a major annoyance, I can live with. Losing two important features, that was the show stopper.
So now I had to make a decision. Keep this thing and live with it or plunk down and buy the tablet. If I wanted a tablet, I would buy the tablet. So in order to get the audio features, I now have to take the charging stuff with me and Mr. Tablet has to constantly be friends with Mr. Charger. The whole idea behind a Kindle was the screen and the long battery life. I neither want nor need all the crap that goes with a tablet, but that's the only way I'm going to play an Audible audio book....
I just can't justify the cost of this thing without the features I want. Who takes features OUT of a product with newer models?
Hence I returned it and I'll try the stinking tablet. If, as i suspect, I can't stand that either, have no idea where/what I'm going to do.
Thanks Amazon.
Let's start off with the good points...
The lighted screen is really a plus. You can vary the light to meet your current conditions.
Touching a word and having a dictionary and wikipedia pop up is very nice.
The increased screen resolution was exceptionally nice.
And now for the downside(s):
The older kindle had a rough, almost rubberized case. It didn't slip, you had a good grip on the thing and didn't worry about it slipping through your fingers and on to the floor. This new one has a polished, hard-plastic case, read that it slips in my old fingers.
When it slips, you grab hold of it. When you grab hold of it, especially on the sides, it blindly launches your reading page into oblivion. You then get to find back where you left off. Very annoying.
Touching a word to get the dictionary, as I mentioned, is great. Except when it selects the whole sentence. That defeats the whole idea behind the dictionary as now you've highlighted that sentence. Annoying but something I can live with. Still, you would think that someone would have a better way to deal with this.
The web page for this goes into great detail about the features. In true marketing fashion, they don't tell you they've left out anything audio. No more text to speech, no more playing audio books. After looking at other kindle models, that's been gone for a while.
The first two problems, while a major annoyance, I can live with. Losing two important features, that was the show stopper.
So now I had to make a decision. Keep this thing and live with it or plunk down and buy the tablet. If I wanted a tablet, I would buy the tablet. So in order to get the audio features, I now have to take the charging stuff with me and Mr. Tablet has to constantly be friends with Mr. Charger. The whole idea behind a Kindle was the screen and the long battery life. I neither want nor need all the crap that goes with a tablet, but that's the only way I'm going to play an Audible audio book....
I just can't justify the cost of this thing without the features I want. Who takes features OUT of a product with newer models?
Hence I returned it and I'll try the stinking tablet. If, as i suspect, I can't stand that either, have no idea where/what I'm going to do.
Thanks Amazon.
on December 21, 2016
I wanted to love this. I stalked it for months on Amazon before finally purchasing it, but our love affair was short-lived. Once it was in my hands, I was just disappointed. Yes, it's great to read on. Yes, you can read outside. Yes, it's lightweight and just the right size. But, honestly, it's just kind of boring after reading on the Kindle Fire.
I like to tear through physical books with highlighters and a pencil in hand. I make notes in the margins. I highlight new vocabulary in orange and quotes I love in blue. I'm an active, over-zealous, go back through all the pages to re-read all the good parts, kind of reader! And that totally worked on the Kindle Fire. You can highlight in blue, yellow, pink AND orange on the FIRE. And you can EASILY make notes and get back to them quickly. You can even jump over to google and research a particular topic in a book that interests you before hopping back over to the next page.
And you just can't do that with this Kindle Paperwhite. There aren't any colored highlighter options, and there's no search engine either. It's so much like reading a physical book that, honestly, I prefer reading the actual physical book to reading this. If I'm going to take all the bells and whistles out of my reading, I might as well just read the actual novel so that I can enjoy the smell and feel of pages!
I like to tear through physical books with highlighters and a pencil in hand. I make notes in the margins. I highlight new vocabulary in orange and quotes I love in blue. I'm an active, over-zealous, go back through all the pages to re-read all the good parts, kind of reader! And that totally worked on the Kindle Fire. You can highlight in blue, yellow, pink AND orange on the FIRE. And you can EASILY make notes and get back to them quickly. You can even jump over to google and research a particular topic in a book that interests you before hopping back over to the next page.
