

Kindle Paperwhite - DaNmarner
http://daringfireball.net/2012/10/kindle_paperwhite

======
spartango
I find it interesting that Joshua Topolsky (the Verge) also reviewed this
device[1], but was much more impressed than John Gruber. I don't think this
results from a preference difference, but rather a perspective difference:

Where Topolsky reviewed the Kindle Paperwhite as an electronic device,
comparing it to other tablet and e-reader devices, Gruber weighed the Kindle
as a book, comparing its characteristics to the print medium.

Considered together, I find the two reviews complementary. The Kindle
Paperwhite beats other electronic reading media, but is still lacks some of
the characteristics of print. It's certainly a step in that direction, though.

[1] [http://www.theverge.com/2012/9/30/3433110/amazon-kindle-
pape...](http://www.theverge.com/2012/9/30/3433110/amazon-kindle-paperwhite-
review)

~~~
greenmountin
That review was pure cotton candy -- published the day before the device was
released, with a few other similar embargoed pieces [1]. I was convinced that
he just wanted to keep getting scoops.

I pre-ordered it and got it ASAP, and like it except for the extreme sparsity
of settings. The wifi is on either for browsing or page syncing; it should be
smart enough to turn off if you're not interested in either. The light can't
be turned completely off [although, I admit I can't think of a use case for
this]. I was excited at how quickly it transfers files -- the specs say USB
2.0, but it's pretty much instantaneous, even for 100 MB bootlegs. The uneven
lighting makes me feel resentful, but of course they're just saving that for
v2.0

The Kindle Store is useless at selling me new content -- I have a wishlist of
books I'd like to read/buy someday. You'd think offering me a Kindle Version
of one of them would be a first choice.

And of course, the paperwhite is rooted, so if Gruber wants he can just add
new fonts soon [2].

[1] [http://gizmodo.com/5947435/kindle-paperwhite-review-
forget-e...](http://gizmodo.com/5947435/kindle-paperwhite-review-forget-
everything-else-this-is-the-e+reader-you-want)

[2] <http://www.mobileread.com/forums/showthread.php?t=192858>

~~~
w1ntermute
> That review was pure cotton candy -- published the day before the device was
> released, with a few other similar embargoed pieces [1]. I was convinced
> that he just wanted to keep getting scoops.

That's a very serious accusation. Do you have any proof to back it up? If
anything, The Verge has been quite critical of technology products, and I have
no reason to doubt that there's anything untoward influencing their reviews
(other than from blatant Apple fanboyism, particularly on the part of Nilay
Patel. Take a look at his recent iPod Nano review[0], for example).

0: [http://www.theverge.com/2012/10/10/3481926/apple-ipod-
nano-r...](http://www.theverge.com/2012/10/10/3481926/apple-ipod-nano-
review-2012)

~~~
gurkendoktor
You start out with:

> That's a very serious accusation

(Which I don't agree with, the way it was written) And then you go on to
accuse the same website of something else:

> blatant Apple fanboyism

Seriously? - And how is this related to the OP? And from the review you've
linked to:

> The new nano might have Apple’s connector of the future, but everything else
> about it clings tightly to the past — to a world in which iTunes is still
> the center of the digital media universe, not a bloated relic badly in need
> of a fresh start and new ideas.

 _This_ is so fanboyish that it's worth the side snark?

~~~
w1ntermute
> Which I don't agree with, the way it was written

The OP's saying that a technology website is allowing itself to be swayed for
the sake of scoops. This is one of the most serious accusations you can make
of a journalist, because it's basically saying you can't trust anything they
write.

> This is so fanboyish that it's worth the side snark?

Nilay gave the device a 7.7 when Apple clearly fucked up with the Nano. There
was a TON of potential for smart watch innovation with the previous Nano.
Apple even acknowledged it when they added clock faces to the Nano last year.
There were very successful Kickstarter projects based on using the Nano as a
smart watch. Instead of making that official, Apple fucked it all up by (yet
again) completely changing the form factor.

