back to article Amazon Kindle Touch touches down early

Amazon's Kindle Touch has gone on sale a week ahead of schedule, with the second of the company's latest-gen Kindles now available from select retailers. Of course, Amazon.co.uk fronts the Kindle Touch sales, where customers can pick up a Wi-Fi only version for £109 or a 3G model for £60 more. Other outlets include John Lewis …

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  1. Anonymous Coward
    FAIL

    Amazon Kindle Touch touches down 2 years late

    Considering that Kobo B&N and Sony have had at least 2 generations of touch e-ink readers using EXACTLY the same Z-force technology from Neonode on the same perl e-ink screens, and they all use the superior EPUB format, that has substantially more content, isn't it more appropriate to say that the reader is rather late to the party???

    1. Tegne

      Re: Amazon Kindle Touch touches down 2 years late

      I suspect Amazon knew exactly what they were doing with their product release schedule. It's not like they were struggling to sell their previous models. And by now some people may be looking for an upgrade to their previous generation of kindle.

      1. DrXym

        Re: Amazon Kindle Touch touches down 2 years late

        "I suspect Amazon knew exactly what they were doing with their product release schedule."

        I suspect they had so many old models in stock that they withheld the launch until they could get them down to more manageable levels.

    2. JDX Gold badge

      Re: Amazon Kindle Touch touches down 2 years late

      Touch isn't really a big deal on an e-reader. Amazon sell on their name, super-slick market experience and the fact their hardware is pretty good, not because they have the best reader handset. Kind of the opposite to Apple.

      1. Anthony Hulse
        Thumb Up

        Re: Amazon Kindle Touch touches down 2 years late

        Touch most definitely makes an eReader easier to use, especially when in landscape format. Also a lot quicker to do many functions, such as zooming in on pics, using the Kindle Store, adding notes or moving quickly from book to book. I'm chuffed to bits that I waited until the Touch was available. It's a big improvement over the standard Kindle.

        Don't care much about the Fire though. There's only one tablet worth buying at the moment IMO, and it isn't made by Amazon.

        1. StephenD

          Touch easier?

          Agree with all of that, but actually I spent 95% of the time on my Kindle reading books (who'd have guessed it?) and much prefer the handily placed buttons for page advance than moving a finger over the screen and back every page. Each to their own, but retaining the page advance buttons on the touch versions would have seemed to have kept the best of both worlds.

          1. Chris Parsons

            Re: Touch easier?

            Couldn't agree more.

            Select book.

            Read book....20 hours later ... close book...select another book.

            I cannot see what benefit touch would give to me. I hardly ever do anything other than page forward, and most of my friends tell me the same.

            1. Anthony Hulse
              Happy

              Re: Touch easier?

              Not everyone is going to use a Kindle the same way. For the way I need to use an ereader touch is a far better interface than the traditional button based approach. As I posted above I like to read in landscape rather than portrait format, meaning the forward/back buttons would be in awkward positions. I also add a lot of notes and bookmarks as I go. So the touch interface does make things easier for how I use it.

              If, however, you would rather stick to the traditional way of doing things there's the Kindle 4. Aren't Amazon great for offering everyone an option to suit them? ;-)

              **cue moaning from the ePub-only crowd**

              1. Anonymous Coward
                Anonymous Coward

                Re: Touch easier?

                I'd want a combination, a touch interface to navigate the menus, as well as a couple of sets of well placed hardware buttons for turning the pages, they all seem to be either/or though.

      2. Anonymous Coward
        FAIL

        Re: Amazon Kindle Touch touches down 2 years late

        The only people that were saying touch wasn't a big deal, WAS Amazon. Now it's the best thing ever.

        It's like Apple saying Android's desktop widgets aren't useful, or notification bars are rubbish (ooops forgot OS5 copied them, notification bars are now essential).

        I use both the touchscreen and the buttons on mine, depending upon the situation. I find the touchscreen swipe better most of the time, but occasionally, like reading in bed, the buttons work better.

    3. James Chaldecott
      FAIL

      ... and too expensive

      Also note that WHSmith are selling the Kobo Touch for £80 at the moment, which is cheaper than the basic Kindle. (http://www.whsmith.co.uk/CatalogAndSearch/kobotouchereader.aspx)

      I was thinking of getting a Kindle Touch (as my first eBook reader) but it didn't take me long to realise how much of a better deal the Kobo is, so I popped down to my local WHSmith and got one. Pretty happy so far.

      1. thesykes
        WTF?

        Re: ... and too expensive

        just looked at the Kobo website, to see what's it like... please tell me that revolting quilted back can be removed?

    4. Some Beggar
      WTF?

      Re: Amazon Kindle Touch touches down 2 years late

      Amazon are selling more kindle books than paperbacks and are hitting an 11 digit quarterly sales figure. Does economics work differently in your universe because I'm not sure which part of this warrants a 'fail' icon.

    5. Mike Judge

      Re: Amazon Kindle Touch touches down 2 years late

      Kobo Touch is cheaper at Argos and it's better.

