Why the Amazon Kindle Sucks
Gotcha.
I actually love my Kindle. I think I can count on one hand the number of dead tree books I’ve actually read since the Kindle came into my life… and that’s only because I live but a block away from the county central library and find it difficult to resist the urge to go exploring its shelves on occasion. Interestingly enough, I no longer do that because I need something to read — my Kindle’s got that covered in spades. It’s more when I’ve really got nothing better to do.
But all’s not hunky-dory in Kindletown. Oh, I’m not talking about some Kindle vs. Traditional Book “reading experience” debate crapola — anyone who owns a Kindle knows that that “debate” is idiotic and over (and, believe me, most if not all of us Kindleheads also love the dead tree form factor), but you can forget pointing that out to the tree killers — it’s not like it’s difficult to tell that much (most? all?) of the anti-Kindle pontification is coming at you from complete and utter ignorance. No way to do much more than a Mr. T and “pity the fools,” quite frankly. Throw salvation into the mix, and we’ve got something religious going on, actually. Ever tried arguing against someone who, at the end of the day, is armed with absolutely nothing but faith? Good luck with that.
Really, as far as the medium’s concerned, the Fat Lady has sung. Although the market dominance transition won’t be anywhere close to complete anytime soon, we all felt the shift.
If you think about it truthfully, at this point there really are only two things that keep you from going Kindle:
- Expense.
- You’re scared stiff of new tech/changing your ways.
No one can argue against reason #1 — yeah, the cost of entry is still pretty steep — but #2 falls cleanly into the “oh just go find a support group somewhere and shut up publicly already, because really, you know you’re just whining — and nobody likes whiners — even whiners” category. (If you don’t believe it, look up the word “denial” in a dictionary — something I can do quickly on-the-fly with the Kindle’s free built-in dictionary, by the way).
OK, enough of that dead horse and stick and on to why I started writing this in the first place: I just fully realized something that the Kindle can’t give us that the dead trees can.
Before I get to that, take note that although I’m writing about the Amazon Kindle, everything I say here really applies to ereaders and related as a lot, like the Barnes & Noble Nook and the Apple iPad. Speaking of which, since we’re on the subject, it’ll be the do-it-all connected “tablets” like the iPad that are going to win out in the ereader market in the end — heck, they’re going to kill off laptops too — but I digress. Onwards…
Well, come October if all goes well my wife and I will be the proud parents of a brand spanking new set of twin girls. This means my wife is now right smack in full nesting mode. If it’s the weekend, standing anywhere between her and Ikea is so not very recommended. All of you who’ve been through the father-to-be thing have no doubt also figured out what my weekends are like — yup, throwing out stuff I no longer need (which, as far as she’s concerned, is everything) to make room for the babies.
There go the books. That central library a block away I mentioned earlier? It’ll probably rename a wing in my honor after all the books I just donated. Yeah, it was a bit painful to see those go, but really, not so much. Because I’ve still got shelves of books I absolutely refuse to give up. These are books I want to own and must have. And not necessarily for reading either — although all have been read, some I’ve read multiple times, some only once, and none I’ll likely want to read again, at least not anytime soon or even in the foreseeable future. But I do want to own them, whatever my reasons.
And that, my friends, is where the Kindle falls short: It does not and cannot give you a sense of book ownership.
Interesting that it took the Kindle’s success to bring to the forefront the notion that with each traditional book, there really are two products: the content and the package. The Kindle does away with the latter, along with any features, benefits and emotions that can be solely attributed to it. In effect, it has rendered us as nothing more than content consumers — there really is no more “book” to own.
Hey, now that I think about it more, for us book lovers, that really does suck, doesn’t it?
Damn progress.
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9 Comments → “Why the Amazon Kindle Sucks”
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1 year ago
[...] Sarte presents Why the Amazon Kindle Sucks posted at Braintropolis.com, saying, “Wrote this months ago, but the Kindle sucked then, and [...]