And you just can't do that with this Kindle Paperwhite. There aren't any colored highlighter options, and there's no search engine either. It's so much like reading a physical book that, honestly, I prefer reading the actual physical book to reading this. If I'm going to take all the bells and whistles out of my reading, I might as well just read the actual novel so that I can enjoy the smell and feel of pages!
on October 12, 2015
I have the new paperwhite and love it. I just ordered one for my husband and the display is NOT the same. It does not have the vivid bright white background like mine does. It has a sepia background. This is with the brightness turned all the way up and it's on any page, in a book, home screen, etc. I asked for a replacement. I received it today and it's the exact same thing. I talked to the kindle tech person and he acted like he almost didn't believe me. I have taken pictures of both kindles side by side with my Paperwhite(that I've had for a few months), but he didn't want me to email them to him. Maybe they don't have a way to view an email? Not sure, but now they are sending me a 3rd one. 1 day shipping...which I appreciate greatly, as this was an anniversary gift for my husband. If the 3rd one is the same, then I give up and I'll just give my husband my paperwhite that does have the bright white background and I'll keep the defect one, even though it's not as easy on the eyes to read. I'm going to assume that for some reason, amazon is manufacturing kindle paperwhites without the bright white background anymore. I've included pictures of the 1st kindle I got him and the 2nd one. Both are beside my kindle and both brightnesses are turned all the way up. In the first pic, my kindle is on the left. In the 2nd pic, my kindle is on the right and you can see the brightness levels are exactly the same
on November 16, 2016
The most importantly, it is very easy with my eyes.
My eyes are comportable while i am reading.
Handy size so i can carry in my small bag with me and it is so light so i can read books When i lay in my bed.
It does not hurt my wrist.
It surprised me that it was automatically registered already. I don't know it was good or not but inconvenience for future when i wont use this anymore and i want to give this to someone later.
And,
When i tap ! It blinks totally black and white. The transition!
I have no idea how to explain this scene but this interrupts me and bothers me.
I thought it was something wrong with my kindle paperwhite. In fact, i watched some Youtube videoes and they showed same thing while they were reviewing about kindle, i found out it was normal thing.
Anyway, thank you for fast delivery cost for $12.99!
I couldnt wait for couples weeks for getting this so i rather paid for fast shipping lol lol
And i paid $20 more cuz i dod not want any Ads appear on my kindle so i got without special offer and i think it was right choice!
My eyes are comportable while i am reading.
Handy size so i can carry in my small bag with me and it is so light so i can read books When i lay in my bed.
It does not hurt my wrist.
It surprised me that it was automatically registered already. I don't know it was good or not but inconvenience for future when i wont use this anymore and i want to give this to someone later.
And,
When i tap ! It blinks totally black and white. The transition!
I have no idea how to explain this scene but this interrupts me and bothers me.
I thought it was something wrong with my kindle paperwhite. In fact, i watched some Youtube videoes and they showed same thing while they were reviewing about kindle, i found out it was normal thing.
Anyway, thank you for fast delivery cost for $12.99!
I couldnt wait for couples weeks for getting this so i rather paid for fast shipping lol lol
And i paid $20 more cuz i dod not want any Ads appear on my kindle so i got without special offer and i think it was right choice!
on July 10, 2017
Let me preface this by saving that this is my review on Amazon evahhh! I'm a Prime Member and their customer service is second to none. NOW on to the Kindle Paperwhite...
I have an iPad Air and LOVE it. I downloaded a ton books over the years and I rarely ended up reading them. Why? Size in my hands and the glare when reading outside. I took a chance and got the Kindle. Guess what? I'm reading all the time! I read at the beach. I read on the throne (TMI), and I even started reading when I go to bed (again after many years).
