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I agree with this post, but not with regards to the Kindle, but more Amazon as an entity. Also, perfect timing to read this article, after just purchasing a Ki

I agree with this post, but not with regards to the Kindle, but more Amazon as an entity. Also, perfect timing to read this article, after just purchasing a Kindle Paperwhite and having it for a few weeks now. As a casual reader, I find the Kindle Paperwhite as the perfect medium for my reading needs. I can hold it in one hand, I can read it any time of the day with adjustable brightness, and the e-ink is very clear and the font is fine. With respect to the article, I don't think the typical person cares much for typography, as long as it can be read and understood. The justification notion, I would argue that the typical user may not notice it as much as the hardcore reader. This is where I disagree with the parent post here, as in Amazon may understand "the customer" in this particular case, or at least the majority. Everyone who I've come across absolutely loves, and heavily uses, their Kindle(s). Some people even collect them! All reviews love them and it's a great experience. The point of the article: Now, I'm all for making the Kindle the best reading device ever by adding all these cool features (justification, typography, different modes for different things like iBooks, etc.), but instead of targeting the Kindle as being deficient for most users, the article is targeting Amazon more so for it's lack of pushing the product to all it can be and I think this can be extracted toward larger companies doing what they can to push the envelope with their product. This is where I agree with the parent post, Amazon seems to be lacking in this area. The blogpost written and the parent post both point to deficiencies in how Amazon looks to their customers and pushes their products to the best they can be.

ericd 12y ago
Yeah, I've never once wanted more options/features/modes for my Kindle. I honestly think any additional complication would make it worse.
- gurkendoktor 12y ago
  Being able to keep your notes and highlights when updating a book is a feature AND makes it simpler at the same time. Choosing a warmer colour for the Paperwhite wouldn't make it more complicated either. And I wish my (first-gen) Paperwhite wouldn't complain about syncing details every.single.time. I move a book across collections (many of them samples-it's how I keep track of books that were recommended to me).
cbsmith 12y ago
> The justification notion, I would argue that the typical user may not notice it as much as the hardcore reader. The fact of the matter is it impacts all readers, whether they recognize it or not, and there is a reason the printing industry generally doesn't do it.
- lmm 12y ago
  At what point would you acknowledge that maybe the large number of people who think they prefer full justification... actually prefer full justification?
  - cbsmith 12y ago
    I wasn't denying people's preferences. I was pointing out that it has an impact even if people don't notice the justification.
    - prof_hobart 12y ago
      What impact is that?
      - VLM 12y ago
        A bit of google will find https://kaiweber.wordpress.com/2010/05/31/ragged-right-or-justified-alignment/ https://kaiweber.wordpress.com/2010/05/31/ragged-right-or-ju... containing numerous links to academic papers showing lower test scores with right justification. I don't know if the author cherry picked only the articles favoring the authors opinion. (edited to add, also try googling for the topic and "Dyslexia" where the conclusions seem fairly non-controversial and realize dyslexia is a spectrum disorder) This is aside from the fairly obvious aesthetic argument that looking at ugly things (like right justified text) inherently lowers your quality of life. On the side of left justification, it looks better, there seems to be at least some scientific data it reads better, and the argument why its easier and better to read makes sense. On the side of right justification we have crickets. Perhaps there's a patent on displaying left justified text on an ebook, and merely by ruining the product by right justification, the patent can be avoided.
regularfry 12y ago
Just to chime in from the opposite angle, I, too, have a Paperwhite. I've had it for quite a while now, and it's receded to being a "once a month" thing. There's some reason that the act of reading on it just isn't as comfortable as reading a physical page. I'm not a "casual reader" when it comes to physical books at all, and I was hoping that the Kindle would help me avoid having to buy more shelf-space, but if the product is preventing "casual readership" from turning into "hardcore readership", wherever you draw those lines, it's hard to see a business reason for doing so. I'll happily blame the justification, but there are other layout problems which also distract: image handling and inconsistent paging don't help in the slightest.
hyperbovine 12y ago
Exactly, Amazon understands and targets the majority, and they wind up very satisfied. This article lost me at "you’ll find hundreds and hundreds of people asking, begging for Amazon to change this." Ooh, hundreds! Amazon has manufactured at least 10 million kindles by now.
- mark-r 12y ago
  The point is that the product would be better for those millions of people too, they just don't realize it enough to ask. The same way people didn't realize they wanted an iPhone until Apple invented it - people were quite happy with their Blackberries.
- encoderer 12y ago
  I think Steve Jobs would say that by making a product beautiful enough to satisfy enthusiasts, you'll satisfy millions of consumers as well. They probably can't put their finger on exactly what makes it better, it just feels good.
logfromblammo 12y ago
The person who truly cares about typography, or even uploading and using their own fonts, will not buy the Kindle in the first place. Kobo has already had those features for years now. As it happens, I didn't buy my Kobo Aura H2O for that reason. I bought it for the microSD card slot, the frontlight, the ability to move documents to and from the device on my own terms, and the ability to read EPUBs without a pass through Calibre first. The water resistance is a nice plus. I'm all for making the Kobo the best reading device ever, but so far, after the first 40 books, I haven't been able to come up with anything I might want to change about the hardware. The Kobo in-device bookstore and computer sync software, on the other hand, could use some more work. Fortunately for me, I don't ever have to use either of those things to enjoy the full use of my hardware device. Even if Amazon has 70% of the market share, they can't afford to ignore features that their remaining competitors have.

