How would you change Amazon's Kindle?

Truth be told, only a portion of the world was totally shocked when FCC documentation gave us all reason to believe that Amazon was indeed diving head first into the hardware biz, but even now, it still seems a touch awkward to see a label most commonly spotted on corrugated boxes plastered on an e-book reader. Nevertheless, Bezos' baby did indeed take on the aforementioned sector, though it took an outlandishly long time to go from FCC-approved to bookworm-ready. After missing a gazillion (give or take a few) proposed due dates, the cleverly-named (and questionably designed) Kindle finally made itself available on -- gasp! -- Amazon.com some 14 months after its original coming out party.

As with most highly-anticipated devices, this particular one was also met with its fair share of critics and proponents, but judging by the initial difficulty it had remaining in stock, it seemed well on its way to e-reader stardom. Granted, we've no clairvoyant on staff, but we're guessing a few of those orders went to a few of you all. Assuming that's the case, why not give ole Jeff and company something to think about for Kindle v2.0? Yeah, we know you've been enjoying those unannounced easter eggs and whatnot, but now that you've had ample time to flip through a few paperless pages and really get a read (ahem) on this thing, what alterations would you make going forward? How's about a color screen, for starters? Maybe a little more responsiveness? A little less '80, a little more '08 in the design? Or, say, native Engadget support in the RSS reader? We're only partially kidding on that last one, but feel free to agree and tack on a dozen more worthwhile changes in comments below.

[dg @ Feb 1st 2008 6:33PM]

I'd make it an iPhone.

[Captain Drew @ Feb 1st 2008 6:37PM]

I'd make it an rPhone!!!
http://www.piratepalooza.com/rphone

Steam-driven technology is much more amusing and easier to use as a weapon when you find yourself in tight spots.

Yarr.

[Leo @ Feb 1st 2008 6:37PM]

make it a non-ripoff price duh

[superfresh @ Feb 4th 2008 8:40AM]

Totally totally agree.

BTW, many posters, including Engadget, have criticized the color of the Kindle. I don't know why I didn't think of this before, but is it not supposed to be the color of paper, and sort of "disappear" like Bezos intended?

[Kevin Luecke @ Feb 1st 2008 6:37PM]

Make it sleeker and better looking like the Sony. And add native PDF support & the ability to download things directly from your computer without having to go through their system.

[Nicole @ Feb 4th 2008 10:32AM]

I totally agree. For the price it doesn't support near what it needs to. If it supported more formats, I would be thrilled to add it to my library even at it's rather high price.

[isaac @ Feb 7th 2008 5:46AM]

It does that already. Why do people think you cannot transfer files directly from your computer txt. ect..?

[Apple Fanboy #3782 @ Feb 1st 2008 6:38PM]

I'd make itt really cheap. Then I'd buy one. I don't have the money to buy something like that. That would maake it popular amond teens and other peopple which would reallyy improve sales.

[Tim @ Feb 1st 2008 6:39PM]

Give it firefox... And a touchscreen...

[Fred @ Feb 1st 2008 6:44PM]

It's hard to say. The Kindle, and most e-book readers just seem like they so much techno fluff. A real book is just so much simpler, there's no learning curve, there's no fuss if you forget it somewhere go grab another copy, it's never going to break, I don't have to charge it. I've tried the e-book thing and it's just a pain in the ass. I had a Newton for a while that I usedas strictly an e-reader, and while this will be easier because there are obviously more books to choose from even my iPhone is a pain sometimes, it's going to have to be completely idiot-proof before people are really going to get on board.

Nevermind the fact that Amazon has all these rules attached. They charge you to put your own data on the thing! Come on!

[!!! @ Feb 6th 2008 12:27PM]

Real books are also so god-damn overpriced, much less durable (if they're in cheaper paperback), heavier, and are one of the reasons literature is so backward: With the means to create a book being so ridiculously difficult, there are no means for an author to actually be DIY, and has to consistently rely on a publisher.

[Tonnica @ Feb 1st 2008 6:45PM]

Okay, here's one. In addition to the usual laundry list we've already gone over (RSS doodads, more flexible methods of loading in books, Typing of the Doom) I'd like a litte Vim on it. That is to say, a very basic text editor.

Reading goes hand and hand with writing. Why not have a nice little editor so the more verbose of us can get an idea down on Kindle-paper when it hits us? It'd probably suck up power to refresh the screen while typing, but darn it I'd use it!

