Kindle Fire Follow up

So I wrote about my initial impression of the Kindle Fire almost a month ago and I thought I'd offer an update on my thoughts on the device.  What I'm going to do is address some of the complaints/issues I've seen others have with the device and offer my input.  And then give my current impression on the device.

OK first off:
This is not an iPad.  It's not supposed to be one.  Every tech writer/blogger/news person that ran their mouth and kept asking/saying that the Kindle Fire was an iPad killer should be forced to pay a fine for making crap up (yes I know they do it anyway, but still.)  The Fire was never going to be an iPad killer.  It wasn't meant to be.  It is meant to be the next generation of the Kindle and be a media tablet, which I think it does well.  If you want a comparison of what it is like...think of it kinda like a larger iPod touch.

OK onto the issues:

Control responsiveness:
This is one of the most talked about issues with the device, I even mentioned it in my review.  Yes the controls are a bit buggy and sometimes it takes a few pokes to make it do what ya tell it to do.  Is it the biggest issue in the world? For me it's a bit of an annoyance because it takes a few extra seconds to get to where I want it to go, but it's not a huge turnoff (as it is for other people.)  It still works and I can get it to do what I need it to.  Supposedly a big fix is coming out in a week or two to help with this issue, which would be nice.

Location of the power button:
This has been the second biggest complaint that I've seen, especially recently, that it's too easy to turn off the device.  And that's not exactly true.  They make it sound like it shuts down completely and you have to wait for the thing to start back up, but it doesn't do that (at least not on mine.) What it does do is go into screen saver mode. You press the button again and boom you're back in.  To completely shut it down you have to hold the button and then it asks you if you're sure if you want to shut it down.  To me the location of the power button isn't an issue, especially since I have it on one of the sides so I can watch a movie, surf the web, or play Angry Birds.


Volume control:
Lately folks have been complaining that there isn't an external volume control.  And I'll be honest that just doesn't make much sense to me.  I find it much easier to have access to it on the screen itself and much easier to make sure I get the volume I like (and not accidentally hit a slider or something that changes it.)  For me it's the same as on my desktop computer at work, I change the volume via the control panel.

Weight:
Some people have complained about the weight of the Kindle Fire saying it's too heavy, you can't hold it in one hand, etc.  And my response is 1) why would you want to hold it one hand? and 2) It's like a solid paperback book (think any of the Game of Thrones books by George RR Martin or one of the Codex Alera books by Jim Butcher.)  You have to use two hands to hold one of those books comfortably or lean it up against your lap and that's what I do with the Kindle.  It's a nice solid feel to it so that you don't worry that you're going to break it by poking at it to hard or carrying it around.

Browser Slowness:
When Amazon announced the Kindle Fire they hyped the Silk Browser and how fast it would be.  How fast it would be compared to what I don't remember and can't lay my hands on the information, but people have been complaining about it being slower than what they expected.  And for me what I notice is that it is a second or so slower than my desktop/laptop computer.  But it still loads pretty quickly and I can always get to what I need so it's not an issue for me.  (I have seen from tech sites that there is apparently some setting that maybe the cause of the slowness and if you turn it off it speeds it up a bit.)

Lack of Storage space:
OK I know this is one of the other biggest complaints/worries of folks, since the Fire only has about 6.25GB's of storage space on it.  And it is a bit disconcerting, but Amazon chose to use this as a chance to push their storage and other services.  So as long as you have WiFi and store your music in the Amazon cloud and stream videos it's really not that much of a problem. 
         And what if you travel?  Well you can download movies (at least from Amazon) and download a few CD's onto your device and it won't use up all of the space and keep you (or others) entertained for a while.  You can then always delete and reload new ones once you get someplace with WiFi access.  Is it a hassle to do that?  A bit.  And if you don't want to do that then it might be better to go with another device. 
          For me I like using Amazon's storage and the streaming so I don't need the storage and I'm generally some place where I have WiFi.  And yep I've downloaded stuff a couple of times to keep myself entertained on trips.
           a) one other possibility (and I haven't tried this yet so I have no idea if it works) is to try a portable HD to carry stuff around.  Still a bit of a pain, but it does have more space.)

The "fat finger" problem:
I've seen a few people complain about the size of the device/keyboard and how hard it is to type on it.  And to be honest that's the problem I had with devices like the iPod touch/iPhone.  Those devices was too small and my fingers feel fat against the keyboard (heck I thought the same thing about the Blackberry keyboard.)  But with the Fire I just flip it on the side and the keyboard is big enough for me to work with.  It still might be an issue for others, but I think they would have the same issue with other devices.

