Posts tagged ereaders

Can the Kindle Tablet learn from the XO Laptop?

russianpencil:

I was inspired by the discussion Marco Arment and Ryan Irelan had on the latest episode of Build and Analyze about the rumored “Kindle Tablet.” It got me thinking about the kind of device I would love for Amazon to make — one that I would actually consider buying over an iPad.

I’d like to build on the two seemingly incongruous ideas proposed by Marco Arment and Dan Provost regarding Amazon’s upcoming Kindle tablet. I want the product Provost suggests in his post (because I think e-ink is a feature not a limitation), but I believe Arment’s vision makes more sense given the ecosystem for content Amazon has been developing recently. 

But what if there’s a middle ground here? Both writers seem to acknowledge that it will be next to impossible for Amazon to challenge Apple in any meaningful way, so clearly the Kindle Tablet will have to stake out new territory that the iPad doesn’t currently encompass. 

A few years ago, when I was imagining what the iTab or iSlate (or whatever name we thought the iPad would take) was going to be, I imagined something that built on the technology of the underwhelming XO Laptop. While the project fell short of high expectations, I always remained impressed by its screen technology. The XO Laptop had a dual LCD/high contrast black and white screen that enabled users to use it in direct sunlight. 

The forthcoming Kindle device could satisfy both Arment’s and Provost’s visions by going this route. A color LCD touchscreen for using apps and watching Amazon Prime Instant Video, and high contrast black and white mode for reading.

russianpencil

Why ebooks should follow Instapaper’s lead.

What can ebooks learn from the popular reading app, Instapaper? As it turns out, a whole lot. Instapaper excels at bringing readers a beautifully designed and uncluttered reading experienced, with dynamic elements built into the fabric of the text.
 
Aside from its excellent implementation of typography, Instapaper makes it dead simple to share chunks of what you are reading with other people. The absence of a similar feature on the Kindle has frustrated me to no end over the years. Inevitably, I’m deep in the text of an interesting article or book, when I am suddenly overcome with the urge to share something with a friend or family member. But despite its ubiquitous connection to the web, this is not possible on the Kindle.

Instapaper makes this process very easy, using Apple’s built-in popovers, familiar to any user who’s made use of the cut/copy/paste functionality in iOS. Highlighting a word or chunk of text in Instapaper and choosing the “Share” button popover enables the reader to post that piece to Tumblr or Twitter — as well as the ability to send a simple email.

(It should also be noted that the same popover contains a “define” button for looking up words quickly. The Kindle already implements this, though it’s a clunky experience.)

As we move more and more of things we read from paper to screen, the impulse to share will only become more common. Adding this sort of functionality to our ebooks is a win-win for both readers and  ebooks resellers like Amazon, Barnes and Noble and Apple. The format of the quoted text could easily include a link back the web site where the book could be purchased or sampled.

I think it’s safe to say that while reading may be one of the last vestiges of solitary media consumption experiences, our reaction to thoughtful articles, essays, novels, etc. is to share what we have learned. Instapaper makes this process easy. It should be just as easy with ebooks.

This entry is part of a larger series called “e-books and the future.”