The Amazon Kindle Reader – A User’s Experience
The Amazon Kindle is a hot gadget right now. It’s definitely the best e-book reader available on the market and there are no shortage of reviews of it. However, these all tend to focus very strongly on the technical abilities of the device, which is quite understandable – it’s a high tech gadget after all. A quick look at the actual user experience might be a good idea as well though.
First of all, a very quick look at the spec. The Kindle 2.0 has a ticket price of $ 259. It’s approximately the size of the average paperback and about as thick as a glossy magazine. It weighs a little over 10 ounces and has enough memory to store approximately 1500 books. One of its key features is its e-ink technology display. This produces less eye strain than reading on a PC screen – and has a much lower power requirement.
When I first took delivery of my Kindle, just a few weeks ago, my first impression was that the positioning of the buttons was a bit strange. On the left hand side there are two buttons – “prev page” and “next page”. The right hand side has two further buttons – “next page” and “home”. Initially I thought that there was one “next page” button too many. I felt that the one on the left hand side was surplus to requirements.
However, it all made perfect sense after only a few minutes of using the Kindle. Sitting reading propped up in bed, lying on a couch, on a crowded train or plane, or drinking coffee in Costa, it’s ideal. It’s really easy to hold the Kindle in your left hand and navigate forwards and backward through the pages just by using your thumb. It’s easier than a “real” book in fact.
Before I bought my Kindle, I had tried a display model e-book reader in my local bookstore. I must confess, I didn’t really like the way the page refreshed. Once again, after using the Kindle for just a few minutes, I didn’t even notice this anymore. It’s exactly like flipping the page in a “normal” paper book for me now.
The e-ink display is great for reading. It really is just like reading text printed on paper. Admittedly the background is a light grey rather than the more normal white or cream of paper – but you very quickly get used to this. It very definitely produces much less eye strain than a back-lit LCD screen. Whenever I’m reading a good book on my Kindle, I’m totally unaware that I’m using a funky electronic gadget.
The e-ink display’s low power requirement is another big plus point. I’m a fairly heavy user – I read a lot – and I find that, with the wireless turned off, the Kindle will last for about three weeks before it needs recharging. I only turn the wireless connection on if I want to buy a book. On the subject of buying books, the process is very simple, in fact it may be a little too efficient, I know I have made a few impulse buys. The Amazon publicity for the Kindle says that books download in just under a minute. I would say, based upon my own experience, that it takes a lot less than a minute for a typical book which isn’t packed with illustrations. It may not be a big deal – but it is all part of the positive user experience.
In summary, to try to give you an idea of just what a pleasant experience reading on the Kindle is, a couple of days ago I received an e-mail from Amazon which told me that my order had been shipped. I knew that I hadn’t ordered anything, so I went to check what had happened. I turned out that I had pre-ordered a book by one of my favourite authors some weeks ago and then forgotten about it. In all honesty, the idea of going back to reading a large heavy printed book (it’s a fairly hefty volume), albeit one written by an author that I really enjoy, is something of a disappointment. The thought of holding a big, clumsy book in my left hand and flipping pages with my right seems downright antiquated to me now.
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