Feedback on Amazon Kindle 2

I had the opportunity to try out the Amazon Kindle 2 for a week. I read a lot of books and so wanted to try out the Kindle as I think it is going to change the way we read. We’re probably heading to a world where books will be obsolete and replaced by electronic devices which will enhance our reading experience. Such devices allow us to carry many books without the load of carrying physical books, search through books faster, and better manage our notes and highlights.

 

Here’s the feedback I have for Kindle:

The good - These are things I really liked:

·         I loved highlighting and being able to search my clippings. Often times while reading I will come across something that inspires me and make me want to take a note for a task or a reference for a blog entry.

·         I like that it tells me how much of the book I have completed reading, by percentage.

·         The dictionary is very useful. Perhaps it could even be linked to Wikipedia. This way a reader’s flow isn’t broken when he comes across a word or concept he doesn’t fully understand.

 

The bad - Things I think could have been better:

·         The view is not in sync with the book page number, or chapter. This makes it really difficult to figure out where in the book I am. It’s also hard to ‘flip through’ pages and then go back, which is a common user scenario while reading books.

·         Page turning transitions are not very smooth. There is a bit of a break as the next page is loading, although probably under a second. This can disrupt a reader’s flow.

·         Placement of the next page buttons and previous buttons is a bit confusing. The left next page should just be ‘previous’. That way if I press the right button, it goes to the next page, and the left button, it goes to the previous page. Also, for languages that are not left to right, it will just work the opposite way.

·         I was reading a book with large tables that spanned multiple pages. Since it was too large for the screen, the tables were truncated even if they fit in a single page in the actual hard copy book.

 

The ideas - Kindle is still in the early product stages. Here are some ideas I think will be cool in the future.

·         Built in lighting in screen. This would allow us to read even in the dark

·         Colour screen. I’m pretty sure Amazon already has this on their list

·         Anti-reflection screen.

·         An easy way to skip sections or chapters. We can go back to the table of content and then click on the next section/chapter but that is too many clicks

·         Some plan that allows unlimited books membership and gives the kindle for free, kind of like a phone plan. That would help make the kindle more affordable