Derrick
ლ(ಠ_ಠ )ლ
- Joined
- Nov 22, 2010
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Alright, so Amazon’s Kindle is here. Well, not actually “here” here. You see, you can’t actually buy one in South Africa. You can get one imported; however, if you want to actually buy books for it, you’ll have to gain access to an American billing address.
If you happen to already have access to an American billing address, then A) what are you still doing here?and B) Go you! You can download all the select few book releases available for the Kindle for about the same price they cost in a book store!
Alright, now that my sarcastic grumble is out of the way…
I will admit that the device is actually quite nifty. That is if you live in the USA and have access to Sprint’s EV-DO network. Just think, you can download and stock up on hundreds of e-books wirelessly. That is something I could get used to.
For minimalists, it’s a dream come true; no more piles of unsightly paperbacks littering your bookshelves, hell, no more bookshelves.
The biggest critique of the Kindle so far, apart from it not being a viable solution locally, is its lacklustre design. This surprised me. Amazon went to all the trouble to launch its e-books, code the software and manufacture the hardware, and yet somebody somewhere along the line dropped the ball in its design phase. You don’t need a marketing degree from MIT to know that people are more likely to buy a good looking product, than something as ugly as the Kindle.
If you look at similar digital handheld devices, you will quickly get a sense for the modern standard in terms of aesthetics. Take a look at the Kindle next to Apple’s new iPod touch and you immediately start getting the feeling that the Kindle designers are a bit out of touch.
Perhaps the next version will see sleeker curbs. Maybe a glossy finish and some colours other than white will make an appearance.
They say you can’t judge a book by its cover. Perhaps Amazon took that saying a little too seriously when they designed the Kindle.
If you happen to already have access to an American billing address, then A) what are you still doing here?and B) Go you! You can download all the select few book releases available for the Kindle for about the same price they cost in a book store!
Alright, now that my sarcastic grumble is out of the way…
I will admit that the device is actually quite nifty. That is if you live in the USA and have access to Sprint’s EV-DO network. Just think, you can download and stock up on hundreds of e-books wirelessly. That is something I could get used to.
For minimalists, it’s a dream come true; no more piles of unsightly paperbacks littering your bookshelves, hell, no more bookshelves.
The biggest critique of the Kindle so far, apart from it not being a viable solution locally, is its lacklustre design. This surprised me. Amazon went to all the trouble to launch its e-books, code the software and manufacture the hardware, and yet somebody somewhere along the line dropped the ball in its design phase. You don’t need a marketing degree from MIT to know that people are more likely to buy a good looking product, than something as ugly as the Kindle.
If you look at similar digital handheld devices, you will quickly get a sense for the modern standard in terms of aesthetics. Take a look at the Kindle next to Apple’s new iPod touch and you immediately start getting the feeling that the Kindle designers are a bit out of touch.
Perhaps the next version will see sleeker curbs. Maybe a glossy finish and some colours other than white will make an appearance.
They say you can’t judge a book by its cover. Perhaps Amazon took that saying a little too seriously when they designed the Kindle.