Kindle Paperwhite

I find it interesting that Joshua Topolsky (the Verge) also reviewed this device[1], but was much more impressed than John Gruber. I don't think this results from a preference difference, but rather a perspective difference:<p>Where Topolsky reviewed the Kindle Paperwhite as an electronic device, comparing it to other tablet and e-reader devices, Gruber weighed the Kindle as a book, comparing its characteristics to the print medium.<p>Considered together, I find the two reviews complementary. The Kindle Paperwhite beats other electronic reading media, but is still lacks some of the characteristics of print. It's certainly a step in that direction, though.<p>[1] <a href="http://www.theverge.com/2012/9/30/3433110/amazon-kindle-paperwhite-review" rel="nofollow">http://www.theverge.com/2012/9/30/3433110/amazon-kindle-pape...</a>

"Amazon should hire a world-class book designer to serve as product manager for the Kindle."<p>I think this comment is just about right. The Kindle team really needs to focus on making the Kindle as good as traditional books, when applicable, but better than books whenever possible. Currently the Kindle fails to be as good as books where it counts most (e.g., clarity/sharpness of text, page layout decisions [e.g., hyphens], font choices, display contrast, index functionality, TOC functionality), and it only does a decent job of employing some of the technological advantages it has over books (e.g., the Kindle has a great weight-to-content-offered ratio, it backs up your collection remotely). It kind of surprises me that the Kindle hasn't already surpassed traditional books in every way. Maybe my expectations are too high, or maybe Amazon is more concerned with the bottom line than responding to readers like me. I don't know.

My top three:<p>1) Give me back my physical pageturn buttons that I can tap without moving my fingers! Why, Amazon, why?<p>2) Make the LED whiter, maybe even yellower, instead of bluish. I'm not a color expert, I just know that this color looks wrong.<p>3) I'm not sure what's up with the font, but pick a font that doesn't look fragile, like some parts of thinner connectors are half-not-there.

My main problem is the color temperature of the light. It should shift from blue to orange as you make it dimmer. Reading with a blue cast light late at night, with the lights turned down sucks.<p>One of my main use cases is reading a book before bed. Without f.lux-like functionality that use case is significantly worse.<p>On the other hand, I can turn a bedlamp on and turn the backlight off, which is OK.

I agree on most points, and made the same upgrade (Keyboard to Paperwhite).<p>I love it, but I have three gripes. Two of them the author mentioned: uneven lighting at the bottom and the lack of physical pageturning buttons. The latter of which is <i>not</i> nitpicky as luigi has stated, it does fundamentally change your most common interaction with the device.<p>The third problem is that I have to go in to settings to turn off wireless. Their 8-week claim only works if there is no wireless on; otherwise it lasts a paltry couple of days. The old Keyboard model allowed you to turn on/off networking while reading a book. This version forces you to go to the home screen, then to settings, turn off networking, back to home, and finally back to your book. That's obnoxious.

I've owned a Kindle 2 (returned it within 30 days), Nook Touch (sold it), Kindle Touch (soon to sell it), and now the Kindle Paperwhite.<p>The Paperwhite is clearly superior to all of them. Gruber's points are all extremely nitpicky.<p>(1) It's not a big deal to move your thumb an inch to tap the screen. The device is so light that I suspect it would be hard to make a button with just the right resistance so that it could be easily pressed while holding it in one hand. But seriously, moving your thumb isn't hard. Gruber also harps on not being able to operate large screen Android phones with one hand. Just use both hands for crying out loud.<p>(2) The default Caecilia font is great. I think it's beautiful. Gruber loved picking on Droid Sans, but I think that's a great font too.<p>It's a worthy upgrade to any of the previous e-ink Kindles.

I love the way he approaches the device. His argument that Amazon should work their asses off making this as perfect as possible for reading books is very compelling. Great buttons - yes. Beautiful, deliberately selected typography - yes. I hope someone at Amazon is thinking the same way - I think I'll wait to buy a Kindle when Gruber says "this is what it should be."

I wish Amazon would hire some competent UX people. I love the screens and hate hate hate hate hate hate hate using their devices. I'll put up with the iPad screen to read at night because the Kindle software works <i>better</i> on it. W. T. F.? I'm waiting for an e-ink screen with physical page turn buttons, with <i>no</i> other UI than the absolutely bare minimum to read books. I don't want a keyboard, or a web browser, or even a store. Please, just a THING that lets me read. Does such a device exist? Of course, content is king and therefore no single device will ever suffice, which is maddening in its own special way.

"the Kindle still lacks hyphenation but yet insists upon full-justified text. Full justification without hyphenation inevitably results in unsightly gaps between words on a few lines each page."<p>On my Kindle, at least, words seem to be separated at most 1 em, and any more and they go 'ragged right' instead of hyphenating — which I actually found far more pleasant than even Liang's LaTeX hyphenation algorithm in terms of readability.

