30 Dec 2013

A Next Page button can make Kindle Paperwhite 10x more fun

Kindle Paperwhite is small: it has a 6-inch screen while Nexus 7 has a 7-inch screen and iPad Mini has a 7.9-inch screen. The Kindle is lighter too: it weighs 206 grams while Nexus 7 and iPad Mini weigh 290 grams and 331 grams respectively.

Despite being small and light, the Kindle is hard to use single-handedly. I can hold the reader by wrapping my hand around its back, but then I can’t use any of my fingers to turn pages. (It’s also a bit uncomfortable to hold it that way, actually.)
I can hold it on just one side, but turning pages will still be impossible with one hand. Turning pages will require me to move my thumb onto the screen.
Adding a hardware Next Page button right where my thumb is will make it easy to use the Kindle with just one hand. Why didn’t you think of that, +Amazon.com?

Kindle: Season 2

My relationship with the Kindle has been a bit unstable. I bought my first Kindle in June 2010. There were certain things that irked me about it, but in general I liked it. Overall, the number of books I read went up because it made reading easier.

After I got myself an Android tablet, I started reading on the tablet most of the time because the Kindle was very slow. As time went by, the Kindle started to simply gather dust at home, so I sold it off in May 2012. One and a half year later, I find myself not reading any books. Whenever I try to read on my Nexus 10, the experience isn’t fun because the device is so heavy it’s not at all comfortable to read on. Naturally, I give up reading and move on to doing something fun... like watching videos.


Not reading anything has been bothering me for a while, and today I decided to give Kindle another try. The new paperwhite is a lot superior (and seems a bit faster) than the 2nd generation Kindle I had before. Hopefully, this Kindle will put me back on track and I’ll read a few books every year. Happy 2014, everyone!