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It is so incredibly depressing to watch Amazon blow an amazing opportunity with shitty software. They can outsell anyone, but the Kindle Fire OS work is dreadfu

It is so incredibly depressing to watch Amazon blow an amazing opportunity with shitty software. They can outsell anyone, but the Kindle Fire OS work is dreadful -- if they could manage to build a competitive UI then they could probably march way ahead of Android-proper on browser usage metrics (as well as whatever they use internally to measure engagement). They seem to spend a huge amount on Kindle Fire, they're competitive with Barnes & Noble but not Google or Apple. I'm betting that most of the Kindle Fires that Amazon do sell end up "in desk drawers" and don't drive many further sales for them -- and it's entirely because the software is so awkward to use (the first Kindle Fire was pretty clunky in industrial design, and the new ones aren't wonderful but at least they're competitive excepting the hard-to-use power switch).

Turing_Machine 14y ago
Sure enough. Amazon does backends like no one else, but the KF doesn't look or work all that well. On the other hand, the UI on the eInk Kindles works pretty well. It may not be a thing of beauty, but it's highly functional. Of course, there's a big difference between a special purpose UI designed to do one thing well and a general purpose UI that's intended to do many things.
jseliger 14y ago
>It is so incredibly depressing to watch Amazon blow an amazing opportunity with shitty software. They also seem to habitually make unforced design flaws. I have a third-generation Kindle (I think), which works well enough, but the Kindle Paperwhite looks attractive. But it only allows flipping pages through a finger swipe; there is no dedicated button. That's a recipe for a screen covered with finger prints and schmutz. On my current Kindle, I probably use "page forward" about 49 times for every one time I hit any other button. A single, discreet "page forward" button would be a huge UI win. When I played with one in a Staples, this was an obvious flaw—so obvious that I sent an e-mail to kindle-feedback@amazon.com to tell them as much. An iPad or iPhone are much more general devices, but a Kindle is mostly for reading. Leaving this obvious, easy button off the Kindle is really annoying, and I think it's symptomatic of Amazon's a) Apple envy, which b) leads them to make design decisions that try to ape Apple without necessarily doing it well, or without recognizing what problems Apple is trying to solve and what problems Amazon is, or should be, trying to solve.
- atrus 14y ago
  > But it only allows flipping pages through a finger swipe; there is no dedicated button. While true that there is no dedicated button, a tap will turn the page. Your thumb doesn't have to leave the frame/casing to initiate a page turn.
- bjustin 14y ago
  I can page turn on my Paperwhite by rolling my thumb just a little bit, and rolling it back. I keep it on the edge of the bezel while reading. I used to think that a button would be better, but the buttons on my third gen kindle were terrible and my Paperwhite is fine without them.
- smackfu 14y ago
  You don't think there are practical reasons to avoid adding a hardware button that gets pressed every time you turn the page?
- jarek 14y ago
  I've owned a touchscreen Kobo, with no page turn buttons, since May. It's just fine. No undue fingerprint smudges or damage, no trouble turning pages.

Turing_Machine 14y ago

Sure enough. Amazon does backends like no one else, but the KF doesn't look or work all that well. On the other hand, the UI on the eInk Kindles works pretty well. It may not be a thing of beauty, but it's highly functional. Of course, there's a big difference between a special purpose UI designed to do one thing well and a general purpose UI that's intended to do many things.

jseliger 14y ago

>It is so incredibly depressing to watch Amazon blow an amazing opportunity with shitty software. They also seem to habitually make unforced design flaws. I have a third-generation Kindle (I think), which works well enough, but the Kindle Paperwhite looks attractive. But it only allows flipping pages through a finger swipe; there is no dedicated button. That's a recipe for a screen covered with finger prints and schmutz. On my current Kindle, I probably use "page forward" about 49 times for every one time I hit any other button. A single, discreet "page forward" button would be a huge UI win. When I played with one in a Staples, this was an obvious flaw—so obvious that I sent an e-mail to kindle-feedback@amazon.com to tell them as much. An iPad or iPhone are much more general devices, but a Kindle is mostly for reading. Leaving this obvious, easy button off the Kindle is really annoying, and I think it's symptomatic of Amazon's a) Apple envy, which b) leads them to make design decisions that try to ape Apple without necessarily doing it well, or without recognizing what problems Apple is trying to solve and what problems Amazon is, or should be, trying to solve.

atrus 14y ago
> But it only allows flipping pages through a finger swipe; there is no dedicated button. While true that there is no dedicated button, a tap will turn the page. Your thumb doesn't have to leave the frame/casing to initiate a page turn.
bjustin 14y ago
I can page turn on my Paperwhite by rolling my thumb just a little bit, and rolling it back. I keep it on the edge of the bezel while reading. I used to think that a button would be better, but the buttons on my third gen kindle were terrible and my Paperwhite is fine without them.
smackfu 14y ago
You don't think there are practical reasons to avoid adding a hardware button that gets pressed every time you turn the page?
jarek 14y ago
I've owned a touchscreen Kobo, with no page turn buttons, since May. It's just fine. No undue fingerprint smudges or damage, no trouble turning pages.