Looks Like the Kindle Is Not for Me
Well, I wrote the other day how I ordered my the Kindle from Amazon. I got it yesterday, and I was immediately impressed by the device: it’s well designed, and its interface, while a bit minimal, works well. Unfortunately, after reading for a while, I started getting a headache. I stopped, worked a few hours, then list night I read in bed for an hour; headache again. Same thing this morning reading in a doctor’s office.
The Kindle, which uses e-ink, has a gray background, and the letters have very poor contrast against the background, because of anti-aliasing. Since the device is not backlit, that background is far too dark for me to read. This is certainly not the case for everyone; I have poor eyesight, and see with only one eye. But for me, it just doesn’t work. While my iPod touch is much smaller, the backlit screen – even at low brightness – is 100 times more readable. I’ve already read several books on it with no problem. With the Kindle, however, I couldn’t even read a couple of chapters.
So, it’s returnable, but now I’m waiting to see exactly how the return process – from France to the US – works out.
Posted: 10/23/2009 by kirk | Filed under: Books | 7 Comments »
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Sorry to hear this, Kirk, but I’m not surprised. I’d suspect the lack if backlighting would be a huge issue.
I’m also sorry to hear that Kirk. I’ve got the Sony PRS-300 and while it has good contrast on screen, it also doesn’t have a backlight – so isn’t really usable in low light. You can get a little case that also holds a light for darker situations, but as you say there still isn’t the contrast you’d get with the iPod touch/iPhone screen.
Tough deal, Kirk. I like the Kindle for the portability – on a recent trip to Europe I could take lots of books with me only having to carry, in effect, one. Did you try messing with the font size? You can make the letters quite a bit bigger.
But you can’t do anything about the contrast.
I like the fact that it has a sync capability with the iPhone or iPod. There’s a Kindle app. It works perfectly.
Yes, I use a pretty large font size, in part because my eyesight isn’t great and it’s much more comfortable. But that doesn’t change the background. It’s great in strong light – well, it’s ok – but in the usual settings where I read it’s too bland.
I’ve used the app on my iPod touch. In spite of the small screen, that’s the best way so far to read ebooks.
It doesn’t look like the Barnes & Noble reader (“Nook”) will be available in Europe. The images on the advertising don’t give me the idea that it would be easier to see than the Kindle. The only plus is that they have some kind of reader for the PC / Mac, which one might be able to adjust so you can see it, but it defeats the portability. Hard to read a PC lying down!
It would seem like Apple could sell e-books through the iTunes store if they were so inclined.
Yea, B&N has never had the international reach that Amazon has, and I doubt they’ll be selling to those outside the states.
Amazon is coming out with a reader app for PC and Mac as well, but I truly believe that Apple will kill them both with a tablet that is like a big iPod touch. Instead of being just for reading ebooks, it’ll offer a full range of apps. However, Apple may not get into the bookselling business, and simply let people use Amazon’s Kindle app for that.
I have similar vision issues, and feared that I would have that kind of experience with an ebook reader. So it’s helpful that you made this discovery first–that’s what tech writers and bloggers are for! :)