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Some ergonomic changes in the Kindle 3
August 26, 2010 | 2:06 pm
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By Paul Biba
My Kindle 3 has arrived. I’m not going to cover stuff that has been covered in all the reviews you’ve read, but I’m going to try to point out some things that haven’t been mentioned (at least as far as I know).
Above is a shot of the changed control area of the Kindle 3. Clearly Amazon has looked at the ergonomics of the Kindle 2 and made some, to me, welcome, changes. Here are the ones I’ve noticed:
The Previous Page button is now located on BOTH the right and left side of the unit, not just on the left side as in the Kindle 2.
The buttons, themselves, are much thinner and quieter than those on the Kindle 2. They also move outwards, like on the Kindle 1. The Kindle 2 changed this to make them move inwards so that they would be harder to hit by accident. I don’t know yet whether this change is good or bad.
The Menu, Home and Back buttons have been moved from the right side of the unit to the bottom near the 5-way pad. This makes a lot of sense and makes the unit actually operable with one hand. Takes a bit of getting used to, though. It’s good ergonomics to have all the controls in one place.
In, to me, a big improvement, the On/Off slide has been moved to the bottom of the unit. The same with the volume control and the headphone jack. This places all the controls and input/output stuff in one place. No longer do you have to reach over the top of the unit to turn it on and off.
Because of the size change and thickness change, along the the changing of the stuff mentioned above, none of the Kindle 2 cases will work with the Kindle 3. This also goes for some booklights, as the Kindle 3 will to too thin for them to get a good grip.
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Comments:
Thanks for noting the ergonomic changes… I found your article by trying out the new Google RealTime Search Experiment of all places (even though I follow on Twitter, I rarely get a chance to fool with it).
Thanks for your great articles, Paul. I ordered my Kindle 3G on July 29th and it’s “prepared for shipment” but still no ship email. I *think* it ships tonight and i’ll still get it tmr as Amazon ships from the next state (DE) and it’s overnight even ground. I can’t wait!!!
Overall, I agree with your assessment on the ergonomic changes, with the strong exception of the placement of the power switch and headphone jack on the bottom. I often read with my legs curled up under me on the sofa holding my Kindle so that its lower edge rests upright on my thigh; I’ve already had my Kindle 3 turn off several times when I slightly shifted position and the power switch was toggled inadvertently. Also, holding the Kindle in this position, using a headset is impossible as the headset jack is inaccessible.