It takes a little getting used to regarding the navigation of the device but the helpful digital how-to booklet included got me on my way quickly. Honestly I really love this device. It's the perfect size in my hand, zero glare, lightweight but sturdy, great battery life, yada, yada, yada. I miss the colors of the iPad but there's also something old school and soulful having it be in black and white. I'll call it Digital Nostalgia, (I just made that up).
I read some reviews about the screen being beige, etc. Mine has none of that. It works great and I couldn't be happier. Highly recommend.
I have an iPad Air and LOVE it. I downloaded a ton books over the years and I rarely ended up reading them. Why? Size in my hands and the glare when reading outside. I took a chance and got the Kindle. Guess what? I'm reading all the time! I read at the beach. I read on the throne (TMI), and I even started reading when I go to bed (again after many years).
It takes a little getting used to regarding the navigation of the device but the helpful digital how-to booklet included got me on my way quickly. Honestly I really love this device. It's the perfect size in my hand, zero glare, lightweight but sturdy, great battery life, yada, yada, yada. I miss the colors of the iPad but there's also something old school and soulful having it be in black and white. I'll call it Digital Nostalgia, (I just made that up).
I read some reviews about the screen being beige, etc. Mine has none of that. It works great and I couldn't be happier. Highly recommend.
on February 25, 2016
My wife had the old Kindle Touch, but we traded it in and bought both the Kindle Voyage and the Kindle Paperwhite. She's an avid reader of novels (she'll read between 700 and 900 pages per week). This review will address the differences between the Voyage and the Paperwhite, and give her overall impression of both.
We did not buy the 3G capability, just simple Wifi.
The three main differences between the two are:
1. The Voyage has pressure sensitive page turning (give just a little squeeze on the frame to turn the page). Nice feature, but my wife finds that she use it that much. Perhaps it's just habit from reading so much on the old Kindle Touch, but she turns pages the old way (tapping the page). Still, on rare occasions where she has to read with only one hand free (holding a child in her lap for instance), she says it's a great feature to have and it works perfectly. The sensitivity of the button is adjustable, but she likes the default setting.
2. The Voyage has auto-lighting. This is nice, but my wife tends to disagree with the light settings it chooses. She prefers to set her own light level, and the manual setting works exactly like the Paperwhite.
3. The Voyage has its power button on the back, right near where her finger rests while she's reading. She loves this. The Paperwhite, on the other hand, has its power/sleep button on the bottom. It seems like a very small thing to mention, but my wife really strongly prefers to be able to put it to sleep with a tap of her finger instead of tilting it and finding the power/sleep button on the bottom.
Both e-readers are thinner and more lightweight than the old Kindle Touch, and my wife loves both of them. She slightly prefers the Voyage, but doesn't feel the difference is worth the $80 price difference. She really likes Amazon's Bookerly font, which is available on both. Both are equally easy to set up, the settings are easy to modify, they both hooked up to wifi quickly and easily, and neither shows any defect. Both are great e-readers, and my wife loves having two of them.
Additional note: We also bought inexpensive ($11-$15), black OMOTON cases for each, and both cases fit perfectly and line up properly with buttons/ports. These cases are very thin and light, provide good protection, and put the e-readers to sleep when you close them, and wake when you open them. She recommends those cases highly.
We did not buy the 3G capability, just simple Wifi.
The three main differences between the two are:
1. The Voyage has pressure sensitive page turning (give just a little squeeze on the frame to turn the page). Nice feature, but my wife finds that she use it that much. Perhaps it's just habit from reading so much on the old Kindle Touch, but she turns pages the old way (tapping the page). Still, on rare occasions where she has to read with only one hand free (holding a child in her lap for instance), she says it's a great feature to have and it works perfectly. The sensitivity of the button is adjustable, but she likes the default setting.
2. The Voyage has auto-lighting. This is nice, but my wife tends to disagree with the light settings it chooses. She prefers to set her own light level, and the manual setting works exactly like the Paperwhite.