My accusation is very different from the OP's because it's not based on any
factual misconduct - it's simply the result of Nilay (like many other people)
getting sucked into the RDF and drinking Apple's Kool-Aid far too much. If you
watch the Vergecast, you'll understand very quickly that he has a barely
concealed raging hardon for all things Apple.

~~~
gurkendoktor
I think the first four words here make a huge difference:

> _I was convinced_ that he just wanted to keep getting scoops.

~~~
w1ntermute
I don't see how they do. Of course he was convinced, otherwise he wouldn't be
making that statement in the first place. My question was _why_ he thought
that.

------
merryandrew
"Amazon should hire a world-class book designer to serve as product manager
for the Kindle."

I think this comment is just about right. The Kindle team really needs to
focus on making the Kindle as good as traditional books, when applicable, but
better than books whenever possible. Currently the Kindle fails to be as good
as books where it counts most (e.g., clarity/sharpness of text, page layout
decisions [e.g., hyphens], font choices, display contrast, index
functionality, TOC functionality), and it only does a decent job of employing
some of the technological advantages it has over books (e.g., the Kindle has a
great weight-to-content-offered ratio, it backs up your collection remotely).
It kind of surprises me that the Kindle hasn't already surpassed traditional
books in every way. Maybe my expectations are too high, or maybe Amazon is
more concerned with the bottom line than responding to readers like me. I
don't know.

~~~
ghshephard
As a (very) avid Kindle user - I'd add the following to your list of features
to make the Kindle "as good as a physical book":

    
    
      o ability to loan to others
      o physically robust (I've cracked three (3) screens)
      o  extended reading time (on at least two 10 day vacations
         I ran my hyperjuice extended battery down 
         recharging my K3 every couple days)
      o random-access speeds/location
      o support for color.

~~~
mattyb
One data point: I'm also a very avid Kindle user, and I want exactly none of
these.

~~~
ghshephard
I thought these were actually universal desires - so I'd be interested in
hearing why?

o Robust - You don't mind breaking kindles?

o Ability to loan to others - You never lend books? To anyone?

o Extended Read Time - How on earth _couldn't_ you want extended battery life.
It drives me crazy to go on vacation and have a fully charged kindle run out
of battery. I would kill for a solid 100 hour battery life.

o Random Access - You never want to flick through a book? (Admittedly, the K3
has the +/- chapter view, which is good, but not as good as being able to
flick back and forth in a real book - particularly textbooks or a complex Game
of Thrones reading)

o Support for color - Really? You don't want any color in your books? Not even
Text books?

With the possible exception of "Loan to others" - I can't understand why every
single one of those isn't a "Must have" in order for the kindle to be as good
as a paper book for everyone. Also, and not coincidentally, they also make for
a better eBook experience as well.

I would love to switch to "eBook Only" (I've purchased about 200 books so far
for my kindles over the last several years) - but, for some things, I continue
to purchase paper books.

~~~
baddox
I'm another data point, and here's my responses:

> _Robust - You don't mind breaking kindles?_

I won't break a Kindle. The Kindle is sufficiently robust, and then some.

> _Ability to loan to others - You never lend books? To anyone?_

No. The only exception was my textbooks in college.

> _Extended Read Time - How on earth couldn't you want extended battery life._

How long does it take to read a book? My Kindle lasts easily 4 weeks, reading
about 5-8 hours a week, and in that time I can usually get through a 1,000
page novel. I've never taken a trip where I would be without electricity for
more than 4 weeks, and even if I were, I doubt I would want to lug around more
than one 1,000 page novel.

> _Random Access - You never want to flick through a book?_

No. Again, textbooks are the only exception, but that's not really a common
use case for e-readers.

> _Support for color - Really? You don't want any color in your books? Not
> even Text books?_

 _Maybe_ for textbooks, although all the textbooks I've actually enjoyed
enough to keep after class have been monochrome.