Does the touch screen require flesh or equivalent, or will it work through cloth and fabric?<p>One of the nicest things about my first generation Kindle, and it's nice big page turning buttons on the sides, is that I can read in bed on a cold night, snug under my blanket, grasping the Kindle through the blanket.<p>To turn the page, I simply have to bump the side with the hand that is not holding it. This can be done without taking either hand out from under the blanket. In fact, I can usually just bump it on my stomach or chest.<p>If I have to actually extrude some fleshy appendage out from under my blanket to turn pages, I will consider that a step backwards.

I strongly recommend the Kobo Glo. Amazing backlit ereader.

The primary reason I upgraded from a 3rd gen Kindle to the Kindle 4 rather than the Touch was the latter's lack of page-turn buttons. But I've been using the Paperwhite for a week now and it's not been a problem at all.<p>I just rest my thumb on the bottom right corner and move it about as much as I did with the actual button on prior models.<p>I was excited about the new fonts when I saw them announced, but will agree with Gruber that none of them are great. I still prefer Caecilia Condensed.<p>My Paperwhite also suffers from some unevenness in the lighting on the bottom, but I quickly forgot about it. Amazon's product description promises an evenly illuminated display, so it would be better if they actually delivered, of course.

I don't understand the dislike of Caecilia. Sure, it's not quite a book font, but the kindle isn't quite a book either. For the context, Caecilia looks great.

I have a kobo touch and I love it. My advice is:<p>- buy a simple ereader.<p>- Turn Off everything you can: the store, wifi, 3g, recommendations, awards, share, ads.etc ANything with an off button.<p>- Once a month or three load it up with some books that you would like to read. Just books. Not too many. Choose, then load.<p>Basically, de-gadgetize it. Make it into a book. A nice, light book.<p>Our computer world is a hell of distractions. To me, any reminder that I'm reading on a "device" that can do other things is unwelcome. Even recharging the device breaks the illusions for me.<p>I was initially frustrated that I didn't have a convenient way o get short PDFs, blog posts and such onto the device. Now I'm glad. Short-form articles would just put me into browsing mode.<p>The upshot of all this is that unless the manufacturers can get better at things they are already very good at (eg weight, battery life), I want the old cheap one. I don't want any new features.<p>My default position is suspicion of every "feature." I hear "paperwhite screen" My immediate reaction is I don't want it to feel more like a screen &#38; I don't want it to feel more like a screen and I don't want a brightness button.

Has anyone here compared it IRL with the GlowLight Nook? Thoughts?

OP&#62;&#62; It definitely feels different on my eyes than LED/LCD backlighting. ... This new display, even with the lighting turned on, still feels like e-ink.<p>Does someone know what is going on? As such, the light is light whether from LEDs/LCD or from Kindle Paperwhite.<p>Kindle may be using less default brightness levels but that could be adjusted for LCDs too. Is lower contrast ratio of Kindle helping since black is not too black [1][2]<p>[1] Kindle has contrast ratio of ~10:1. See here <a href="http://www.best-ereaders.com/2010/09/02/eink-pearl-vs-eink-vizplex/" rel="nofollow">http://www.best-ereaders.com/2010/09/02/eink-pearl-vs-eink-v...</a><p>[2] <a href="http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=4357002" rel="nofollow">http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=4357002</a>

I may not be representative, but I actually prefer the lack of backlighting in my keyboard-kindle. The fonts don't bother me either, but Gruber may have a point here.<p>I would like a good touchscreen, however I like my page-turning buttons and do not want to give up those. I'm also concerned that battery life will be worse on these newer version, and that is something I care about.<p>Gruber has a point in that the Kindle should be extremely optimized for reading. I already own an iPad, I don't want an eBook Reader that tries to be a cheap tablet.

So I guess not really worth upgrading from the Kindle Keyboard with a lit cover. Too bad, the cover makes it quite heavy, but I also really like page turning buttons for lazy reading.

I agree about the page-turning buttons. That is why I didn't get the touch and won't get the paperwhite. I don't mind not having backlighting, so I'll stick with the cheapest Kindle.

Agree with most points.<p>I rant into a bug at the gym.<p>The usual tap, swipe to turn page was instead activating the font size select. I'm not sure if my sweaty finger (sorry for the image) was the cause, or some other bug in the Kindle.<p>Amazon really needs to make these devices solid. I like the e-ink for the relaxing time experience AND the fact that I don't have to worry about battery (mostly), I just shove it in my gym bag, something I can't do with my nexus 7, b/c the battery might be almost dead.

How is the paperwhite with pdf journal articles and textbooks?

Considering that paper books don't have buttons for turning the pages, I find the complaint about the lack of a button for page turning amusing. I suspect it is still less effort to flip a page on the kindle than on a paper book.<p>Not that such a button would necessarily be a bad idea (not sure). I suppose it would have to be quite sturdy, as it would be used a lot. Perhaps on the touch screen the clicks are distributed more and so it will last longer.

My nook touch has great hardware buttons and a touch screen. It's also over a year old now and still works great.

I no longer read Gruber's posts or reviews of products that do not start with an <i>i</i>. Because all he does is just re-post those <i>i</i>posts replacing <i>is just the right</i> with <i>is just not right</i>, which saves him both time and energy.<p>Thought I shall share the revelation :-/

Is it just me or does 'paperwhite' sound all to similar to 'paperweight'? Not a good association if you ask me