5 ms·

Review: Amazon Kindle 3 Wi-Fi (pics/vid)

22 points by PStamatiou 16y ago

davidw 16y ago
I'm mostly sold on getting one... I just wonder what became of the SDK.
- PStamatiou 16y ago
  I don't know.. I applied for it but never heard back. So far there are 3 kindle active content/apps out and they're all games.
  - davidw 16y ago
    Same here. I'm curious about the browser too - does it work at all for something like gmail, or is it just too painful?
    - PStamatiou 16y ago
      I have used it for logging into gmail but it's painful and slow. didn't try the html only version of gmail though.
mdh 16y ago
The instapaper workflow mentioned in the article is awesome. Instapaper will send articles daily or weekly (to suit your reading habits/desire to avoid the download charge) and the device treats it just like the magazines and newspapers you can buy through amazon's website.
- ja30278 16y ago
  I've found that over time, I prefer services like rekindle.it to instapaper. Mostly this is because I only tend to push _really_ long content to my kindle, and I usually want it titled correctly (everything coming from from Instapaper ends up on the kindle as 'Instapaper', and the new content pushes out the old).
  - mdh 16y ago
    horses-for-courses i suppose - i find that i quite like everything gathered into the Instapaper 'magazine' just because it tends to gather up that week's articles. Perhaps i just need the discipline of the old content being archived!(you can re-download it though) edit: its also perhaps relevant that i don't tend to have much really long content. The DFW/Infinite Jest article from the New Yorker that was posted earlier is about the average for me (http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=1730153 http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=1730153)
  - jsulak 16y ago
    Another option, if you don't mind USB, is to use Wordcycler (http://www.wordcycler.com http://www.wordcycler.com). It's free, and allows you to two-way-sync individual articles to your Kindle. When you delete them from your Kindle, it will be automatically archived on the Instapaper website the next time you sync. And it titles the articles correctly. (I'm the developer of Wordcycler.)
cageface 16y ago
I've been using my Kindle 3 for hours every day since it arrived. I actually prefer it to a printed book now. Definitely my favorite gadget of the last several years. The only significant downside is the selection in the Kindle store, which is still pretty uneven.
Groxx 16y ago
I want one... but I'm absolutely not touching the stuff until the SDK is spread more freely. I cannot fathom why it's locked down so tight, except that they may have an incompletely-implemented API. Finish it! You'll get loads of side-channels of revenue. How can that not be worth it?
- tlack 16y ago
  I'm also waiting to get my KDK access but I would imagine they're trying to figure out the market lifecycle: from who gets to sell in the market, to how they will be paid, to how strict their app policies will be (especially after all the Apple Store hub bub), blah blah blah.
  - Groxx 16y ago
    None of which they are likely to find out without far more sellers. Maybe not thousands, but certainly not three.
    - tlack 16y ago
      I would imagine that these three publishers already had a good relationship with Amazon so a very vague contract was safe to launch with. Anyone from inside Amazon want to comment on this? Or at least give me KDK access? :)
lowglow 16y ago
Lack of decent PDF support is what sucks for me. I have a ton of PDF books I'd love to read on the Kindle but after reviewing features available on the DX version, I was forced to send mine back. I feel that while this is a good article, it glazes over a lot of the shortcomings of the reader and appears to try and sell me on the product. Meh. I suppose if you're using the Kindle as a casual reader and not necessarily a tool for getting work done, then it will suit your needs. But if you require something more than this... just keep waiting.
- PStamatiou 16y ago
  > I suppose if you're using the Kindle as a casual reader > and not necessarily a tool for getting work done, then > it will suit your needs. You have a good point there. I would consider myself a simple kindle user. Most of my reading is done through books purchased in the Kindle Store, so I don't have to deal with the lackluster PDF support.
- njharman 16y ago
  I too have gobs of PDF books. The Kindle is the wrong size (far too small) for PDFs. Mine are all formated (with lots of tables, images, etc) for 8.5x11". They require a device with a screen nearly that large. A Kindle DX, but that is too $ and also has poor PDF handling.
jjcm 16y ago
"11 out of 10 Stammys... despite the DRM speed bumps." Sorry ahead of time for being pedantic, but a score of a perfect 10 should mean that there are no issues. That it is the definition of unobtainable perfection. The perfect e-reader would be one that never runs out of battery, weighs nothing but feels good in the hand, never breaks down, always has wifi signal wherever you are in the world, and who's display is indiscernible from a color lithograph print. This is by no means that. Is it an amazing device? Absolutely. But saying it's a perfect 10 (let alone an 11) is like saying that there's no way that it can be improved. Things can always be improved, saying otherwise is giving up on human creativity.
- dagw 16y ago
  a score of a perfect 10 should mean that there are no issues That seems rather arbitrary, and quite pointless. Why have a grade that is impossible to attain. Should an A+ only be given to students who's paper conclusively solves every open question in the field? 10 should simply mean best in class and very very good.
  - riffraff 16y ago
    I believe that it should be given to a student answering perfectly to the given problem. If you give A+ it to the best in class it would mean that a mediocre student in a class of terrible students would get away with perfect marks all the time. Which is what happened to me until I got to the uiversity, (as the mediocre one) and I felt it was wrong all the time (though it did save me a lot of work :)
    - dagw 16y ago
      That's the point though. Very few questions (and even fewer interesting questions) have 'perfect' answers. Saying that A+ or 10 is only given for perfection is equivalent of saying A+ or 10 does not exists as a grade and the highest grade is A or 9. And then we start the discussion all over. Now (on a slight tangent) I'm in no way saying that best kid in the class should always get the A+.
- 16y ago
mseebach 16y ago
One more thing: Get the 3G version. It's free-for-life for $50, and you can buy books, and even surf (even though the browsing experience is horrible) whereever you are and have them on the Kindle in seconds, even abroad. When travelling, I always end up packing too many books because I'm afraid I'll run out or get bored if a book is bad. I was afraid the pattern could repeat on the Kindle, that I'd be scramming to buy a bunch of books before leaving "friendly" wifi coverage. Last week I bought a book on the bus going to the airport on the 3G connection.
JustAGeek 16y ago
The author mentions that code becomes wrapped in a bad way, can anyone confirm that? I'm tend to read more tech books than other genres, so if code becomes hard to read, then the Kindle would not be for me...
- PStamatiou 16y ago
  That was only for a converted PDF I loaded on there and the Kindle PDF conversion process tries to make documents "flowable" so code did wrap. If I load the PDF on there without conversion it loads exactly the same though the Kindle is too small to display it natively so you'll have to zoom in on it.

