This will be the first of several posts looking in detail at the Kindle 3. Amazon has got at least one thing VERY right. Simplicity. The packaging is simple, you open the box and the kindle has directions for plugging it in to charge on the display. Then you are directed to slide the switch. When it comes up it’s already registered to the amazon.com account you purchased with and it hooks up to whispernet. At this time you can configure wireless if you like (with the 3g you have whispernet even if the wifi is not available or not configured.)
Month: December 2010
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Update on the Sansa Clip Plus 8GB
Last year I got a Sansa Clip Plus 8GB. I just wanted to do a followup post after I’ve used it for a while. One year on (well 11 months on….) it’s still rock solid. I’ve had no problems with it, it has a really good battery life. I really don’t charge it for weeks at a time. (I’m not listening constantly, but when I listen more I would guess about 8 hours use per charge.)
I don’t think I’ve bothered to update the firmware (it’s not broken so I’m not fixing it…)
In general it reminds me of the choice to get the Kindle. It does one thing well! Nice and portable, standard usb charger and easy to add music to. So, one year on – I would definitely recommend it, if mine were missing I would get it again. It seems quite durable (my 2 year old got a hold of it once and it almost went missing – but cleaned up nicely.)
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Why I chose the Kindle over the iPad, Nook, Sony ereader or any Tablet
In the last several months (since the Kindle 3 came out) I’ve been seriously looking at ereaders. Of course, the iPad came out early this year and was all the buzz. It looks great of course and Apple really should be proud of making the tablet relevant. How many tablets have we seen come out in the last 10-15 years that someone pushed as the wave of the future only to see the wave break before it reached the shore. Of course, some of the ideas shrunk to the size of the current pdas and smart phones, others just vanished into the ether or morphed into laptops.
With Android nipping at Apples heels on the phone front I was sure that there would be android based tablets to rival the iPad. Serious contenders have taken longer than I expected, but realistically the iPad has not been out for a full year yet. At one point this year I looked long and hard at some of the then available tablets. None were quite “it” at that point.