ericd 12y ago

Yeah, I've never once wanted more options/features/modes for my Kindle. I honestly think any additional complication would make it worse.

gurkendoktor 12y ago
Being able to keep your notes and highlights when updating a book is a feature AND makes it simpler at the same time. Choosing a warmer colour for the Paperwhite wouldn't make it more complicated either. And I wish my (first-gen) Paperwhite wouldn't complain about syncing details every.single.time. I move a book across collections (many of them samples-it's how I keep track of books that were recommended to me).

cbsmith 12y ago

> The justification notion, I would argue that the typical user may not notice it as much as the hardcore reader. The fact of the matter is it impacts all readers, whether they recognize it or not, and there is a reason the printing industry generally doesn't do it.

lmm 12y ago
At what point would you acknowledge that maybe the large number of people who think they prefer full justification... actually prefer full justification?
- cbsmith 12y ago
  I wasn't denying people's preferences. I was pointing out that it has an impact even if people don't notice the justification.
  - prof_hobart 12y ago
    What impact is that?
    - VLM 12y ago
      A bit of google will find https://kaiweber.wordpress.com/2010/05/31/ragged-right-or-justified-alignment/ https://kaiweber.wordpress.com/2010/05/31/ragged-right-or-ju... containing numerous links to academic papers showing lower test scores with right justification. I don't know if the author cherry picked only the articles favoring the authors opinion. (edited to add, also try googling for the topic and "Dyslexia" where the conclusions seem fairly non-controversial and realize dyslexia is a spectrum disorder) This is aside from the fairly obvious aesthetic argument that looking at ugly things (like right justified text) inherently lowers your quality of life. On the side of left justification, it looks better, there seems to be at least some scientific data it reads better, and the argument why its easier and better to read makes sense. On the side of right justification we have crickets. Perhaps there's a patent on displaying left justified text on an ebook, and merely by ruining the product by right justification, the patent can be avoided.

regularfry 12y ago

Just to chime in from the opposite angle, I, too, have a Paperwhite. I've had it for quite a while now, and it's receded to being a "once a month" thing. There's some reason that the act of reading on it just isn't as comfortable as reading a physical page. I'm not a "casual reader" when it comes to physical books at all, and I was hoping that the Kindle would help me avoid having to buy more shelf-space, but if the product is preventing "casual readership" from turning into "hardcore readership", wherever you draw those lines, it's hard to see a business reason for doing so. I'll happily blame the justification, but there are other layout problems which also distract: image handling and inconsistent paging don't help in the slightest.

hyperbovine 12y ago

Exactly, Amazon understands and targets the majority, and they wind up very satisfied. This article lost me at "you’ll find hundreds and hundreds of people asking, begging for Amazon to change this." Ooh, hundreds! Amazon has manufactured at least 10 million kindles by now.

mark-r 12y ago
The point is that the product would be better for those millions of people too, they just don't realize it enough to ask. The same way people didn't realize they wanted an iPhone until Apple invented it - people were quite happy with their Blackberries.
encoderer 12y ago
I think Steve Jobs would say that by making a product beautiful enough to satisfy enthusiasts, you'll satisfy millions of consumers as well. They probably can't put their finger on exactly what makes it better, it just feels good.

logfromblammo 12y ago

The person who truly cares about typography, or even uploading and using their own fonts, will not buy the Kindle in the first place. Kobo has already had those features for years now. As it happens, I didn't buy my Kobo Aura H2O for that reason. I bought it for the microSD card slot, the frontlight, the ability to move documents to and from the device on my own terms, and the ability to read EPUBs without a pass through Calibre first. The water resistance is a nice plus. I'm all for making the Kobo the best reading device ever, but so far, after the first 40 books, I haven't been able to come up with anything I might want to change about the hardware. The Kobo in-device bookstore and computer sync software, on the other hand, could use some more work. Fortunately for me, I don't ever have to use either of those things to enjoy the full use of my hardware device. Even if Amazon has 70% of the market share, they can't afford to ignore features that their remaining competitors have.