Key Takeaways
- Amazon must revamp its Kindles to compete with Kobo and Boox.
- Adjustments ought to embody higher library e-book assist, a redesigned stylus, and web page flip buttons.
- A very powerful change could be switching to paint E Ink shows.
Amazon’s Kindle e-readers are a number of the most constantly good tech merchandise in existence. After just a few years of experimenting with completely different sizes and styles of E Ink display, and units with completely different buttons, the corporate has settled on a set of principally three kinds of Kindle that work, and work effectively. And that is why it is extra essential than ever that Amazon shakes issues up.
The modern Kindle has a excessive decision E Ink show that is able to trying almost like paper, and higher than a bodily e-book in some ways. It presents a number of ranges and temperatures of lighting that makes the e-reader simple in your eyes whether or not you are studying within the park exterior or in a dim room earlier than mattress. Battery life can now final for weeks at a time. And all of these nice qualities are delivered in a bundle that is nonetheless extremely moveable, in a position to slip right into a pocket or bag. The issue is, that is been true for years at this level. The final massive new thought Amazon had for the Kindle got here in Nov. 2022 because the prime quality, however nonetheless incomplete Kindle Scribe was launched — the corporate’s reply to the proliferation of E Ink tablets which have sprung up in the previous few years.
Whereas Amazon has spun its wheels, rivals Rakuten Kobo and Boox have been placing out higher and higher E Ink units, leapfrogging Amazon by way of productiveness options and the addition of shade E Ink screens. Now that Kindles are reportedly widely out of stock in retail stores, and Amazon has not solely Prime Day, however the potential for a fall {hardware} occasion to introduce new variations of its e-readers, it is value contemplating what the company would need to do to maintain up with a brand new gadget just like the Kobo Libra Colour. This is what I feel Amazon must do with its subsequent Kindles to not fall behind.
1 Amazon ought to make a shade E Ink Kindle that is match for comedian studying
There must be an important place to learn comics
The final time I intentionally turned on my Kindle Scribe was to learn manga. The crisp black and white display is the proper dimension to see all of Junji Ito’s work at a time. For all the pieces else, I learn on my iPad or a bodily copy. That is not as a result of my Kobo Libra Color’s shade E Ink show would make my digital comics assortment look unhealthy, however as a result of Kobo’s collection of comics is restricted and getting digital variations onto the e-readers is greater than just a little annoying.
So why should not Amazon make a shade E Ink Kindle that is excellent for studying comics?
Amazon acquired Comixology, a preferred digital comics storefront and reader app, in 2014, and has solely just lately built-in its comics immediately into the Kindle retailer and apps. So why should not Amazon make a shade E Ink Kindle that is excellent for studying comics? Coloration E Ink shows have come a good distance by way of the saturation of their colours and the time it takes to refresh the display — they need to be adequate to fulfill Amazon’s exacting requirements.
Rumors recommend the corporate is a minimum of exploring the thought. Ming-Chi Kuo, a provide chain analyst who often predicts Apple’s subsequent strikes, wrote in Feb. 2024 that he anticipated Amazon’s new Kindles to undertake ACeP or Superior Coloration ePaper, which makes use of adjustable coloured particles moderately than a filter to create shade pictures. The transfer would make the brand new Kindles standout from the Kobo, not solely as a result of it might let the e-readers refresh sooner, nevertheless it may make extra saturated colours than the Kaleido display used on the Kobo Libra and Clara Color can.
2 Kindles want an interface that does not make notebooks second-class residents
The stress current on each Kindle is between Amazon the bookseller, and Amazon the corporate that likes to make {hardware} that is easy to make use of and revel in. And nowhere is that rigidity extra obvious than on the house display of each Kindle, which exhibits books you’ve got just lately interacted with on the prime, and fills the remainder of the scrollable display with carousels of stuff you may like, even issues that may not look nice on a black and white Kindle Paperwhite display, like an X-Males comedian. On a Kindle Scribe, you’ll get notebooks included in that record, however in any other case it is the identical on all the corporate’s e-readers. That should change.
Not solely ought to notebooks be simply accessible and editable on Kindles aside from the Kindle Scribe (all of those units can entry a software program keyboard that will work wonderful for fast notes), however they need to get a devoted part. In comparison with the Kobo Libra Color, which includes a collection of your just lately opened books, together with hyperlinks to just lately learn authors, your library holds, and the place you possibly can borrow extra books, the Kindle appears like it’s a must to wade via yet one more model of the Kindle Retailer. It does not should be this manner, particularly when Amazon already allows you to work together with issues like PDFs and create issues like handwritten notebooks and drawings.
