Changing Habits: Kindle

I've been a Kindle owner for about a year and a half (I'm on the Kindle 2 now). A few observations about how my reading habits have changed:

* I read more. A lot more. I have 70 titles, which averages out to about 3.5 books a month. There's no lag time waiting to get the next book from the library or bookstore. As soon as I finish one book, I start the next within 24 hours.

* I've become a series snob. What I mean is that I prefer books that are part of a series, at least three but the more the better. The boundaries between one book and the next are almost non-existent. I barely notice the titles of books in a series, and after I read one I'll often buy the rest of the series all at once. Thereafter, I go from one to the next like they're all one book.

* I have little conception for how many pages a book has. Occasionally I'll notice the page count when I'm buying a book, but after that I might only notice that my percentage of completion is going quickly or slowly.

I'm happy with the device, but I do find myself wondering why I'm buying all these books (if I am indeed buying them). I'd rather pay Amazon a monthly fee, or pay much less to just rent a book, like a library. It's a big enough issue that if Amazon doesn't change it's tune, I could see myself moving to a device that does.

Anachronisms

 

Not too long ago, YouAreYou and I watched the sci-fi flick "Sunshine." It takes place in the future, and I chortled out loud when I saw this scene. My Kindle was on the coffee table in front of me; it amused me to no end thinking about people reading analog books on a spaceship in the year 2057.

My Kindle Feedback

For graduation I was ecstatic to receive the Amazon Kindle from a certain beloved friend. I've had it for about a month, so I'm finally ready to give my review. (Despite studying for the bar this summer, I've probably read my Kindle 5 days a week since I got it.)

Likes:
Wireless downloading. The e-books cost a few dollars less than the print versions. The Whispernet network is "free;" like a GPS navigator, you basically pay for it in the price of the device. Every book I've searched for, Amazon has available as an e-book. Getting a book immediately fulfills all my Gen-Y instant gratification needs. I'm reading a fantasy series by Robin Hobb at the moment, and it's delicious being able to download the next book instantly.

The scroll wheel selector. The scroll wheel controls the selector, which runs along a channel on the right side. It's a beautiful cluster of 4 giant, shiny silver pixels that bubble around in a circle when it's 'thinking.' I adore it.

Quality of the print. Brilliant. It gets clearer in bright light, which is fantastically eerie in this laptop-screen age. Personally I'm completely comfortable reading on my computer screen, but it's undeniably wonderful. I wish they would backlight it with a green glow for the darkness. Understandably, they were trying to make it as book-like as possible, but a backlight would be sweet.

Issues:
Buttons. Speaking of book-like, they erred with the page turning buttons. Like a real book, the Kindle has page turners (next page and previous page) along both edges of the device. I'm constantly bumping these buttons (which have a soft 'snick' type click) and accidentally turning the page. I'd like to see buttons that are inlaid, preferably with a sharp and definite click, and which don't extend the entire edge.

Relatedly, the space to actually hold the device while reading is very limited because of the page turners and keyboard. The page turners also contribute to a certain awkwardness in the device. It doesn't rest well in my hands because the edges are sharp and beveled, so that they press uncomfortably against the webbing between my thumb and pointer finger.

DRMS. The Kindle uses its own file format, which functions as a DRM system. The idea that such a system will last is laughable to me. That's what iTunes has, and it's gotten them into device/format wars and is easy to decode. E-books are in their infancy but I think that like MP3s, there will soon be a brisk market of free e-books. Until then the price will be high. It's like ringtones: absurdly priced now ($2.99 for a 30 second snippet of a song I already own?!), but when the markets mature they won't be able to charge that much.

You can also get subscriptions to blogs and newspapers, delivered automatically. That's nice, but I get those free online, so I don't feel a need to pay even 99 cents a month for them.

You can get a document sent to your Kindle in the Kindle format for 10 cents, which is ok, but really, I should be able to do that myself, for free. If Amazon were smart they'd launch a subscription model: pay X dollars a month to download X number of books, at varying levels.

What I love about the Kindle is the software, and most of what I dislike is about the physical aesthetics. Rather than make it a palatable crossover from a book, they should redesign it with the actual needs of a e-book reader in mind.

Other Comments:
The Kindle has "experimental" features, such as the ability to listen to music (in a continuous playlist, like a Shuffle) and a clumsy sort of internet access. I think they should abandon these projects. The audio feature might be OK for audio books, but personally if I want music or an audio book I'll use my iPod. (Speaking of which, only MP3s can be added, not iTunes' AAC format, which has led me to flirt, for the very first time, with other music player possibilities. But that's another post unto itself.)

While it would be awesome to check my email, it's definitely not practical to write an email on the Kindle. If you want a computer in your pocket, use your smart phone, which is made for those purposes. The Kindle's scroll wheel is extraordinarily ill-suited to browsing the internet (you can only select a line of type, not an individual word or link).

I think Amazon would do better to stop trying to make the Kindle satisfy every need, and focus on what the Kindle really is: a good read.