> _With the possible exception of "Loan to others" - I can't understand why
> every single one of those isn't a "Must have" in order for the kindle_

And, conversely, I can't understand why many people would care at all about
these issues.

~~~
drivebyacct2
I see no reason to not strive for more, but for the most part I disagree.

However, if they really wanted to advance ebook readers instead of just
enjoying their dominant position and branching into androids tablets and
phones, they ought to try to push the envelope.

Frankly, if I _could_ legally get textbooks and have random access, color and
better pen support... I would be so, so keen. I think there are education
opportunities as well with good pen options and text books.

Why can't you buy your third grader a Kindle and have their math book, math
workbook/worksheets, answers, tutorials, everything in their hand? The
technology more or less exists for this.

~~~
ghshephard
PEN support! YES! How could I have overlooked that one!

------
Eliezer
My top three:

1) Give me back my physical pageturn buttons that I can tap without moving my
fingers! Why, Amazon, why?

2) Make the LED whiter, maybe even yellower, instead of bluish. I'm not a
color expert, I just know that this color looks wrong.

3) I'm not sure what's up with the font, but pick a font that doesn't look
fragile, like some parts of thinner connectors are half-not-there.

~~~
xefer
1\. This is a funny one, and is the main reason why I'm getting my wife the
new one.

My wife loves her Kindle but when we're reading in bed together the sound of
her clicking the button drives me up the wall. She likes that she can use a
larger font so she doesn't need glasses, but that just means way more clicks-
per-minute. I think she's pressed the button so many times it's worn out a bit
because it makes a very distinct 'click'. After a while each one is like a gun
shot in my ear.

~~~
pwenzel
Little details like this drive me crazy as well. However, I'm always afraid of
voicing complaints like this for fear of looking like a crazy person. Thanks
for validating me. :-)

------
andrewvc
My main problem is the color temperature of the light. It should shift from
blue to orange as you make it dimmer. Reading with a blue cast light late at
night, with the lights turned down sucks.

One of my main use cases is reading a book before bed. Without f.lux-like
functionality that use case is significantly worse.

On the other hand, I can turn a bedlamp on and turn the backlight off, which
is OK.

~~~
geekfactor
Nice. And maybe the Paperwhite should ship with a clip-on battery operated LED
lamp with the proper color temperature.

------
mmanfrin
I agree on most points, and made the same upgrade (Keyboard to Paperwhite).

I love it, but I have three gripes. Two of them the author mentioned: uneven
lighting at the bottom and the lack of physical pageturning buttons. The
latter of which is _not_ nitpicky as luigi has stated, it does fundamentally
change your most common interaction with the device.

The third problem is that I have to go in to settings to turn off wireless.
Their 8-week claim only works if there is no wireless on; otherwise it lasts a
paltry couple of days. The old Keyboard model allowed you to turn on/off
networking while reading a book. This version forces you to go to the home
screen, then to settings, turn off networking, back to home, and finally back
to your book. That's obnoxious.

~~~
geekfactor
They moved the wireless control to Settings a while ago, with the most recent
system software update. I've got a 4th gen Kindle, so maybe that update wasn't
supported on the Keyboard version. It pisses me off too.

------
luigi
I've owned a Kindle 2 (returned it within 30 days), Nook Touch (sold it),
Kindle Touch (soon to sell it), and now the Kindle Paperwhite.

The Paperwhite is clearly superior to all of them. Gruber's points are all
extremely nitpicky.

(1) It's not a big deal to move your thumb an inch to tap the screen. The
device is so light that I suspect it would be hard to make a button with just
the right resistance so that it could be easily pressed while holding it in
one hand. But seriously, moving your thumb isn't hard. Gruber also harps on
not being able to operate large screen Android phones with one hand. Just use
both hands for crying out loud.

(2) The default Caecilia font is great. I think it's beautiful. Gruber loved
picking on Droid Sans, but I think that's a great font too.

It's a worthy upgrade to any of the previous e-ink Kindles.

~~~
dmorgan
> _(1) It's not a big deal to move your thumb an inch to tap the screen._

No, but it IS annoying.

"It's not big deal" is defensive. It conveys the opposite message, that it
_is_ kind of a deal.

