Comments on: Haven’t Ordered Your Holiday Kindle Yet? Never Mind http://paidcontent.org/2008/11/26/419-havent-ordered-your-holiday-kindle-yet-never-mind/ The economics of digital content Fri, 13 Dec 2013 18:54:38 +0000 hourly 1 http://wordpress.com/ By: Karen http://paidcontent.org/2008/11/26/419-havent-ordered-your-holiday-kindle-yet-never-mind/#comment-65020 Wed, 26 Nov 2008 21:30:03 +0000 http://paidcontent.wp.gostage.it/2008/11/26/419-havent-ordered-your-holiday-kindle-yet-never-mind/#comment-65020 Other than possibly the placement of the wireless switch and the rumored USB recharging, the "new" design is a major step backwards. Too much plastic surround, less convenient to use keyboard (can't be run with thumbs as easily), the entire thing is bigger than the current one – so, larger than a paperback, won't fit into a purse easily, etc – plus supposedly has a non-replaceable battery and no SD card slot (both design shortcomings of the Sony). If anything, it looks like an early mockup design submitted and rejected before the current Kindle came out. Other than rumored updates to the software (all of which can be done to the existing system, via instant update when you turn it on), there is nothing of interest to anyone with a current Kindle that would prompt an upgrade and nothing that should be a reason for someone who has a Kindle on order to be upset if they received the "old" version (especially as that is what they are ordering). I'd be more upset if I received this more limited and larger to carry and hold version instead of the version that is currently on the web site — especially if I had seen and played with one that someone already has. Upset enough to return it as a result? Probably.

The rumored design actually looks like a Sony mockup that will add 10bT wireless (hopefully) and a keyboard, as all the other features are ones they pretty much already have, including the large/flat design (but not the white plastic). For Sony, this would be an evolution in design and an improvement in features – but not for the Amazon Kindle, where it is a major step backwards (of course, maybe if it sold for under $100, you could ignore it's shortcomings).

]]> By: Sarah Varney http://paidcontent.org/2008/11/26/419-havent-ordered-your-holiday-kindle-yet-never-mind/#comment-65019 Wed, 26 Nov 2008 19:24:19 +0000 http://paidcontent.wp.gostage.it/2008/11/26/419-havent-ordered-your-holiday-kindle-yet-never-mind/#comment-65019 I hate to sound like a booster, but this is good news. My one frustration–okay, maybe two–with the Kindle is the download selection from Amazon. It's often not as current as I'd like. Can you say new PD James novel? Other than that, the space savings, the tree savings and the money savings make the Kindle great. I'm thrilled to see that it's gaining traction. Now if I could only trade it in for the new model–one that has the on/off/Wifi switch in a convenient location–my other frustration.

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