3. The Voyage has its power button on the back, right near where her finger rests while she's reading. She loves this. The Paperwhite, on the other hand, has its power/sleep button on the bottom. It seems like a very small thing to mention, but my wife really strongly prefers to be able to put it to sleep with a tap of her finger instead of tilting it and finding the power/sleep button on the bottom.
Both e-readers are thinner and more lightweight than the old Kindle Touch, and my wife loves both of them. She slightly prefers the Voyage, but doesn't feel the difference is worth the $80 price difference. She really likes Amazon's Bookerly font, which is available on both. Both are equally easy to set up, the settings are easy to modify, they both hooked up to wifi quickly and easily, and neither shows any defect. Both are great e-readers, and my wife loves having two of them.
Additional note: We also bought inexpensive ($11-$15), black OMOTON cases for each, and both cases fit perfectly and line up properly with buttons/ports. These cases are very thin and light, provide good protection, and put the e-readers to sleep when you close them, and wake when you open them. She recommends those cases highly.
on July 10, 2017
This is the second PaperWhite I have purchased. I loved my first one, but I feel like Amazon is trying to cut costs and is producing a lesser quality product (changed 3rd party Chinese manufacturers, apparently). My new one was shipped to me in a paper envelope instead of a box. The case doesn't seem to fit as tightly as it should on the unit - dust/hair/etc gets caught in the edges constantly and you can see lights coming through at the bottom which is distracting. Overall I am disappointed in my new PaperWhite.
TOP 1000 REVIEWERon July 1, 2015
There is no argument that this is the world's best e-reader already, so the discussion is really around what version to buy, since having one should be a given. It is far beyond any competition. And although I LOVE the feel of a book, I have learned to love this even more, with easy word lookups, marking passages, finding relevant information and incredible lighting and reading experience for my aging eyes. And several thousand books in a 7.2oz package is awful nice.
UPDATE! Just figured something out that many people probably know already. Was travelling in Brazil, and learning Portuguese, and stopped in a store to get a book. They are 3x the price in the states, so I thought, "I wonder if that is on Kindle?" Well, I am happy to say that all the Portuguese books I could ever want are on Kindle Unlimited. But the best thing is it also automatically downloads a dictionary, so when you hold down on one of the unfamiliar words, BOOM! there is the definition, what an ideal tool to round out language study! Loving it! Chapter 5 of Harry Potter, here we go!
DON'T HAVE A KINDLE PAPERWHITE? If you don't have an e-reader, have a different brand e-reader, or have a Kindle that is not a paperwhite, then this version is a valuable upgrade to you. It is light, easy to hold, simple to operate, and is the closest thing to a book 'experience' as you can get. It is incredibly easy to read at a beach with no glare, or at night. I use my Kindle everywhere in many conditions, and have never looked back. The price gap, at least for the moment, is only $10 between the new Kindle PW and the previous version, so it makes sense to buy the new one. However, keep an eye on it, and if the price drops further for the previous gen, it is not really compelling enough to spend the extra $$$ for this brand new one.
ALREADY HAVE AN OLDER PAPERWHITE? So, if you already have a paperwhite, is this 2015 upgrade worth it?
Consider COST first – it is $119 w/ special offers, no 3G. Then you add $20 if you want no special offers, and another 70 (plus about 5% extra weight) for 3G. That extra $90 buys a lot of books!
*Buy 3G? I find internet access pervasive nearly everywhere, and have not used my 3G at all. I buy the books ahead of time, and if I actually ran out of books on a trip, it would not be unanticipated, and I would certainly have some internet access at some point. I simply don't find the 3G to be something I need, even for a small price.
*Likewise for SPECIAL OFFERS...they do not interfere with reading at all, they are pretty unobtrusive, and I have even found a couple to be of interest and have made a purchase decision from that.
Then COMPARE. I love this compared to my original paper white. There really is no comparison, and if you have, and love, your original, this is a great upgrade. It is lighter, crisper, has great adjustable lighting, more memory and features, it is well worth $119 to upgrade, and give the other to a family member or friend.