~~~
luigi
Nope, not annoying either.

~~~
danilocampos
Oh, well, if _Luigi_ says so.

Leave a little room for the possibility that others are annoyed by things that
you are willing to tolerate.

~~~
guyzero
Leave a little room for the possibility that John Gruber is annoyed by things
that other humans do not notice.

~~~
danilocampos
I was _immediately_ bummed when they announced the new Kindle without hardware
page turn buttons. It was one of the best parts of the Kindle for me. It's a
perfectly defensible gripe.

~~~
batiudrami
It's what is preventing me from purchasing it. The cheapest kindle has perfect
page turn button placement. All I need it to do is turn on and turn pages, and
when one of those is worse than what the cheaper model can do, I'm going for
the cheaper model.

~~~
ianterrell
Ditto. I was going to upgrade for the light, but the lack of buttons are
making me hold off. I can leave the lamp on. I love just barely squeezing my
hand together to turn the page. It's almost a non-movement.

------
corporalagumbo
I love the way he approaches the device. His argument that Amazon should work
their asses off making this as perfect as possible for reading books is very
compelling. Great buttons - yes. Beautiful, deliberately selected typography -
yes. I hope someone at Amazon is thinking the same way - I think I'll wait to
buy a Kindle when Gruber says "this is what it should be."

~~~
allwein
I would pay a significant premium for that sort of deluxe luxury device. I
doubt Amazon will ever do it because they're all about scale. I wonder if
they'd ever work with a third-party for doing that sort of work.

------
jfb
I wish Amazon would hire some competent UX people. I love the screens and hate
hate hate hate hate hate hate using their devices. I'll put up with the iPad
screen to read at night because the Kindle software works _better_ on it. W.
T. F.? I'm waiting for an e-ink screen with physical page turn buttons, with
_no_ other UI than the absolutely bare minimum to read books. I don't want a
keyboard, or a web browser, or even a store. Please, just a THING that lets me
read. Does such a device exist? Of course, content is king and therefore no
single device will ever suffice, which is maddening in its own special way.

~~~
Semaphor
I agree with nearly everything you say.

> I don't want a keyboard, or a web browser, or even a store.

It's not the most important point, but I absolutely love that I can finish a
book and just go online and buy the next part of a series / a new book.

I read a _lot_ so a convenient method to quickly get new stuff is awesome.

Also, the dictionary. My English is quite okay but many fantasy novels use
archaic words I've never heard of before. Without a built-in dictionary I'd
have to get the meaning purely from context.

------
lubutu
"the Kindle still lacks hyphenation but yet insists upon full-justified text.
Full justification without hyphenation inevitably results in unsightly gaps
between words on a few lines each page."

On my Kindle, at least, words seem to be separated at most 1 em, and any more
and they go 'ragged right' instead of hyphenating — which I actually found far
more pleasant than even Liang's LaTeX hyphenation algorithm in terms of
readability.

~~~
tghw
Looking at my Kindle Keyboard, I have one book (Moonwalking with Einstein)
that is ragged-right and another (On Intelligence) that is full justified.
Perhaps it's the formatting of the e-book and not the device?

~~~
pooriaazimi
Can you (or lubutu) share some pics? Thanks.

~~~
tghw
Moonwalking with Einstein <http://imgur.com/7UJgQ>

On Intelligence <http://imgur.com/QIdam>

~~~
gjm11
The second of those is interesting. Most of the lines are right-justified, and
just a few aren't. It looks to me as if it's right-justified the lines
_except_ for when it can't do so without introducing an unbearable amount of
whitespace, in which case it's fallen back to ragged-right.

(You can see it isn't just ragged-right where most of the lines happen to end
in the same place; compare the spacing on, e.g., the first two lines.)

I don't think I've ever seen anything typeset that way before.

~~~
bobthedino
I think the reason you've not seen anything typeset that way before is because
it's ridiculous to do it that way! You end up with an awful mix of fully
justified and ragged-right... to my eye this makes me expect new paragraphs
where there are none, for example.

It's such a shame that Amazon just doesn't seem to care about good typesetting
practice. It's maybe just not something Amazon views as a "barrier to sale",
but as Gruber says, the Kindle only has to do one thing well, so why shouldn't
it do it fantastically well?

