Totally agree with this article, but I'm surprised he doesn't mention the train wreck of the touch screen on the Paperwhite.
For a start it's incredibly flaky. Sometimes the slightest accidental touch will cause it to jump randomly to somewhere in the book. Other times I can press it hard or rub furiously and still nothing happens. Then sometimes it will pause for a few seconds, then do something incomprehensible.
If it had simply retained touch for "go forward" and "go back" it would be acceptable, but it seems that the Sales Department insisted that the engineers overload it with extra features.
When I'm reading I'm constantly interrupted by the idiotic "change font" or "look up dictionary" or "take notes" function when I don't want them. It's infuriating.
And then when reading a Magazine, the actions change and suddenly there's a jump forward (or back) one chapter which causes you to completely loose your page.
> I love my Kindle, but I hate the touch function.
I don't know, I read a lot on the Paperwhite and I got used to the touch screen. It's quite comfortable, even though I would probably prefer some actual buttons. In any case I was won over. I was reading a lot of paper books before and I am finding the experience of reading with an ereader to be superior in almost every way.
> ... and I am finding the experience of reading with an ereader to be superior in almost every way.
That's what keep sneezing or Kindle. Not having to fiddle and accidentally leave my place if I set the book down, being able to get a new book almost instantly, being able to look up words I don't know keep using the Kindle despite all the software/hardware faults. Not having to fiddle and accidentally leave my place if I set the book down, being able to get a new book almost instantly, being able to look up words I don't know.
But the absolute best is progress syncing. I don't bring my Kindle in less I know I'm going to need it, but anywhere I get stuck I can pull out my phone and pick up the book I was reading right at my last position. When I get back to my Kindle it already knows how much further I read. It's like hav when I get back to my Kindle it already knows how much further I read. It's so much more convenient than carrying a physical book around.
Especially large/long books. I read King's The Stand last summer. I'm glad I didn't have to struggle with the 1,200 page physical edition.
> I'm glad I didn't have to struggle with the 1,200 page physical edition.
Yes. I read a lot in bed before sleeping, and i found it extremely uncomfortable nowadays to have to turn pages in a paper book - having the possibility to just be on the same "surface" when reading text is just great. And the paperwhite is just light enough that it does not get too painful on your wrists, compared to a large book that just makes you tired holding it.
I think you might have a defective unit, the touchscreen on my Paperwhite works reliably.
That said, even when it works perfectly it remains inferior to the simple shoulder buttons that the older kindles had. I hope Amazon brings them back on the next Kindle.
And those "touchstrips" on the Voyage are indeed infuriating. If anyone is in the market for a kindle then by all means save your money and stick with the Paperwhite.
I have an older kindle with shoulder buttons and a keyboard. That interface would be vastly superior to a touchscreen except that Amazon unaccountably left the numbers off of the keyboard. Far and away the most common use I have for the keyboard is jumping to a particular location, which calls for me to input numbers.
The Paperwhites I got for my brother and sister use much more convenient number input (touchscreen) and have much nicer cases. I prefer my grey screen to their white, though.
If Amazon just released a kindle with the same four shoulder buttons, the same screen, a lighter-weight case, and number buttons so I don't have to navigate an on-screen symbol display with a hard-to-use D-pad, I'd be thrilled. The buttons don't need to be reimagined. I don't get why they left.
For a start it's incredibly flaky. Sometimes the slightest accidental touch will cause it to jump randomly to somewhere in the book. Other times I can press it hard or rub furiously and still nothing happens. Then sometimes it will pause for a few seconds, then do something incomprehensible.
If it had simply retained touch for "go forward" and "go back" it would be acceptable, but it seems that the Sales Department insisted that the engineers overload it with extra features.
When I'm reading I'm constantly interrupted by the idiotic "change font" or "look up dictionary" or "take notes" function when I don't want them. It's infuriating.
And then when reading a Magazine, the actions change and suddenly there's a jump forward (or back) one chapter which causes you to completely loose your page.
I love my Kindle, but I hate the touch function.