BATTERY life. I started with this new Kindle PW and my old Kindle PW charged up fully. After using each for a couple hours, I noticed no difference in the battery degradation. Obviously this is not a scientific test, and the chance for variance is high, but Amazon says you can still get several weeks of life from this new Kindle, and I see no reason to doubt that. Mathematically, the battery spec provided by Amazon shows a slight decrease, but I still charge my Kindle once every week or two just to make sure I don't run out, and that has always worked out just fine for me.
CLARITY: If you have the 2nd generation paperwhite (late 2013): it is a more difficult choice. Personally, I think it is worth it, but definitely not compelling if you are short on funds. The increase in PPI from 212 to 300 is noticeable, as is the pleasant new font Bookerly. The main thing for me, however, is actually this new Bookerly font. It is much easier to read. I started wearing reading glasses about 6 years ago, and in comparisons with my other PW, I can read effectively at one size smaller font due to font clarity and gentle contrast on a better screen. That may not seem like much, but I appreciate less page turning and interruptions. YMMV.
Big IF - If your eyesight depends on HIGHER CONTRAST, the new Kindle PaperWhite is actually not as bright as the last gen PW. I have included side by side pictures to demonstrate this. The new PW seems more like a book to me, with its nice gentle light. In the pictures, I have used the same font, same brightness, etc., so that you can see the detail for yourself. The new Kindle is on the right.
OVERALL, this is a worthwhile upgrade for anyone who does not already have a 2nd generation PW. If you have a 2nd generation already, it might be something you do only if the specific need is there, or if you want to give your old one away.
Finally, what about the WARRANTY? When these devices were $399 plus, maybe getting an extended warranty was worthwhile. But with the prices continually falling, and the likelihood that one will actually fail extremely slim (I have had only one instance, and Amazon replaced it immediately), I would personally recommend against the purchase. Seems silly to insure a $100 device that has a low failure rate, spending an extra $19 for year, or up to $39 for 3 years of extended coverage.
TIPS:
Do yourself a huge favor and get a case.
Password protect your screen. If someone gets your Kindle, they can spend your money and make lots of problems.
SMALL UPDATE: I have been using this to send documents to for reading, mostly PDFs. It is functional, but if you require good reading of PDFs, then you probably won't like it that much, and you would be better off with a traditional tablet. The issue is that the font is exceedingly small, and there is no way to expand or enlarge that I have found. You can make the font slightly larger by entering landscape mode, but then the flow is off. I also end up with an occasional crash of the browser.
UPDATE! Just figured something out that many people probably know already. Was travelling in Brazil, and learning Portuguese, and stopped in a store to get a book. They are 3x the price in the states, so I thought, "I wonder if that is on Kindle?" Well, I am happy to say that all the Portuguese books I could ever want are on Kindle Unlimited. But the best thing is it also automatically downloads a dictionary, so when you hold down on one of the unfamiliar words, BOOM! there is the definition, what an ideal tool to round out language study! Loving it! Chapter 5 of Harry Potter, here we go!
DON'T HAVE A KINDLE PAPERWHITE? If you don't have an e-reader, have a different brand e-reader, or have a Kindle that is not a paperwhite, then this version is a valuable upgrade to you. It is light, easy to hold, simple to operate, and is the closest thing to a book 'experience' as you can get. It is incredibly easy to read at a beach with no glare, or at night. I use my Kindle everywhere in many conditions, and have never looked back. The price gap, at least for the moment, is only $10 between the new Kindle PW and the previous version, so it makes sense to buy the new one. However, keep an eye on it, and if the price drops further for the previous gen, it is not really compelling enough to spend the extra $$$ for this brand new one.
ALREADY HAVE AN OLDER PAPERWHITE? So, if you already have a paperwhite, is this 2015 upgrade worth it?
Consider COST first – it is $119 w/ special offers, no 3G. Then you add $20 if you want no special offers, and another 70 (plus about 5% extra weight) for 3G. That extra $90 buys a lot of books!