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Gotta disagree. The kindle sucks for various reasons pertaining to Amazon’s billing, such as not being able to redeem gift cards without having a credit card registered with them. An idea I personally find abhorrent. But mainly because, and no matter what your personal view about this, they are just not cofortable to hold onto while reading. I hate my kindle. Kill some trees, they grow back. As an adendum to what I hate about the kindle it is privacy, or lack thereof. I don’t need or want an electronic record of what I read, and I don’t even need a good reason or justification for that at all. The kindle and I’ll daresay any e-reader out there sucks. I recieved it as a gift from a person who knows how much I read and one of thier selling points was how cheap the books are. Well they are much cheaper at the used bookstore where I buy 99 percent of my reading material. So in conclusion you have your opinion and I have mine, mine being that I hate my kindle.
I’m considering purchasing the K for work. I have a specific need for it. I need to carry (in the field, away from internet access) a stack of books about 2′ high(letter sized print). I can get them in PDF. They are copyrighted, but not copy protected. I am able(and permitted, if not encouraged!) to download and use them to my advantage.
Will I be able to download them onto the device and view them? If so, I can save $100s over the Ipad. I realize the functionality is less, but I don’t need it. Also, I’m on a truck. If the unit gets damaged, I won’t have a coronary.
Thanks in Advance,
TomJV
Twitter: braintropolis
1 year ago
Hello TomJV, welcome to Braintropolis…
Yes, transferring and reading PDF documents is dirt easy with the Kindle. You don’t even need to buy anything extra to transfer PDFs from your computer to the Kindle. The basic Amazon Kindle package already comes with everything you need: its power cable. The plug comes off and instantly converts the cable to a USB connector.
Enjoy!
PS The standard battery charger/USB cable came with my Kindle 2. Don’t know if the current crop of Kindles still have it, but I can’t imagine why they wouldn’t.
Truth: I sorta fall in the # 2 category. I don’t think the whole reading experience debate is ignorant, or over. Some people have a more tactile learning style, and just gain more knowledge from reading a printed book–especially children. There’s nothing wrong with appreciating traditional forms of entertainment.
Even though the books are from trees, they’re still biodegradable. Kindles are not. Also, Amazon really rips off its sellers. My friend makes 50 cents per book sold on Amazon–versus the $25 he gets from the few local bookstores that still exist around here.Yikes. I’m sure if the book were available in e-book form, he’d get less profit.
I fall in a 3rd category of the “not buying a Kindle” crowd, & you touched on it sort of: tablets will take over the market no doubt, & since you can install the Kindle reader for free on them I’m waiting patiently for an Android-tablet that gives the iPad a run for its money, which I plan to buy IMMEDIATELY when I find it
Meanwhile I use my smartphone to read my eBooks, & am quite happy with this arrangements – I don’t need another device cluttering my already tech-filled life.
I also agree with the wonderful sense of “ownership” one gets from physical books. I’ve had quite a few internal battles trying to decide whether to purchase a hardcopy or digital version of a book I really want. Digital tends to win more often simply because I don’t have the physical space to store new books (I have quite a library already), but every time I choose an eBook something inside of me cringes, like I have just committed the most terrible betrayel. I love my physical books, there is just something about ink on paper…
Oh shut up!!!!! Nook is the best!!!! I have a nook color and will be soon getting a nook eink as my eink reader. I had a kindle, it was annoying. Amazon is jusrt trying to put other stores out of business. Other people have the right to sell stuff.. Amazon thinks that theyre soo cool with their stupid kindle. I say nook is better.. Ive been a loyal customer to barnes and noble for a long time. And the kindle was so annouing. I love nook, and hate kindle!! I will never recomend a kindle to a friend because I dont want them to have the worst ereader ever. And you can tell that to amazon…… I dont care.
I wrote this on my nook color!!!!!
Twitter: wordpreneur
10 months ago
Thanks for all your comments on this old post. For my latest thoughts/observations on the state of the Kindle and all ereader tech for that matter, see my latest post on Wordpreneur. Link below. Toodles!
Latest on the Kindle Reading Experience + The Future of eReaders @ Wordpreneur
ees
Twitter: wordpreneur
10 months ago
One more additional related post on Wordpreneur you may find interesting/useful:
http://wordpreneur.com/kindle-vs-nook-what-to-buy/