[John T @ Feb 1st 2008 6:46PM]

Have it not take forever to get in my hands.

[Mike @ Feb 1st 2008 6:53PM]

Add color.

[David @ Feb 1st 2008 6:56PM]

Does this have to be in essay format? I don't think I can fit it all in this textbox.

[Glor the enforcer @ Feb 1st 2008 6:56PM]

Too Expensive!!!

[Shane @ Feb 1st 2008 6:58PM]

I absolutely cannot believe people will stash another gadget in their road warrior kits. Laptop, cell phone, iPod and now this?

No thanks...just develop cheap e-publishing via .PDF and text-to-speech technology so you can have those e-books read to you if you wish. NO reason to use anything other than a nice iPod touch or iPhone device, or your tablet/laptop PC to read books/magazines...and if you decide you'd rather listen on the train, voila!

The only way this will fly is if it gets VERY small and VERY cheap...think $49.99 reader hardware that is the size and weight of an average magazine (not Cosmo, but, say PC World, et al).

[notabookworm @ Feb 1st 2008 6:59PM]

Easy.. just add a scratch resistant layer of polycarbonate with capacitive touch, make it thinner but fullscreen, replace bulky plastic enclosing by thinner, durable aluminium. Or as mentioned above, just make it an iphone but in the same format? design by function -> function is a reading screen -> make it fullscreen. Easy.

[ace_spades @ Feb 1st 2008 7:07PM]

use it as fire KINDLEing?

[pwkalt1 @ Feb 1st 2008 7:07PM]

A new layout for the buttons. The current setup has me accidentally hitting the page buttons WAY too much. Also, because of their locations, there's no way to actually hold the device without pushing down on one of the buttons. Lighter and cheaper would be nice too.

[JohnDoom @ Feb 1st 2008 7:11PM]

I don't think it needs color, but reading PDF would be extremely nice. Connectivity for RSS feeds would be cool. A better look is necessary. If it's going to be that expensive, how about giving away some free books (like 20)... OR, make the device a lot less expensive and create a subscription service for x books per month or whatnot.

[Ireland @ Feb 1st 2008 7:11PM]

You see the big image you used with the story?

Well I'd completely change that part.

[Bill Koslosky, MD @ Feb 1st 2008 7:18PM]

People who are saying, "please not another gadget," are right.

It's another set of batteries and charger to babysit, plus it's DRM'ed to the hilt. This isn't progress. You don't really own any of the content you're purchasing. You couldn't sell your Kindle to somebody else. All this is tied to your Amazon account, and if you misbehave, then can make it all vanish.

I don't see why you can't get by with a screen the size of the iPhone. I'm constantly reading books on my Treo.

[halfro @ Feb 1st 2008 7:18PM]

Love my Kindle. Changes: the right "Next" button doesn't have to be so big. I push near the bottom of it 90% of the time.

Yeah, it's expensive, but I'd buy it again. Having the ability to read the newspaper and a book from the same device is better than carrying both. I don't own a car so I don't have the luxury of having a trunk/back seat that can hold a ton of books. With my iPhone and this, I pretty much can do everything on the road. Read, I use the kindle. Music, movies, TV, email, and internet: I use the iPhone.

[Tim @ Feb 1st 2008 7:21PM]

$50

Then I'd buy one.

[Rob @ Feb 1st 2008 7:21PM]

Give it a color screen. Black and white/grey, is ok for text. But, the pictures look a bit disappointing. People are not asking for HD graphics. But, considering the steep entry fee, it should offer more.

[Optomist @ Feb 1st 2008 7:22PM]

Color/PDF like above...
Then partner with the Government and Schools/Colleges to offer nearly free text book content on the Kindle to those that have one; Govt subsidies and discounts for those than can't afford one.

[AKBlade13 @ Feb 3rd 2008 5:48AM]

That's exactly what I was thinking. I think the Kindle (if it adds color resolution to it) would be the near perfect solution towards schools where people are complaining about backpacks. If this concept were to be realized, not only would this ease a lot of parents's mind of backpack weight, but this would null torn and written pages. Plus you get to "own" the books allowing you to make notes on it if you want. Like other suggestions, the Kindle should also go touch screen.

AKBlade13

[siberdog @ Feb 1st 2008 7:23PM]

Larger, high resolution screen. Battery life should be hundreds of hours, maybe indefinitely with solar panels(keep wireless off unless I specifically request something).

