No matter how perfect a device is you can’t stop dreaming for more features. I remember when iPod came out a few years ago. It was a new thing but early adopters wanted more features to be added right away. Think about how far iPod has come. You’ve got to believe that Amazon folks are not sitting around Jeff Bezos and claiming that their work with Kindle is done.
With that in mind, here are a few features (software-wise) that I would like to see implemented on my Kindle.
- Twitter Integration: some folks consider Twitter to be a distraction, but it is truly a wonderful platform for communication. You may wonder, “what the heck can I say in 140 characters or less?” But you can’t recognize the true power of Twitter without actually using it.
- Social Media Integration: there is more to the social media than Twitter. Sites such as Scribd have a lot of valuable content that can be used on Kindle. I’d like to see Amazon work with these services to bring even more content to Kindle.
- Notes: I like the fact that you can bookmark pages with Kindle books, but I want to see is the ability to actually write notes and have them tracked by Kindle. I realized the need for it a long time ago, but I thought I was being too demanding. But looking back at my paperback books, I have always tried to take notes and add them to my books for future references. Having a “sticky-like” feature would help here.
- Content recommendation service: this potential feature is very dear to my heart. Amazon has proved over the years that they have one of the best book recommendation features on the web. I can’t tell you how many magical books I have found that I wouldn’t have without Amazon’s recommendation service. It’s time for Amazon to implement a content recommendation service to allow folks to not only find other books, but maybe related free content (can a partnership with Google be on the cards?)
- Kindle Apps: I am still dreaming of the day that we get our own SDK for Kindle. Think about the possibilities. With a proper software development kit, you can add all the above capabilities in a flash. Amazon has a lot of loyal customers. An open source SDK can push Kindle over the top (maybe a Kindle app store too!).
What “soft features” would you like to see implemented on your Kindle?
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0 comments
#1KarenJanuary 9, 2009, 12:25 pm
I have to wonder if you actually have a Kindle.
You can already take notes for any book and the Kindle keeps track of them (and you can copy to your desktop, if needed there).
And it has had book recommendations in the Kindle store since I’ve owned mine (and probably since day one, as helping you make purchase decisions is the #1 job at Amazon).
For social media, it would be nice if you could push your library out to librarything or shelfari (to merge with non-kindle and non-amazon content), but otherwise you really need to get something with a fast refresh (and color) … in other words, a PC that isn’t as good at being a reading device. As for twitter, no thanks. Who wants constant interruptions of “I’m feeding my cat” or “should I eat this or that” while trying to read? You attention span is probably already shot from the constant IM/text/twitter traffic you have now, why ruin the one experience you may have that shuts it all out? Besides, once twitter is overrun with spam (like the email and IM it replaces), it’ll be a dead/less useful technology as well.
#2P. RadJanuary 9, 2009, 3:12 pm
@Karen.
I do have a couple of Kindles. Trust me. I guess maybe you misunderstood my thoughts there. So let’s see where the issue is.
Content recommendation: I do talk about Amazon having a book recommendation service. What I was talking about was an enhanced version that recommends not only books that you can buy but other related sources. Sort of like a content search engine. If such a feature is available on Kindle, I have failed to see it.
As far as the notes are concerned, I was talking about virtual stickies. I believe I pointed to that as well. If there is such a feature available on Kindle, I stand corrected here
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