22 points by PStamatiou 16y ago

davidw 16y ago

I'm mostly sold on getting one... I just wonder what became of the SDK.

PStamatiou 16y ago
I don't know.. I applied for it but never heard back. So far there are 3 kindle active content/apps out and they're all games.
- davidw 16y ago
  Same here. I'm curious about the browser too - does it work at all for something like gmail, or is it just too painful?
  - PStamatiou 16y ago
    I have used it for logging into gmail but it's painful and slow. didn't try the html only version of gmail though.

mdh 16y ago

The instapaper workflow mentioned in the article is awesome. Instapaper will send articles daily or weekly (to suit your reading habits/desire to avoid the download charge) and the device treats it just like the magazines and newspapers you can buy through amazon's website.

ja30278 16y ago
I've found that over time, I prefer services like rekindle.it to instapaper. Mostly this is because I only tend to push _really_ long content to my kindle, and I usually want it titled correctly (everything coming from from Instapaper ends up on the kindle as 'Instapaper', and the new content pushes out the old).
- mdh 16y ago
  horses-for-courses i suppose - i find that i quite like everything gathered into the Instapaper 'magazine' just because it tends to gather up that week's articles. Perhaps i just need the discipline of the old content being archived!(you can re-download it though) edit: its also perhaps relevant that i don't tend to have much really long content. The DFW/Infinite Jest article from the New Yorker that was posted earlier is about the average for me (http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=1730153 http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=1730153)
- jsulak 16y ago
  Another option, if you don't mind USB, is to use Wordcycler (http://www.wordcycler.com http://www.wordcycler.com). It's free, and allows you to two-way-sync individual articles to your Kindle. When you delete them from your Kindle, it will be automatically archived on the Instapaper website the next time you sync. And it titles the articles correctly. (I'm the developer of Wordcycler.)

cageface 16y ago

I've been using my Kindle 3 for hours every day since it arrived. I actually prefer it to a printed book now. Definitely my favorite gadget of the last several years. The only significant downside is the selection in the Kindle store, which is still pretty uneven.

