{"id":916,"date":"2011-03-18T14:05:52","date_gmt":"2011-03-18T14:05:52","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/andyparkes.co.uk\/blog\/index.php\/2011\/03\/18\/amazon-kindlefirst-impressions\/"},"modified":"2011-03-18T14:05:52","modified_gmt":"2011-03-18T14:05:52","slug":"amazon-kindlefirst-impressions","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/andyparkes.co.uk\/blog\/index.php\/2011\/03\/18\/amazon-kindlefirst-impressions\/","title":{"rendered":"Amazon Kindle–First Impressions"},"content":{"rendered":"

Yeah ok I did it. <\/p>\n

The day after I posted about how I couldn\u2019t decide whether a Kindle would work for me<\/a> I went and got one. <\/p>\n

First up thank you to everyone who commented on that post \u2013 it was great to get all the different points of view. <\/p>\n

What really swung if for me though was something AMITPRO<\/a> member Matt Barton<\/a> tweeted. <\/p>\n

\n

Do you have a Kindle? Use this great tip to use Google Reader through the browser. http:\/\/ow.ly\/4dS9V<\/a><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

I use Google Reader extensively. The tip above explains that through the use of keyboard shortcuts you can place Google Reader into full screen mode and then navigate between the posts. Since you get free 3g access on the Kindle it means I can keep up with my feeds from anywhere. I do this with my mobile phone but the larger screen works much better. <\/p>\n

As an extension of this \u2013 I also found that the mobile optimised version of google reader<\/a> works quite well too. <\/p>\n

Anyway \u2013 now I\u2019ve had it for a few days what do I think?<\/p>\n

Well as I said in my previous post I had no doubt from a technical perspective that I\u2019d love the device and it\u2019s actually even better than expected on that front.<\/p>\n

It\u2019s size and weight work really well. The screen and the text it displays are crisp and easy on the eye and the connectivity is good.3G access everywhere is great to have and it flies on a wireless collection. I\u2019m even impressed with the experimental web browser and while it\u2019s not a substitute for a device designed for web browsing it\u2019ll be ok for quick lookups. <\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

I\u2019ve found some of the mobile optimised sites work quite well too. <\/p>\n

The keyboard takes a little while to get used to and symbol entry is a little fiddly but this is a reading device so it\u2019s not something to complain about and once you\u2019ve used it a few times it\u2019s easy enough to work with. <\/p>\n

I also like how they have added the navigation buttons on both<\/strong> sides of the Kindle. Initially I thought it was a bit of waste but now I\u2019ve been using it switching pages is so easy because it doesn\u2019t matter how I hold it I can always get at a button. This may sound odd but it actually means i can read faster because pressing the button and getting the next page displayed is quicker than physically turning a page. <\/p>\n

It\u2019s even got games!<\/p>\n

From the home screen press ALT + SHIFT M for minesweeper and then press G for GoMoku (five in a row). <\/p>\n

All of this is before you even read any books!<\/p>\n

I think the Amazon store could do with some improvements. If you know what you\u2019re looking for or have a specific things to search for it\u2019s fine. But if you just to browse you can only do so by category and sub-category which isn\u2019t helpful if a category has a couple of thousand books in it. I imagine this is by design though as most browsing would be done on a PC. <\/p>\n

That said the details on the store that are displayed on the Kindle are good. A summary page is initially displayed and drilling into more information such as reviews is really easy. <\/p>\n

The purchase process is very good. Pick what you want and the books appears on your device seconds later! <\/p>\n

I\u2019m also very impressed with the ability to view sample chapters. I can see me very easily taking a look at a book and having to press the \u201cBuy Now\u201d button so I can carry on reading.<\/p>\n

So am I happy with it? <\/p>\n

Resoundingly yes.<\/p>\n

I\u2019ve still got a bit of weird feeling about switching from physical books. Some of the comments in the last post made some good points about the Kindle not totally replacing my physical books but I guess my problem is despite that it will<\/strong> replace some<\/u> of them. But this is something I need to adjust to and as someone who reads a lot the benefits far outweigh the downsides.<\/p>\n

My only wish is that I could change the standby images without jailbreaking it \"Smile\"<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Yeah ok I did it. The day after I posted about how I couldn\u2019t decide whether a Kindle would work for me I went and got one. First up thank you to everyone who commented on that post \u2013 it was great to get all the different points of view. What really swung if for<\/p>\n

<\/span>Read More<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":false,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[108],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-916","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-kindle"],"yoast_head":"\nAmazon Kindle–First Impressions - Andy's Techie Blog<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/andyparkes.co.uk\/blog\/index.php\/2011\/03\/18\/amazon-kindlefirst-impressions\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Amazon Kindle–First Impressions - Andy's Techie Blog\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Yeah ok I did it. 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