  2. The BigYin

    Here's a question

    The Kindle et al are DRM'd, what happens to people's "books" if Amazon go out of business or have some kind of major infrastructure issue. Are the public able to get access to the key or otherwise retain the use of the media they have bought (e.g. by contacting the original publisher)?

    Or do the public have to go out and buy their "books" again?

    1. DrXym

      Re: Here's a question

      I believe there are DRM strippers which will do the job. I'd consider it to be totally ethical to obtain a DRM free copy of a purchased book (e.g. by removing the DRM using a tool) to read that content with a device of your choosing and to offset the inevitability that Amazon will change their terms of service to your further disadvantage.

      Really what needs to happen is the EU should start legislating digital content such as books and treating giving it a similar legal status as property. There is absolutely no reason that a DRM should lock platform neutral content to one kind of device or prevent fair use such as right to resale, lending etc. It is entirely feasible to produce a industry standard platform neutral DRM which protects consumers rights as much as providers.

    2. Some Beggar

      Re: Here's a question

      No idea. How likely is an Amazon catastrophe? I wouldn't rely on DRM'd media for anything that I wanted to keep. E-books are a handy paperback replacement if you read and/or travel a lot. For stuff that I might actually want to dip into in the future I'd rather own a hardback or an "open" digital copy.

      1. DrXym

        Re: Here's a question

        "No idea. How likely is an Amazon catastrophe? I wouldn't rely on DRM'd media for anything that I wanted to keep. E-books are a handy paperback replacement if you read and/or travel a lot. For stuff that I might actually want to dip into in the future I'd rather own a hardback or an "open" digital copy."

        The problem is people buy books, music and videos because they DO want to keep them. And if they didn't want to keep them I hardly see the high prices of ebooks not offset by the means to sell them as being attractive either.

        1. Some Beggar

          Re: Here's a question

          "The problem is people buy books, music and videos because they DO want to keep them."

          I buy paperbacks to read. When they're read they head straight to a charity shop. I'm pretty certain I'm not alone. Who wants a house filled with shelves of thumbed novels that you're never going to touch again?

          I suppose if I anticipated living for a few thousand years in a vacuum of new creation then I might panic and start accumulating books and films to watch or read over and over again. It seems unlikely though.

          1. Sooty

            @Some beggar

            I suppose it depends on the person, pretty much all the books I buy are worth reading multiple times.

            I grew up reading the shelves and shelves of 60's & 70's sci-fi books that my dad had kept from when he grew up. If I had only had the choice of reading the pap supplied by schools, instead of having a wide selection years ahead of my age*, I'd probably have never read to the degree that I did and developed much poorer language skills as a result.

            Because of this I want to keep all of my books as well.

            *I'd have had a much easier time trying to do book reports though

          2. The BigYin

            Re: Here's a question

            "I buy paperbacks to read. When they're read they head straight to a charity shop."

            Try that with a Kindle copy. Oh wait, you can't.

            Personally I do keep a selection of hard/paper-backs in the house. Either for reference or to re-read or simply because the book holds some personal value to me.

      2. The BigYin

        Re: Here's a question

        @Some Beggar

        "How likely is an Amazon catastrophe?"

        Today, right now? Slim. Tomorrow? Well, did you hear about Pan Am? Big companies do fail y'know. And not only that, what if Amazon "upgrade" the DRM to something more active then they have an outage. "Kindle says 'No'" perhaps?

        My point is, anyone buying a Kindle (or any similar device that can only read proprietary standards, let alone DRM'd ones) is an idiot. The competitors (e.g. Kobo Touch) can at least read ePubs without pissing around in "Calibre" or similar.

        1. Some Beggar
          Meh

          Re: Here's a question

          Well thanks for calling me an idiot. My kindle is chock full of non-DRM'd material that required precisely bugger all "pissing around". I seem to have a somewhat different idea of what "pissing around" involves. Perhaps you could ask a youth to help you navigate the tricky world of the future? They can help you set the VCR and make the clock on your oven stop flashing while they're there.

          1. The BigYin

            Re: Here's a question

            @Some Beggar. I did not realise you have a Kindle. How does "people who undervalue their freedom" sit with you instead?

            "My kindle is chock full of non-DRM'd material that required precisely bugger all "pissing around""

            For now. And it can be deleted on a whim. You do remember "1984" don't you?

            "Perhaps you could ask a youth to help you navigate the tricky world of the future?"

            Unlikely to help, they won't understand this antiquated concept of "freedom". Just because you don't value your freedom, doesn't mean everyone doesn't. I do not own any Apple, Amazon or Sony products precisely because I do value my freedom. Maybe that makes me a neck-beard to you, more fool you.

            1. Some Beggar
              WTF?

              Re: Here's a question

              "You do remember "1984" don't you?"

              Yes. I've got three copies as it happens. On actual paper. What exactly does it have to do with the fact that it's easier to carry a Kindle rather than a bundle of disposable paperbacks or library books? Or the frankly bizarre idea you seem to have that my choice of e-reader can tell you something useful about my attitude to freedom.