3 Amazon ought to add bodily buttons as an possibility for brand new Kindles
Older e-readers used to have devoted buttons for turning pages
A pleasant function that Kobo has stubbornly held on to is bodily web page flip buttons. All the corporate’s e-readers nonetheless have touchscreens that you may swipe on to make a spotlight or flip the web page, however a number of choices additionally embody buttons, so you possibly can maintain your e-reader one-handed and nonetheless flip the web page. It is not at all a obligatory function in a world the place nearly everyone seems to be snug with touchscreen smartphones, nevertheless it nonetheless appears like a top quality of life function value together with.
The final Kindle to have bodily page-turn buttons was the Kindle Oasis, a dear luxurious e-reader that Amazon discontinued in July 2024. Whether or not the corporate decides buttons ought to stay a “premium” function, or whether or not it desires to supply them as an possibility on a number of of its e-readers, they might be a welcome addition to a brand new line of Kindles. Folks overlook that the unique Kindle had web page flip panels and a bodily scroll wheel, of all issues. Amazon was dedicated to providing tactile controls, and it might get again there once more.
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4 The Kindle Scribe deserves a snug, long-lasting stylus
Amazon’s first move is sweet, however there are extra refinements wanted
Stylus assist can stay a Kindle Scribe unique if it retains issues less complicated, but when Amazon is engaged on a brand new model of the Scribe, it completely must rethink its stylus. The Kindle Scribe stylus is cleverly designed to not solely embody an eraser on one aspect, however a button on the opposite that may change you into highlighter mode or change between pens. The issue is that the stylus is simply too skinny to be snug to carry for lengthy intervals of time, and makes use of replaceable nibs that should be changed far too usually.
Amazon’s stylus nibs additionally include a particularly designed software for eradicating them. You may get very accustomed to it.
In comparison with the stylus included with the Kobo Libra Color helps, whose nib is technically replaceable however lasts for what appears like eternally, or the redesigned nibs that reMarkable is utilizing on the Marker Plus that you may order with reMarkable Paper Professional, that are a lot thicker and extra sturdy than earlier than, it is a fairly stark distinction. It does not really feel good to jot down on an E Ink pill with a boring nib and Amazon’s stylus will get boring almost continually. Amazon ought to both make its stylus require a nib alternative far much less ceaselessly or transfer to another form of stylus fully.
5 Kindles ought to get even higher assist for library books
It isn’t onerous to get a library eBook onto a Kindle, nevertheless it might positively be simpler
One of many largest promoting factors of the Kobo Libra Color or a Boox gadget with entry to the Google Play Retailer is straightforward entry to library books. Kobo’s have OverDrive assist built-in, which suggests you possibly can borrow and skim eBooks out of your native library immediately via your Kobo gadget. You may as well try this immediately from contained in the Kobo retailer, which suggests if a e-book is not obtainable to borrow instantly, it is easy to only purchase it as a substitute.
Getting library books on a Kindle is a way more convoluted course of, requiring you to make use of Libby (the opposite title for OverDrive) to borrow a e-book and ship it wirelessly to your Kindle. These books are formatted in the identical manner as different Kindle eBooks, they’re simply tougher to maneuver round. Libby is a incredible useful resource by itself, and Amazon clearly has an incentive to get you to purchase an inexpensive eBook moderately than borrow it out of your library, but when there’s something that would actually make a Kindle aggressive with Kobo, it is higher integration with a service like Libby, possibly even immediately contained in the Kindle Retailer.
Amazon has an enormous headstart and little cause to be dangerous
The Kindle was one of many first e-readers that was in style within the mainstream, and Amazon’s first {hardware} product. The corporate was the go-to Christmas reward for everybody from children to grandmas for years as a result of it made shopping for and studying books so simple as doable. Amazon has an enormous benefit in that many individuals have Kindle eBook libraries which can be onerous, if not unattainable, to extract from Amazon’s clutches. With a captive viewers, Amazon has little cause to strive too onerous.
However the Kindle Scribe suggests there’s a minimum of some folks within the firm prepared to strive one thing new, and because the competitors continues to warmth up, it solely is sensible the Kindle must change in some fairly massive methods to maintain up.
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