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Eye on Digital Media: Ach Der Kindle: Mangling The Magazine

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I am sure there is someone who can make a convincing argument for the Amazon Kindle e-book reader as a viable way to pack hundreds of volumes into a light, handheld device. I am not that guy. While some have praised the Kindle for its light weight, innovative screen technology, and wireless connectivity, I have to wonder how many of these tech dweeb critics actually used it for more than a week.

After nearly a month of “Kindling,” I have to say that for our small neck of the media woods this thing has to be one of the worst platforms for magazine consumption I have ever seen. Its terrible graphics rendering and bland text formatting truly strips magazine titles of central attributes. Six print titles ((Reader’s Digest/Time/The Atlantic/Fortune/Forbes/The Nation)and two Web-mags (Slate/Salon) can be ordered and downloaded in “Kindle versions” straight to the device over its cellular wireless connection to the Amazon storefront. But without images or layout of any noticeable kind, all the titles I tested looked like little more than wire feeds à la 1985.

I have been testing these readers since the early days, when Franklin Covey was pushing the format, and the portable digital reader always seemed a natural for magazines. The form factor resembled a printed page. Updating via a USB cable and Web connection fit the publication cycles of print.

In some ways, putting periodicals on portable readers anticipated podcasting. Sony has been struggling with several iterations of its portable reader, and Amazon was hoping to usurp the market with novel technology and a seamless, ever-present storefront. If the scheme works, Kindle will be a cash machine for Amazon. Even after the $400 hardware fee, users pay handsomely for most book titles and about $1.49 per month for most magazine subscriptions. Audaciously, the storefront even charges for otherwise free blog feeds and sites like Slate.

To be fair, Kindle represents (represents, mind you) some intriguing technology. The e-ink screen uses ambient light rather than its own backlighting, which gives it very long battery life and the look of grayish paper stock. One of the things the hardware fee and subscriptions help finance is the “free” embedded EV-DO high-speed wireless connection via Sprint that lets users buy and download content from pretty much anywhere they could make a cell phone call. The connectivity overcomes former limitations of readers and even the Tablet PC, which also at one time was promoted for its magazine-like form factor. With Kindle, the hardware automatically checks for a new issue and downloads it for easy access from the home page. And because the entire package is directly linked to users’ existing Amazon accounts, they can buy new content on the fly with a single click. Amazon sends the receipt by e-mail.

But that is about all Kindle does well. Getting the content is easy; reading it is joyless. The black-and-white image rendering is so poor that it is hard to identify the cover art in Amazon’s bookstore. The magazine partners don’t even try to include visuals in their Kindle-ized versions. In fact, the Time issue I read on my Kindle includes its Pictures of the Year feature as a series of captions only. Navigation is a bear, because the primitive e-ink technology is so slow that the device undermines any magazine-like urge to browse.

And browse what? The screen is capable of displaying book page text well enough, but the wall of unadorned letters makes most Web pages (even RSS feeds) look elegant by comparison.

Am I being hard on Amazon’s noble effort to digitize the portable reading experience. Maybe, but only after way too much praise was heaped on this latest gadget. In truth, Kindle is a kind of media concept car or Microsoft Windows 1.0. It is something that suggests much better real world technology to come rather than a practical here-and-now platform.

If anything, Kindle should remind us that portability is not the only inherent strength of the magazine. This medium is also about look and feel, layout and imagery, the visual organization of information. When it comes to blending design and mobility, digital technology is still in its antediluvian days.

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COMMENTS

Magazines are a pretty high bar; they require color, high resolution, and large size. The trick is to choose the content that plays to the strength of the device. Even the humble cell phone can make a great eReader for simple prose. http://www.booksinmyphone.com give away books packaged to be read on regular 'dumb' cell phones, you should give that a try. The strength there is ultra portability, adding books to what you carry anyway.

Posted by avagee on Friday, January 4, 2008 @ 04:47 PM

I got my Kindle one month ago today -- Dec. 4th, and I really love it -- it goes everywhere I go, including the john and my bed -- I've never been able to read in bed before I got my Kindle. So I have to agree a little in respect to picture magazines only, but totally disagree with this writer on everything else. Charles Wilkes, San Jose, CA

Posted by cfw123 on Friday, January 4, 2008 @ 05:54 PM

What a douchebag hater of a great reader. I own a kindle and love it. It's a game changer. The magic is in its use as a BOOK READER you fool, one that's connected to the amazon portfolio wirelessly at all times. Get a grip on reality you donkey.

Posted by Chris on Friday, January 4, 2008 @ 09:03 PM

is this a news story or a blog post?

Posted by Brian on Friday, January 4, 2008 @ 10:54 PM

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