*Buy 3G? I find internet access pervasive nearly everywhere, and have not used my 3G at all. I buy the books ahead of time, and if I actually ran out of books on a trip, it would not be unanticipated, and I would certainly have some internet access at some point. I simply don't find the 3G to be something I need, even for a small price.
*Likewise for SPECIAL OFFERS...they do not interfere with reading at all, they are pretty unobtrusive, and I have even found a couple to be of interest and have made a purchase decision from that.
Then COMPARE. I love this compared to my original paper white. There really is no comparison, and if you have, and love, your original, this is a great upgrade. It is lighter, crisper, has great adjustable lighting, more memory and features, it is well worth $119 to upgrade, and give the other to a family member or friend.
BATTERY life. I started with this new Kindle PW and my old Kindle PW charged up fully. After using each for a couple hours, I noticed no difference in the battery degradation. Obviously this is not a scientific test, and the chance for variance is high, but Amazon says you can still get several weeks of life from this new Kindle, and I see no reason to doubt that. Mathematically, the battery spec provided by Amazon shows a slight decrease, but I still charge my Kindle once every week or two just to make sure I don't run out, and that has always worked out just fine for me.
CLARITY: If you have the 2nd generation paperwhite (late 2013): it is a more difficult choice. Personally, I think it is worth it, but definitely not compelling if you are short on funds. The increase in PPI from 212 to 300 is noticeable, as is the pleasant new font Bookerly. The main thing for me, however, is actually this new Bookerly font. It is much easier to read. I started wearing reading glasses about 6 years ago, and in comparisons with my other PW, I can read effectively at one size smaller font due to font clarity and gentle contrast on a better screen. That may not seem like much, but I appreciate less page turning and interruptions. YMMV.
Big IF - If your eyesight depends on HIGHER CONTRAST, the new Kindle PaperWhite is actually not as bright as the last gen PW. I have included side by side pictures to demonstrate this. The new PW seems more like a book to me, with its nice gentle light. In the pictures, I have used the same font, same brightness, etc., so that you can see the detail for yourself. The new Kindle is on the right.
OVERALL, this is a worthwhile upgrade for anyone who does not already have a 2nd generation PW. If you have a 2nd generation already, it might be something you do only if the specific need is there, or if you want to give your old one away.
Finally, what about the WARRANTY? When these devices were $399 plus, maybe getting an extended warranty was worthwhile. But with the prices continually falling, and the likelihood that one will actually fail extremely slim (I have had only one instance, and Amazon replaced it immediately), I would personally recommend against the purchase. Seems silly to insure a $100 device that has a low failure rate, spending an extra $19 for year, or up to $39 for 3 years of extended coverage.
TIPS:
Do yourself a huge favor and get a case.
Password protect your screen. If someone gets your Kindle, they can spend your money and make lots of problems.
SMALL UPDATE: I have been using this to send documents to for reading, mostly PDFs. It is functional, but if you require good reading of PDFs, then you probably won't like it that much, and you would be better off with a traditional tablet. The issue is that the font is exceedingly small, and there is no way to expand or enlarge that I have found. You can make the font slightly larger by entering landscape mode, but then the flow is off. I also end up with an occasional crash of the browser.
on May 29, 2016
I think this is my 7th kindle. I've given away 3 or 4, left two or three on aircraft, and keep my latest by my bed or in my gym bag. It is the $139 paperwhite, I feel the 300 dpi is the break-point in value for the kindles, I've not used the newest most expensive products Voyager and ?? but can't imagine what I need that I don't have in my paperwhite - which I can read for 12 hours straight, absent fridge and bathroom breaks.
My kindle currently has about 250 books (it will take a few more years to reach 1000), and a number of pdf's that I forwarded to it for convenient reading. Some of you may have better things to do in bed, or while exercising at the gym, or sitting on a plane, but I rarely do. B^) It is wonderful for international travel - small, lightweight, very long battery life, YUGE capacity, readable anywhere, in any bedroom, aircraft, taxi, camping or safari lighting. I actually read while walking laps for cool-down, if the book is good.
