When I fetched my Mom from the airport, I get to play her Amazon Kindle. Not that it has an alluring and to-die-for aesthetics, it actually has none, but it's because when I unfurled it, there is this one eBook/AudioBook I particularly love, Einstein: His life and Universe by Walter Isaacson. A biography about the century's most revered rockstar in science is just simply compelling for me.
This is not my maiden experience in manhandling an eBook. I used to demo one brand, Franklin eBookMan, when I was a Product Management Officer in one of the electronics retail chains in the country wayback 2000. Yes, I started gadget lusting earlier than you can ever imagine.
The Amazon Kindle is among the myriad of eBook readers out in the market competing with Sony eBook Reader, Barnes&Noble Nook, BeBook Neo, and Kobo eReader. If you think that these readers are out to compete with iPad, then think again. They each have a hugely different market spectrum. Comparing an eBook reader to tablets is like comparing apple to oranges.
Though it isn't using touchscreen technology, isn't touchscreen, the buttons are pretty much intuitive. You simply have to note the five-way navigation button, home, back, volume rocker, and a power button. That's simply it.
The screen uses eInk(electrophoretic ink) technology, employing on a charged titanium particles dispersed in hydrocarbon oil that when charged will cause images to appear. Unlike your regular TFT LCD screen, this one doesn't have a refresh rate so it isn't straining to the eye. Also, it uses ambient light and not generated from its back panel like the ones LCD used, so the images you see on the screen appeared as a solid block of black and white.
To test the images, I tried using its integrated browser, and whoahhh, the internet world as seen by a color blind. It's the world wide web in grayscale. Some may find it weird but the experience reminds me of my Palm M105 and Palm M500 using AvantGo browser. Like what I said, I started fiddling techtoys pretty early.
nice, but i still love reading old school and plan to put up a library of my own.
ReplyDeleteI loooooove Amazon Kindle! :) My mom has one and im always borrowing it since I love reading books from there.
ReplyDeleteMedyo hassle nga lang to surf sa net. Like you said, it's not colored, plus the buttons are really not made for easy surfing. But then again, I rarely search on Kindle. I really use it to read. The best part is, it has a dictionary function while im reading. :) No need to bring my dictionary with me when im reading. Woot woot! :D And i love the loooooong battery life
@Smarla: medyo mabagal lang browser nya, because I tried comparing browser execution on pages using my laptop's safari and the amazon's browser, bagal talaga ng amazon. and yes, the looooong battery life is a cool feature. it was able to withstand the entire flight duration from maryland to detroit to nagoya and to the philippines. grabeh.
ReplyDelete@Katey: pagmay library ka na, invite mo si LadyE na magput up ng coffee shop dun, para dun nalang ako magkakape.
ReplyDelete@Katey: sasabihin ko pa lang kung libre membership ko dun tapos humirit pala si John.
ReplyDelete@John: manhandled talaga???
@LadyE: papano ka nakalibre, courtesy subscription? para sa mga VIP?
ReplyDelete