              1. The BigYin

                Re: Here's a question

                "You do remember "1984" don't you?"

                "Yes. I've got three copies as it happens."

                Clearly you do not remember "1984" and what happened to it on the Kindle. Why not go and find out?

                1. Some Beggar
                  WTF?

                  Re: Here's a question

                  @The BigYin

                  You seem peculiarly determined to persuade me that I've made a foolish purchasing decision. Is this genuine concern for my welfare or are you just tickling your own bollocks to make yourself feel good?

                  Here's what I originally wrote:

                  "I wouldn't rely on DRM'd media for anything that I wanted to keep. E-books are a handy paperback replacement if you read and/or travel a lot. For stuff that I might actually want to dip into in the future I'd rather own a hardback or an "open" digital copy."

                  Is there anything in there that you actually disagree with?

  3. Magnus Ramage

    The ideal Kindle

    I don't especially want a Kindle (I have a tablet with a Kindle app which is good enough for me albeit not e-ink yadda yadda) but if I did, this seems to me the ideal model. I've never seen the point of the Kindle keyboard from a consumer point of view - it's a consumption device, and while some people no doubt take notes on them, I imagine they're a pretty small minority. The keyboard's just there to let Amazon sell you books on the go, but it clutters up the device. But this version uses the device's space to best effect - mostly screen.

    1. JDX Gold badge

      Re: The ideal Kindle

      I use the keyboard enough to prefer it, if buy new books through the Kindle itself this is useful. Also, I use gmail on it with the free 3G sometimes.

    2. verity33

      Re: The ideal Kindle

      The keyboard is pretty essential in the 3G version which has free data and Internet access. I don't know about anyone else, but that's mainly what I bought mine for (for travelling). Reading books is incidental, and I still prefer the paper version of a book.

  4. Drem

    Full internet over WiFi only...

    I've just started looking at getting a Kindle, as the wife was pushing for one, until she realised that the price of ebooks was staying higher than the paperback versions that she normally gets.

    I've been pondering whether to get the touch or keyboard version, and have pretty much decided that we'll get the keyboard one. Why? The kindle touch only does the full internet* over wifi, over 3g you're limited to Amazon or Wikipedia. If you get the keyboard kindle, you also get the full internet* over 3g, not just wifi

    *may not include IPv6 sites, so not really the full internet, but I've looked into that yet!

    1. Anonymous Coward
      Anonymous Coward

      Re: Full internet over WiFi only...

      Got stung by this myself. Bought a Kindle Touch for a friend after boasting about the free 3G wifi on my third gen Kindle.

      Oops!

  5. Mage Silver badge

    Need bigger

    my old Tech books and datasheets are not usable on regular size Kindle. I tried.

    So need to save up for the bigger one,

  6. SteveCo

    Our Touch arrived on Saturday. It's so much better for moving books in and out of collections. It is 3/4 of the weight (in the case) and is smaller than our current one. Our Keyboard version has now been passed to a relative for further use - and some book sharing!

    Only issue I've found so far is that the Touch cannot process a Calibre Catalogue file for more than a few page turns. It totally freezes up and needs a hard-reset (power button for 20 seconds) to restore control. The keyboard Kindle reads the same file without issue.

    1. Lusty
      Facepalm

      "Only issue I've found so far is that the Touch cannot process a Calibre Catalogue file for more than a few page turns. "

      Lol funny that, the company that put drm into the device to force you into buying books from them are making the program used to circumvent it difficult to use? Couldn't see that coming :)

  7. The New Turtle
    Coat

    Well the Kobo touch seems to work very well, and for slightly less money than the non-touch kindle.

    I understand from the conversation I had in Smiths that e-books should also be available from lending libraries, though how this works I haven't investigated yet. The main reason for us to buy something like this is to travel as light as possible, and 100g or so of Kobo is much more luggable than half a kilo of more of paperbacks.

    Hunting through my jacket to find where I left it last.

    1. Anonymous Coward
      Anonymous Coward

      "Hunting through my jacket to find where I left it last."

      See, that's another reason why I prefer to read my ebooks on a smartphone. If I put it down somewhere and can't remember where, I can use a landline or someone else's phone to call it. Now if only I could do that with the tv remote and my car keys...

  8. Ken MAC

    K-Touch eReades

    After the obligatory research on the Web, I realised the 'obo reader was cheaper, more open and functionally very similar to the 'indle and as the standard 'indle is £89 it was a fair bet that the touch version would be at least £90 and the 'obo Touch was £74 (pc world reserve and collect)

    Another search on Ebay and I found a reasonable leather folio case with clip on LED light for £6 delivered.. (how do people make money at these levels?)

    So I'm now the proud owner of a Kobo device for less than the Amazonians would have taken from my wallet for a simpler device, and a tighter lock in to their church, let alone having touch...

    Yes the Kobo eco-system might not be quite so slick but as most of my intended reads will be ex-copyright classics in epub fomat who cares...

    Moral :- when looking for a sutable vacuum cleaner, a Hoover is not always the best choice.

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