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As a 3rd gen Kindle owner, I don't really see how this product/experience could be meaningfully improved until color, full-motion, hybrid reflective/backlit scr

As a 3rd gen Kindle owner, I don't really see how this product/experience could be meaningfully improved until color, full-motion, hybrid reflective/backlit screens (like Pixel Qi and Mirasol) are good and cheap. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pixel_Qi http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pixel_Qi http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Interferometric_modulator_display http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Interferometric_modulator_displ...

tikhonj 15y ago
I agree. I'm sure you could get some improvement over the Kindle 3, but it's already as good, if not better, for reading novels than a paper book. Any improvements in that direction would be, at best, marginal. However, there is one thing that could really be improved: typography. The default setup is not particularly good for English text--manageable but subpar--and is even worse for Russian. It's still readable, but they do not wrap long words with a hyphen leading to an annoyingly ragged margin. If they fixed the typography, the experience would be even better. I know this because I took several of my books and reformatted them using LaTeX (I had way too much time on my hands :)), which does wrap words and generally produces a much better-looking result. The LaTeX books were significantly easier to read than the Kindle ones--I think they were even a little better than what I expect of most paperbacks. However, they also take up more space and take more effort to make. So, since my only issue can be fixed by changing the ebook format, and isn't much of an issue at that, I think its safe to say getting an ereader now would be a good bet.
- joebadmo 15y ago
  I totally agree with you on the typography, though at this point I've gotten used to it. Could you elaborate a bit on your reformatting? Does typesetting it in LaTeX make each page a fixed width? Do I understand correctly, then, that you wouldn't really be able to resize the text? It's a bit crazy to me that algorithmic typesetting isn't a lot farther along than it seems to be. Hyphenation doesn't seem like that hard of a problem. Am I wrong? I guess the demand just isn't really there?
  - tikhonj 15y ago
    Typesetting it in LaTeX makes it a PDF, so you could zoom in but it wouldn't reformat. However, I can always recompile it at a different size on my computer; I haven't ever wanted to change the font size of a book while reading it. TeX does automatic hyphenation, and a ton of other magic, so the technology is there. However, it might be too intensive for an ereader--it would probably take too long and kill the battery life. I also suspect there is not much demand--reading English novels on the Kindle is perfectly fine. It could be better, but you'd only realize if you read a better book. Russian is more of an issue, but I don't think Russians make up a big part of the Kindle market. I don't even know if it's sold in Russia.
r00fus 15y ago
Well, form entry and browsing in general really are painful with a Kindle non-touch. When you're on vacation, and want to buy a new book (hotel has wifi - but the wifi login page is has a very small button... good luck). Also the page buttons are too easy to hit (for me), I tend to hit them while handling the Kindle in a non-reading manner (I can't always "sleep" the device before putting it down for example). All in all, I'm pretty happy with the device, much easier for reading than an iPad.

tikhonj 15y ago

I agree. I'm sure you could get some improvement over the Kindle 3, but it's already as good, if not better, for reading novels than a paper book. Any improvements in that direction would be, at best, marginal. However, there is one thing that could really be improved: typography. The default setup is not particularly good for English text--manageable but subpar--and is even worse for Russian. It's still readable, but they do not wrap long words with a hyphen leading to an annoyingly ragged margin. If they fixed the typography, the experience would be even better. I know this because I took several of my books and reformatted them using LaTeX (I had way too much time on my hands :)), which does wrap words and generally produces a much better-looking result. The LaTeX books were significantly easier to read than the Kindle ones--I think they were even a little better than what I expect of most paperbacks. However, they also take up more space and take more effort to make. So, since my only issue can be fixed by changing the ebook format, and isn't much of an issue at that, I think its safe to say getting an ereader now would be a good bet.

joebadmo 15y ago
I totally agree with you on the typography, though at this point I've gotten used to it. Could you elaborate a bit on your reformatting? Does typesetting it in LaTeX make each page a fixed width? Do I understand correctly, then, that you wouldn't really be able to resize the text? It's a bit crazy to me that algorithmic typesetting isn't a lot farther along than it seems to be. Hyphenation doesn't seem like that hard of a problem. Am I wrong? I guess the demand just isn't really there?
- tikhonj 15y ago
  Typesetting it in LaTeX makes it a PDF, so you could zoom in but it wouldn't reformat. However, I can always recompile it at a different size on my computer; I haven't ever wanted to change the font size of a book while reading it. TeX does automatic hyphenation, and a ton of other magic, so the technology is there. However, it might be too intensive for an ereader--it would probably take too long and kill the battery life. I also suspect there is not much demand--reading English novels on the Kindle is perfectly fine. It could be better, but you'd only realize if you read a better book. Russian is more of an issue, but I don't think Russians make up a big part of the Kindle market. I don't even know if it's sold in Russia.

r00fus 15y ago

Well, form entry and browsing in general really are painful with a Kindle non-touch. When you're on vacation, and want to buy a new book (hotel has wifi - but the wifi login page is has a very small button... good luck). Also the page buttons are too easy to hit (for me), I tend to hit them while handling the Kindle in a non-reading manner (I can't always "sleep" the device before putting it down for example). All in all, I'm pretty happy with the device, much easier for reading than an iPad.