------
tzs
Does the touch screen require flesh or equivalent, or will it work through
cloth and fabric?

One of the nicest things about my first generation Kindle, and it's nice big
page turning buttons on the sides, is that I can read in bed on a cold night,
snug under my blanket, grasping the Kindle through the blanket.

To turn the page, I simply have to bump the side with the hand that is not
holding it. This can be done without taking either hand out from under the
blanket. In fact, I can usually just bump it on my stomach or chest.

If I have to actually extrude some fleshy appendage out from under my blanket
to turn pages, I will consider that a step backwards.

~~~
quux
The paperwhite uses a capacitive touch screen which does only respond to
flesh.

THe previous model, Kindle Touch used an infrared touch sensor that could be
triggered by anything touching the screen, but in my experience it was too
easy to trigger by accident.

------
mrtron
I strongly recommend the Kobo Glo. Amazing backlit ereader.

~~~
amalag
I want to buy the Kobo instead of the paperwhite because I hear the screens
are almost comparable and I don't want to be tied to the amazon ecosystem
exclusively and the microSD support is a big plus. I need ePub support and I
do not want ads. I hear the Kobo Glo screen is just as good.

------
reaganing
The primary reason I upgraded from a 3rd gen Kindle to the Kindle 4 rather
than the Touch was the latter's lack of page-turn buttons. But I've been using
the Paperwhite for a week now and it's not been a problem at all.

I just rest my thumb on the bottom right corner and move it about as much as I
did with the actual button on prior models.

I was excited about the new fonts when I saw them announced, but will agree
with Gruber that none of them are great. I still prefer Caecilia Condensed.

My Paperwhite also suffers from some unevenness in the lighting on the bottom,
but I quickly forgot about it. Amazon's product description promises an evenly
illuminated display, so it would be better if they actually delivered, of
course.

------
netcan
I have a kobo touch and I love it. My advice is:

\- buy a simple ereader.

\- Turn Off everything you can: the store, wifi, 3g, recommendations, awards,
share, ads.etc ANything with an off button.

\- Once a month or three load it up with some books that you would like to
read. Just books. Not too many. Choose, then load.

Basically, de-gadgetize it. Make it into a book. A nice, light book.

Our computer world is a hell of distractions. To me, any reminder that I'm
reading on a "device" that can do other things is unwelcome. Even recharging
the device breaks the illusions for me.

I was initially frustrated that I didn't have a convenient way o get short
PDFs, blog posts and such onto the device. Now I'm glad. Short-form articles
would just put me into browsing mode.

The upshot of all this is that unless the manufacturers can get better at
things they are already very good at (eg weight, battery life), I want the old
cheap one. I don't want any new features.

My default position is suspicion of every "feature." I hear "paperwhite
screen" My immediate reaction is I don't want it to feel more like a screen &
I don't want it to feel more like a screen and I don't want a brightness
button.

------
notatoad
I don't understand the dislike of Caecilia. Sure, it's not quite a book font,
but the kindle isn't quite a book either. For the context, Caecilia looks
great.

------
CrazedGeek
Has anyone here compared it IRL with the GlowLight Nook? Thoughts?

~~~
mtgx
Should be significantly better. On the Kindle the light is equal all over the
screen. On the Nook it isn't.

------
alok-g
OP>> It definitely feels different on my eyes than LED/LCD backlighting. ...
This new display, even with the lighting turned on, still feels like e-ink.

Does someone know what is going on? As such, the light is light whether from
LEDs/LCD or from Kindle Paperwhite.

Kindle may be using less default brightness levels but that could be adjusted
for LCDs too. Is lower contrast ratio of Kindle helping since black is not too
black [1][2]

[1] Kindle has contrast ratio of ~10:1. See here [http://www.best-
ereaders.com/2010/09/02/eink-pearl-vs-eink-v...](http://www.best-
ereaders.com/2010/09/02/eink-pearl-vs-eink-vizplex/)

[2] <http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=4357002>

~~~
lmm
Maybe it's actually white rather than r/g/b close together? I can see that
being the sort of thing that would make things look different in a way you
couldn't consciously explain.

