Amazon Kindle, good attempt but still a lot to do
I had to embed this video from YouTube because I couldn’t get the original from the Amazon website. The share option seems to work just via email, pretty weird if you think about how many other bloggers could have used an embed code. Here’s the link to the Amazon video in case they will remove the one I used from from YouTube.
Anyway…
Kindle is the new Amazon’s e-book reader. It connects like our cell phones do but we don’t have to pay anything to receive the content via WiFi connection because it uses the Amazon Wisper Net, in addition to that it has a nice embeded dictionary, long battery life and automatic online back-up of what we purchased in case we lose or damage the device.
But if I pay 399$ to get a digital device like this I expect something that matches a little bit better my digital needs. If a customer purchases this kind of device it probably means that she/he has a certain relationship with technology and certain needs related to the digital life she/he is living.
Yes…it’s not bad, but if I look at my needs?!…
Ok it’s pretty handy getting the content to my Kindle by using free WiFi connection but what if I also want to rely on my laptop? I’m talking about networking capabilities. I don’t want to add more cables or SD cards to my bag in order to transfer data. Can I send data from my Kindle to my computer by using bluetooth or other wireless connection?
All right I can subscribe to news papers or blogs but if I find some interesting news or material and I would like to blog about it, can I do it directly from my Kindle? because if that data I payed for just stays on the device, for me it’s almost useless.
I can email Word documents (or other formats too..) to my kindle, but why should I pay for it? That content is produced by me, why should I be charged to read or access my own content? I could understand this few cents of charge if I didn’t have to pay for my Kindle, but 399$ doesn’t exactly mean that I got it for free. Are you thinking that probably I have to pay because the content is uploaded via email and converted? Well, Amazon covers the cost of the connection as part of Kindle’s $399 price, so again…why should I pay an additional cost for it? and this rises in my mind more questions about the easiness of sharing and using the data/information I purchase through different platforms or other devices than the Kindle.
This is probably a perfect device for certain kind of customers but I’m looking for something more than just avoiding to carry around tons of books, newspapers and blog posts… I love Amazon but considering my digital life, I want to be able to do more with this information, that’s why I need something more flexible and interactive.
Another thing is the design…really questionable aesthetics and black&white screen. Sorry it’s 2007 and non of the devices I’m using now has a black&white screen. I love colors in the news I read.
I’m addicted to Amazon, the 90% of the books I buy are purchased on it, but this Kindle sounds a little bit like a ‘beta’ version. The idea at the bottom is good, but there’s still is a lot to improve so if I have to spend 399$ I think will still do it to purchase some best sellers at 9.99$…this makes something like 40 best sellers!
All these books should be enough to wait for the next version of Kindle…
Andrea