If needed, it can be charged with a world standard micro USB cable, from a laptop or dashboard or plane seatback, so there is no need for any cables you wouldn't otherwise already be bringing for your cell and/or computer. Fits comfortably in hip pocket of blue jeans with less bulge than my wallet... BUT yes you WILL sit on it if you do this - so far, I've not broken one, but I have some padding there, and I do this only by accident. I have broken an expensive cell phone doing this, so the kindles are reasonably rugged too (lived in Africa 15 years) and I've never used a case/cover for one. Seem to be reasonably splash proof as well, surviving rain, and spilled drinks; only moving part on mine is the off-on button on the bottom edge; only opening, the USB port next to it.
Yes I DO have a hi-res smartphone with the Kindle app on it, and I sometimes use it in a pinch, but if a device is the right size for a phone, it is too small for serious readers..either the font will be too small, or the amount of text per screen too little, for reading as fast as I read... and too many page turns can be an issue. Correct for purpose video real estate matters. Books are about the right size for reading; the kindle is paperback book sized.
I've always bought the version with (reasonably tasteful B/W) advertising on the cover to save the bucks, and for years I was happy with that choice , but a recent upgrade (early 2016? (NOT a new product) ) started pushing the advertising into the user part of the app (namely the bottom 1/8 or so of the page that lists your library when you are actively using the device), and this REALLY pissed me off...for me it was "bait and switch". I'm sure that at some point in my life I'd clicked on "I agree" in a EULA (end user license agreement) giving them the right to make such a change, but I also can make a strong case that such EULA's, while possibly legal, are clearly unethical, since sellers know they have made them too long and complicated for any reasonable person to read. As of 2000, I used to be the 1 person in 10,000 who'd read all my software licenses, as I was responsible for state information systems, but as a private individual, with now hundreds of applications, it is practically impossible, and it is known to be. (This is one of the reasons to avoid updates until you have no choice...and never agree to automatic updates... but even this 'right of refusal' is being undercut, since it is becoming impossible to refuse upgrades and keep the system one bought still working... yet another step in the evolution of "bait and switch". I don't care for being cog in someone else's machine; markets exist to serve people, people don't exist to serve markets.
So, I called them on this fact. I clearly explained my years of use of the device without this intrusion, my agreement to allowing the ad on the cover when the kindle was not in use. I said my access to my 250 books was degraded subsequent to moving the ads to an additional locatin inside the app (since with the ad, my library view could show only 6 books / page, and without the ad it used to show 8 books / page. This matters a lot if you are looking for 1 book out of 250!)
It is nice to be able to report that I spoke with at least 3 people on this point (while they were helpfully debugging a download bug on my android cell phone kindle app), and I think they all (as fellow people) agreed with my perspective - or perhaps, an enlightened bean counter at their company, with whom they may have shared my complaint, realized they were talking to someone who was worth more to them as a book-buying customer, than as an attention-slice for advertising exposure, but I prefer to think the former, and for now will give their organization credit for letting these lower level technical folk make this call. Once I was speaking to the right person (a sharp tech person, ESL but very good), it took him five seconds (in real-time) to remove the ads at the bottom of my library list page.
I will be interested to see if they decide n the future to remove the ads at this location to restore the same user experience I now again enjoy, to other users. I will be interested to learn whether they also implement suggestions I made about improving the sort function for the listing of books for those of us with increasingly large libraries, and for deleting books we don't want directly from the app, instead of needing to go to our accounts online via a browser. Perhaps they can find a win-win by systematically removing the ads for people with over 25 or 50 books.
Please indicate whether you find this review helpful, I suspect if it is 'liked' enough, it may help improve the product.