[Alex @ Feb 1st 2008 7:23PM]

I don't know about the kindle (which is pronounced the same as a brand of cheap beer here in germany that mostly only bums drink - Berliner Kindl) but I highly recommend the book freakonomics. The best book I read in 07, from sumo wrestlers to abortions a lot of "innaresting theo-rizing" and very well written. First book I read completely as a pdf file on my notebook, it was that good!

[samirss @ Feb 1st 2008 7:24PM]

1. Better contrast e-ink screen.
2. Free RSS feeds would be cool. But....
3. Needs better battery life w/ 3G cellular on all the time.
3. Cheaper books / cheaper device. Best sellers should be dirt cheap, not 9.99, but 4.99, That will sell the device more, I mean there is no production cost for these books anymore. At least get textbook publishers to get onboard and sell them half priced, or even cheaper.
4. More native support for different file formats. Open it up, or offer some sort of converter.
5. Better handling of graphics. i should be able to zoom in to diagrams and stuff. Ok this is probably as hard as native PDF support, but hey, this is a wish list.

[Barry @ Feb 1st 2008 7:27PM]

You can get more books with an iPhone than Kindle, and with the iPhone all the books are free. It's called Project Guttenberg.

If Kindle wants to get in the game, they should give owners free access to Guttenberg.

[Mark from Menlo Park @ Feb 1st 2008 7:27PM]

Hire an industial designer -- this thing is butt ugly and inelegant

[memobox @ Feb 1st 2008 7:33PM]

They should turn it from a "book reader" to a "document reader" that affords easy reading and annotating of PDF, Word and the like files. Yes, books too, but books are just a limited small subset of what we read.

We need a GPR ("general portable reader") that can be used for any sort of documents. Of course, easy docs exchange would be nice too. The killer app will contain my library, brochures, file cabinet, newspapers, contracts, notes, journal articles, etc.

Limited functionality is the problem, not the price.

[web2.oh @ Feb 1st 2008 7:34PM]

Here, let me get the average blogtard's post out of the way: Full-color 1080p multitouch e-paper display, coverflow, ditch the keyboard, make it play Crysis at max detail, 1TB SSD, make it a phone, give it GPS, 10 megapixel camera (with flash), have it run Linux, have it run OSX, don't run Vista (but give it an Aero glass interface), better battery life (at least 6 years on one charge), and MAKE IT CHEAP!!!! Also everything on it should be free and if I load a cookbook on it, it will make a sandwich.

To be serious:
I admit I have not used a Kindle, or any other ebook reader of this sort (Sony's thing, that iRex iLiad iWhatever). But I can appreciate what Amazon is trying to do with this product. As for what I'd like the see in a "Kindle 2":
-Cheaper. Even only $100 less would be nice, $400 seems to be on the border between affordable gadget and luxury toy. An eBook reader should most definitely be affordable.
-Open up the software a bit more. The Kindle clearly has the hardware to do more complicated things, so why not add some more PDA type functions? Heck, let people develop apps for it! Of course, if this would hinder the Kindle's ability to display eBooks (its primary function), then forget about that.
-Tweak the overall design. If the Kindle was painted gray/silver, you'd have a hard time convincing me it wasn't from the 90s. Get some designers to make it more attractive! A lot of people seem to gripe about the button layout, so adjust its ergonomics. The ENORMOUS prev/next page buttons seem silly and annoying.
-Wifi. It would be quite useful in EVDO dead spots, and would make the Kindle a bit more useable outside of the US. I imagine there are lots of areas with poor cellular coverage, but numerous areas with wifi hotspots where one would be using the Kindle (libraries, coffee shops, hotels, etc).
-Perhaps add a premium connection option. A small monthly fee for unlimited usage of the online conversion feature, RSS feeds, maybe some other perks (members only content or something? Email?)

[JuggleNuts @ Feb 1st 2008 7:34PM]

Price_new = Price_old - $250;

[Tavis Veighey @ Feb 1st 2008 7:45PM]

Give it an SD card slot. That way if Sprint kills EVDO, or someone does not live in an area where EVDO is, they can still add books to it.
Also better PDF support, and CBR (Comic Book) Files.
Get rid of the $0.10 wireless transfer fee for sending your files to it.

[Neil @ Feb 1st 2008 7:47PM]

No keys, thin as a MacBook Air, with color, multi-touch screens on both sides. That should do it.

[mushrooshi @ Feb 1st 2008 7:48PM]

I would get rid of the expensive magnetic ink thingy until it is cheap,a nd stick with the good old...