------
bad_user
I may not be representative, but I actually prefer the lack of backlighting in
my keyboard-kindle. The fonts don't bother me either, but Gruber may have a
point here.

I would like a good touchscreen, however I like my page-turning buttons and do
not want to give up those. I'm also concerned that battery life will be worse
on these newer version, and that is something I care about.

Gruber has a point in that the Kindle should be extremely optimized for
reading. I already own an iPad, I don't want an eBook Reader that tries to be
a cheap tablet.

------
pragmatic
Agree with most points.

I rant into a bug at the gym.

The usual tap, swipe to turn page was instead activating the font size select.
I'm not sure if my sweaty finger (sorry for the image) was the cause, or some
other bug in the Kindle.

Amazon really needs to make these devices solid. I like the e-ink for the
relaxing time experience AND the fact that I don't have to worry about battery
(mostly), I just shove it in my gym bag, something I can't do with my nexus 7,
b/c the battery might be almost dead.

~~~
rg
Kindle Paperwhite newly implements two-finger pinch (smaller font size) and
expand (bigger font size). On the way to carrying out the font size change, it
pops up the font-size select window, then closes it. It's possible that you
accidentally invoked this functionality.

------
aristidb
So I guess not really worth upgrading from the Kindle Keyboard with a lit
cover. Too bad, the cover makes it quite heavy, but I also really like page
turning buttons for lazy reading.

~~~
joelhooks
I like it much better than the Keyboard + Cover. If it is "worth it" is up to
you, but I don't have buyer's remorse.

------
hakaaak
I agree about the page-turning buttons. That is why I didn't get the touch and
won't get the paperwhite. I don't mind not having backlighting, so I'll stick
with the cheapest Kindle.

------
Tichy
Considering that paper books don't have buttons for turning the pages, I find
the complaint about the lack of a button for page turning amusing. I suspect
it is still less effort to flip a page on the kindle than on a paper book.

Not that such a button would necessarily be a bad idea (not sure). I suppose
it would have to be quite sturdy, as it would be used a lot. Perhaps on the
touch screen the clicks are distributed more and so it will last longer.

------
siodine
How is the paperwhite with pdf journal articles and textbooks?

~~~
msbarnett
It won't be any better than any of the previous regular-sized kindles, and the
experience sucks on them.

PDFs have a fixed-size baked in, typically 8.5 x 11 or larger, and the Kindle
screen is much smaller than that. There's no intelligible way to reflow a PDF,
especially not one full of tables and figures like journals and textbooks are.
It comes out either unreadably small or with unreadably broken formatting.

So basically it's worthless for that use-case. You want a Kindle DX or a 10
inch or larger tablet to fit PDF content comfortably.

------
chrischen
My nook touch has great hardware buttons and a touch screen. It's also over a
year old now and still works great.

~~~
oatmealsnap
Yea, I am very happy with how simple and easy my Nook is. Maybe Kindle's UI
has gotten better with the touch screens, but it used to be horrid.

~~~
chrischen
What I don't understand is why everyone here in The Bay Area seems to overlook
the Nook, or really anything competing with the most well known tech brands.

Competition is great and the Nook is fairly competitive with the Kindle. I
went with the nook at the time simply because it was superior to the kindle
(it had the touch screen first).

For some reason this guy compares it to an iPad but doesn't even mention the
Nook.

------
akproxy
I no longer read Gruber's posts or reviews of products that do not start with
an _i_. Because all he does is just re-post those _i_ posts replacing _is just
the right_ with _is just not right_ , which saves him both time and energy.

Thought I shall share the revelation :-/

------
PaulMcCartney
Is it just me or does 'paperwhite' sound all to similar to 'paperweight'? Not
a good association if you ask me

~~~
Stealth-
I have been thinking this same thing. I constantly read it as the "Kindle
Paperweight" and think it's some sort of Kindle rant before I realize.