My kindle currently has about 250 books (it will take a few more years to reach 1000), and a number of pdf's that I forwarded to it for convenient reading. Some of you may have better things to do in bed, or while exercising at the gym, or sitting on a plane, but I rarely do. B^) It is wonderful for international travel - small, lightweight, very long battery life, YUGE capacity, readable anywhere, in any bedroom, aircraft, taxi, camping or safari lighting. I actually read while walking laps for cool-down, if the book is good.
If needed, it can be charged with a world standard micro USB cable, from a laptop or dashboard or plane seatback, so there is no need for any cables you wouldn't otherwise already be bringing for your cell and/or computer. Fits comfortably in hip pocket of blue jeans with less bulge than my wallet... BUT yes you WILL sit on it if you do this - so far, I've not broken one, but I have some padding there, and I do this only by accident. I have broken an expensive cell phone doing this, so the kindles are reasonably rugged too (lived in Africa 15 years) and I've never used a case/cover for one. Seem to be reasonably splash proof as well, surviving rain, and spilled drinks; only moving part on mine is the off-on button on the bottom edge; only opening, the USB port next to it.
Yes I DO have a hi-res smartphone with the Kindle app on it, and I sometimes use it in a pinch, but if a device is the right size for a phone, it is too small for serious readers..either the font will be too small, or the amount of text per screen too little, for reading as fast as I read... and too many page turns can be an issue. Correct for purpose video real estate matters. Books are about the right size for reading; the kindle is paperback book sized.
I've always bought the version with (reasonably tasteful B/W) advertising on the cover to save the bucks, and for years I was happy with that choice , but a recent upgrade (early 2016? (NOT a new product) ) started pushing the advertising into the user part of the app (namely the bottom 1/8 or so of the page that lists your library when you are actively using the device), and this REALLY pissed me off...for me it was "bait and switch". I'm sure that at some point in my life I'd clicked on "I agree" in a EULA (end user license agreement) giving them the right to make such a change, but I also can make a strong case that such EULA's, while possibly legal, are clearly unethical, since sellers know they have made them too long and complicated for any reasonable person to read. As of 2000, I used to be the 1 person in 10,000 who'd read all my software licenses, as I was responsible for state information systems, but as a private individual, with now hundreds of applications, it is practically impossible, and it is known to be. (This is one of the reasons to avoid updates until you have no choice...and never agree to automatic updates... but even this 'right of refusal' is being undercut, since it is becoming impossible to refuse upgrades and keep the system one bought still working... yet another step in the evolution of "bait and switch". I don't care for being cog in someone else's machine; markets exist to serve people, people don't exist to serve markets.
So, I called them on this fact. I clearly explained my years of use of the device without this intrusion, my agreement to allowing the ad on the cover when the kindle was not in use. I said my access to my 250 books was degraded subsequent to moving the ads to an additional locatin inside the app (since with the ad, my library view could show only 6 books / page, and without the ad it used to show 8 books / page. This matters a lot if you are looking for 1 book out of 250!)
It is nice to be able to report that I spoke with at least 3 people on this point (while they were helpfully debugging a download bug on my android cell phone kindle app), and I think they all (as fellow people) agreed with my perspective - or perhaps, an enlightened bean counter at their company, with whom they may have shared my complaint, realized they were talking to someone who was worth more to them as a book-buying customer, than as an attention-slice for advertising exposure, but I prefer to think the former, and for now will give their organization credit for letting these lower level technical folk make this call. Once I was speaking to the right person (a sharp tech person, ESL but very good), it took him five seconds (in real-time) to remove the ads at the bottom of my library list page.
I will be interested to see if they decide n the future to remove the ads at this location to restore the same user experience I now again enjoy, to other users. I will be interested to learn whether they also implement suggestions I made about improving the sort function for the listing of books for those of us with increasingly large libraries, and for deleting books we don't want directly from the app, instead of needing to go to our accounts online via a browser. Perhaps they can find a win-win by systematically removing the ads for people with over 25 or 50 books.
Please indicate whether you find this review helpful, I suspect if it is 'liked' enough, it may help improve the product.