WTF, I can't read these quarter-sized pixels!

[JoePerri @ Feb 1st 2008 7:50PM]

Bigger screen! Bigger Screen! Bigger screen!

I read a lot of magazines, as does my wife. The screen should be the same size as a standard magazine page and should be able to more clearly display photos/graphics.

[Penforhire @ Feb 1st 2008 7:53PM]

I'd like to see it hit with less of the ugly-stick.

The keyboard should be slide-out or else a separate attachment (like a console game's texting add-on). The page-forward buttons should be harder to hit accidentally (smaller or hit twice or ?).
It would be good to have more native e-book formats (less conversion required).

Some of you want it to be a phone too? Too small. Maybe with a roll-out e-ink screen but this is as small as I want an e-book to go.

[Sam @ Feb 1st 2008 7:55PM]

I like my kindle alot, but at some point I would like to be able to use it to completely eliminate the need to use paper books/documents. In that vain, I would like to see:

- Good support for PDF and images (with zoom in/out capability), so I could use it to read all of my work documents without printing them. By the way, I really don't care about color and the contrast is fine.

- Optional password protection so I could safely put confidential material on it

- More books. Amazon has a lot of titles, but I won't be happy until I can completely stop buying a paper books.

[KC @ Feb 1st 2008 7:58PM]

I would like to have it to be able to "write on the books", so that I can take notes, highlight, etc, on some of the pages that I am reading.

Heck, this may also spawn off the sale of quiz and puzzle books too.

[jaxim @ Feb 1st 2008 7:59PM]

Here are my must haves for an ebook reader:

- color
- be able to highlight my book in different colors. Great for textbooks and because it's digital, the highlights are not permanent.
- Ability to have different versions of highlights: i.e. multiple people could use a textbook. Rather than have one set of highlights, you can see different versions.
- Highlighting a book can produce a quick quiz or flash cards to help study.
- Ability to make notes in a book
- Ability to view PDF
- Ability to view videos (eventually eBooks will be multimedia). Imagine reading a history book and instead of a boring illustration to illustrate a paragraph's topic, there's a video.
- Ability to share (wirelessly) highlights and notes
- Ability to search highlighted words and traverse/review your notes and highlights in a logical way.
- Ability to take out an ebook onto your Kindle from a library
- Ability to view public domain books for free: i.e. Shakespeare
- Ability to browse Internet
- Price Around $250

[tommy @ Feb 1st 2008 8:00PM]

Double the screen size, add color and I want all my magazine subscriptions to be available through it. I am so tired of wasting materials and space on mags. I don't care if it has web too. Will pay for my mags this way and will gladly look at the ads that come with them.
Thanks

[ScooperJay @ Feb 1st 2008 8:00PM]

drop the price

[justicefreak @ Feb 1st 2008 8:02PM]

I'm reading my fourth novel on my Kindle, and I'm very happy with it so far. There are some improvements I would like to see, though:

(1) An option to connect to the web and download books/magazines/newspapers via standard WiFi, rather than exclusively through the Sprint EVDO network. While the Sprint option is nice, it simply isn't available to those of us in Alaska, Montana, rural, and other non-covered areas.

(2) The ability to zoom in on drawings and pictures. For example, the books I have been reading contain maps, which are completely illegible without the ability to zoom in.

(3) The button layout (essentially, completely around the edges of every side of the Kindle except the top) is too susceptible to inadvertent clicking when picking up and handling the device.

(4) Better contrast, meaning the screen background should be more white and less grey.

(5) Better selection of books. While it seems that most newer big titles are available in Kindle format, it has been my experience that Amazon doesn't offer downloads of many essential older titles from even best-selling authors. Then again, this problem is hardly unique--downloadable music stores like iTunes have had the same problem.

[onedollarbill @ Feb 1st 2008 8:03PM]

I just came to comment on the picture. I liked that book (Freakonomics)

[moo083 @ Feb 1st 2008 8:04PM]

I wouldn't make a Kindle. That's the problem...I love the idea of digital books, but I really don't want another device. Make an Amazon eBook Reader for iPhone, Blackberry, palm, windows mobile, etc....that would be better. In fact, keep the Kindle, just do this also. I love whipping my phone out and reading a book. Problem is, selection is very limited, and theres typos, formatting sucks, etc...Thats where amazon could fix things. What do you guys think?

[ark_v2 @ Feb 1st 2008 8:04PM]

No, they don't like engadget. Remember? they are really trying to kill iTunes. You get the connection right?