Why Kindle 2 is not an Apple product by Jim1010

[akpak]

I would never want to read a book on something as small as an iPhone.

Not the whole book at any rate.

I tried out a reader app for the iPhone before buying my Kindle, to test a) whether I would read "on the go" that much, and b) if I really even needed a Kindle if a).

I can read on the iPhone for short periods of time, but it's not fun for really settling in to a good book. I love that there's an iPhone app though, it's perfect for those "standing in line" reading opportunities.

[Ann in Arlington]

Leslie has a good review on the 'other reviews' forum. . .I agree I wouldn't want to read a whole book, but I can see using it  to have something to do when you have just a short wait and/or your Kindle isn't with you.  And, as someone else said, the more Kindle buzz the better for all of us!

Ann

[Britt]

2. The screen savers cannot be removed. This seems to be a small point here on KindleBoard, but Apple would never let it happen. There will be people, like me, who find them generic and childish. Someone said, on another post, that they are reminiscent of the posters in Barnes and Noble. That is not praise! They are Eurocentric, clichéd, unimaginative, and above all they are not mine! Apple would have made it easier, not harder, to get rid of the screensavers.

I agree that it would be nice to have a more culturally diverse selection of authors on the screensavers.

[jmiked]

Here's another way you can tell it's not an Apple product:

I actually bought one.  I would never consider buying any more Apple products.

I prefer to look at things more on a merit basis than who manufactures it. 

Mike

[nelamvr6]

I prefer to look at things more on a merit basis than who manufactures it. 

Mike

Me too...  Hence my comment.

[pomlover2586]

First off I disagree with OP......I love the Kindle and I'm glad Amazon made it and not Apple.......second I'm a young reader [23] and while it's not the "thing" for my generation to do it is by far one of my favorite past times....so once again I thank Amazon

[kyliedork]

If apple made the kindle we would need special DRM glasses for reading the text

[Kind]

First off I disagree with OP......I love the Kindle and I'm glad Amazon made it and not Apple.......second I'm a young reader [23] and while it's not the "thing" for my generation to do it is by far one of my favorite past times....so once again I thank Amazon

Totally agree with you! 

[Jill75]

I would never want to read a book on something as small as an iPhone.

same here as it gives strain in my eyes so much. A good reader for me has to be more than 5" -7" in creen for better readability.

[kyliedork]

yes, anything smaller than 9inchs doesn't really work with formating and eye movement, etc

[tylerdurden51]

how could anyone read from something as small as an apple?

[Chad Winters (#102)]

yes, anything smaller than 9inchs doesn't really work with formating and eye movement, etc

Size DOES matter! 

[happyblob]

nah , don't get us started

[kyliedork]

Yes, size does matter when you are a little lacking

[Kind]

how could anyone read from something as small as an apple?

Yeah, I know. Good product but not for reading.

[Scheherazade]

Gotta love that apple packaging.  Seriously, even though it has nothing to do with the kindle I think it's the best packaging I've seen for a product in a long time.  It stresses the eco-friendly aspects of the Kindle itself, the fall of letters is charming and indicative of the product, and the little touches on the pull tabs (Once upon a time...) and even the UPC code were a fun touch.

The grey screen?  Thank God.  I would hate to read on anything approaching a white screen.

No touch screen?  Fine with me.  I don't want fingerprints all over my Kindle screen and I don't want to deal with the extra layer that's required to make it touchable.  Not to mention the little spots that pop up and the 'grid' when it gets older.  I hate reading through screen doors.

Screensavers, sure I'd like to see it more easily customizable.  But we're a great community and it took all of 2 weeks?  1 week?  To figure out how on our own.  Personally I like the majority of the stock screensavers anyway.  Did you want flying windows or something?  Not sure what sort of screensaver pictures you'd put on a reading device if not authors.

[kanon14]

Kindle 2 is fun, but it would never have been made by Apple. Here are four reasons. There are many more!

1. The screen still isn't bright like paper. It looks dull and waxy, like multiply-recycled paper, or unbleached paper that can be found in some Indian and third-world books.

2. The screen savers cannot be removed. This seems to be a small point here on KindleBoard, but Apple would never let it happen. There will be people, like me, who find them generic and childish. Someone said, on another post, that they are reminiscent of the posters in Barnes and Noble. That is not praise! They are Eurocentric, clichéd, unimaginative, and above all they are not mine! Apple would have made it easier, not harder, to get rid of the screensavers.

3. Apple would have made it easy to make the top and bottom of the screen blank. That extra information can be very annoying. Why not just show it when the user presses a button? Kindle 2 is reminiscent of Microsoft Word 2008, which also forces an extra bar on users (just above the page), which cannot be removed.

4. The design is intermittently silly. The packaging reminds me of shallow trays that are sometimes used by Chinese and Thai takeways. The spills of letters that ornament the packaging, and also the manual, look like 1970s student graphic designs.

5.  Apple would have had a touch screen, like the iPhone, instead of the keyboard, which is not needed all the time -- so why show it all the time?

I'm not sad I bought the Kindle 2, but I can clearly see it will be superseded by Apple, or Google, unless it radically improves in its next incarnation.

Wow I'm an Apple user too but I come on, Apple wouldn't make an e-reader like that. What you mentioned is a multimedia tablet, which is WORSE than the Kindle for READING.

[Tip10]

And the main reason a Kindle is not an Apple -- its not overpriced by 50-100%.
To me, it appears that for most everything you end up paying a stiff premium to apply the Apple name to it -- and that premium rarely, if ever, brings with it sufficient improvements or enhancements to warrant such a premium.

I'd much rather have a Kindle hooked into Amazon for $300 than an iReader hooked into iBooks for $600.