Groxx 16y ago

I want one... but I'm absolutely not touching the stuff until the SDK is spread more freely. I cannot fathom why it's locked down so tight, except that they may have an incompletely-implemented API. Finish it! You'll get loads of side-channels of revenue. How can that not be worth it?

tlack 16y ago
I'm also waiting to get my KDK access but I would imagine they're trying to figure out the market lifecycle: from who gets to sell in the market, to how they will be paid, to how strict their app policies will be (especially after all the Apple Store hub bub), blah blah blah.
- Groxx 16y ago
  None of which they are likely to find out without far more sellers. Maybe not thousands, but certainly not three.
  - tlack 16y ago
    I would imagine that these three publishers already had a good relationship with Amazon so a very vague contract was safe to launch with. Anyone from inside Amazon want to comment on this? Or at least give me KDK access? :)

lowglow 16y ago

Lack of decent PDF support is what sucks for me. I have a ton of PDF books I'd love to read on the Kindle but after reviewing features available on the DX version, I was forced to send mine back. I feel that while this is a good article, it glazes over a lot of the shortcomings of the reader and appears to try and sell me on the product. Meh. I suppose if you're using the Kindle as a casual reader and not necessarily a tool for getting work done, then it will suit your needs. But if you require something more than this... just keep waiting.

PStamatiou 16y ago
> I suppose if you're using the Kindle as a casual reader > and not necessarily a tool for getting work done, then > it will suit your needs. You have a good point there. I would consider myself a simple kindle user. Most of my reading is done through books purchased in the Kindle Store, so I don't have to deal with the lackluster PDF support.
njharman 16y ago
I too have gobs of PDF books. The Kindle is the wrong size (far too small) for PDFs. Mine are all formated (with lots of tables, images, etc) for 8.5x11". They require a device with a screen nearly that large. A Kindle DX, but that is too $ and also has poor PDF handling.

jjcm 16y ago

"11 out of 10 Stammys... despite the DRM speed bumps." Sorry ahead of time for being pedantic, but a score of a perfect 10 should mean that there are no issues. That it is the definition of unobtainable perfection. The perfect e-reader would be one that never runs out of battery, weighs nothing but feels good in the hand, never breaks down, always has wifi signal wherever you are in the world, and who's display is indiscernible from a color lithograph print. This is by no means that. Is it an amazing device? Absolutely. But saying it's a perfect 10 (let alone an 11) is like saying that there's no way that it can be improved. Things can always be improved, saying otherwise is giving up on human creativity.

dagw 16y ago
a score of a perfect 10 should mean that there are no issues That seems rather arbitrary, and quite pointless. Why have a grade that is impossible to attain. Should an A+ only be given to students who's paper conclusively solves every open question in the field? 10 should simply mean best in class and very very good.
- riffraff 16y ago
  I believe that it should be given to a student answering perfectly to the given problem. If you give A+ it to the best in class it would mean that a mediocre student in a class of terrible students would get away with perfect marks all the time. Which is what happened to me until I got to the uiversity, (as the mediocre one) and I felt it was wrong all the time (though it did save me a lot of work :)
  - dagw 16y ago
    That's the point though. Very few questions (and even fewer interesting questions) have 'perfect' answers. Saying that A+ or 10 is only given for perfection is equivalent of saying A+ or 10 does not exists as a grade and the highest grade is A or 9. And then we start the discussion all over. Now (on a slight tangent) I'm in no way saying that best kid in the class should always get the A+.
16y ago

mseebach 16y ago

One more thing: Get the 3G version. It's free-for-life for $50, and you can buy books, and even surf (even though the browsing experience is horrible) whereever you are and have them on the Kindle in seconds, even abroad. When travelling, I always end up packing too many books because I'm afraid I'll run out or get bored if a book is bad. I was afraid the pattern could repeat on the Kindle, that I'd be scramming to buy a bunch of books before leaving "friendly" wifi coverage. Last week I bought a book on the bus going to the airport on the 3G connection.

JustAGeek 16y ago

The author mentions that code becomes wrapped in a bad way, can anyone confirm that? I'm tend to read more tech books than other genres, so if code becomes hard to read, then the Kindle would not be for me...

PStamatiou 16y ago
That was only for a converted PDF I loaded on there and the Kindle PDF conversion process tries to make documents "flowable" so code did wrap. If I load the PDF on there without conversion it loads exactly the same though the Kindle is too small to display it natively so you'll have to zoom in on it.