Carousel customization:
To me this is my biggest issue outside of the buggy controls.  The carousel is what you see when you start up and shows everything that you've looked at recently/used/downloaded.  And you can't edit it.  You can't get rid of the stuff that you've deleted or you just don't want on the front page.  For me I'd rather not have the carousel, but instead just have a bookshelf like screen (which appears below the carousel) where I can add favorites or just navigate otherwise. 
          Supposedly this is one of the issues they might be fixing in the update, but I can't find any firm confirmation on it.  Would I let this stop me from recommending the device?  No.  But if you're going to share the device with others you might want to be careful about what you download/use (yes there were complaints from people they didn't want their significant others to know what they were looking at.)




Netflix App:
Yes I've seen a few people complain about it.  Here's my simple response:  Netflix built the app.  Go complain to them.

Selection on Amazon Prime Videos:
Again I've seen a few people complain about this and honestly it makes no sense to me at all.  They complain that it doesn't have all of the episodes of a season and it doesn't have much as Netflix and I think there are two different issues here. 

• One is if you purchased the Kindle Fire you got a free month of Amazon Prime and my thinking is that there maybe restrictions on what you can see as far as videos go (perhaps due to license agreements) that would make you not see all of the episodes of a season. I can't test this theory, but I can assure you that they didn't put up any partial seasons of shows and all of the episodes are on there.  
• The second issue is the comparison to Netflix and my response is this: Netflix has been in the streaming game since 1997...Amazon since February of 2011.  And trust me their selection is better than it was when they started and they do have a good bit of content for streaming.  There's plenty of stuff to keep you entrained if you get a Prime account and want to stream movies.

I've seen other complaints ranging from privacy/parental controls--such as if you give the device to a kid they can buy stuff with one click that you don't want them too.  And for me I'm just going to say that I think these are personal preferences that you have to take into account when looking at the device.  If you have a kid you might not want to give them the device to play with (or let them play in the store.)

What the Fire does well is act as a media tablet, with the caveat to get the full use out of it you need WiFi and that you like the Amazon cloud for storing your music.  If you don't want something you need WiFi for and you don't like using Amazon for everything then this isn't the device for you.  But for me I do like Amazon.  I like the cloud storage they have, I already had Prime and loved it, and bottom line this device is exactly what I was looking for.  Something that was a combination of an iPod touch/Kindle reader that I could use to entrain myself while I traveled and still surf a bit on the web and not have to carry my laptop everywhere with me (at least as much as I can avoid it.) 

Bottom line I'd recommend this device (I already have to a few people.)  I think it works well for what it is, but you need to take into account what you want out of it and who you're buying it for.  You may also want to wait till the 2nd generation since they're sure to improve things a bit with that one (it's supposedly coming next year.)

Book Review--Head First jQuery

Head First jQuery
Ryan Benedetti & Ronan Cranley
O’Reilly

O’Reilly Publishing provided me access to an electronic copy of this book for review purposes.

A basic introduction to jQuery and scripting

jQuery is fast becoming one of the most useful and popular JavaScript frameworks being used and being developed for future markets with jQuery mobile (see book review/blog post here.)  One of the best features of jQuery, in my opinion, is that it allows you to learn and use a scripting language that doesn't depend upon the browser develops to update their JavaScript libraries with each release of the browser---which often means that some of the selectors don't work right with all of the browsers (IE in particular.)  Instead jQuery is file that lives on a server somewhere that the webpage calls upon, much like how PHP works.  It's still a client side scripting language, but in some ways acts like a server side.  In this massive book (over 450 pages) and over 11 chapters the reader will learn how to download and setup jQuery and introduce the basics of jQuery. The later chapters briefly introduce AJAX, PHP, MySQL, JSON, and XML and how they work with jQuery to build a more interactive webpage. There also a couple of apendecies to help you get a test environment set up on your local computer.  One thing to note about this book is that you do need experience with webdesign and it does help to have some experience with scripting languages. 

One of the first things that stands out about this book (and the Head First series in general) is the bright, colorful, and plentiful images used to help illustrate concepts and how jQuery works.  They also provide illustrations on how to walk through the specific problem at hand, which is often nice to see in a visual format...even if it is just notes on a pad of paper.  The other highlight of the Head First series (and this book is no exception) is that it's written in a clear easy to understand language, it's written for the novice programmer--one that's still learning how programming works and for someone that's looking for an overview of the language.  In this book the authors give you a specific situation--a client wants work done on their website-- walk you through how to solve the problem step by step, and with illustrations to help you solve the problem.  This method can be a very helpful way to introduce aspects of jQuery as it walks through problems that you might encounter when building/developing your website and ways that jQuery can over come that problem. 

But like every "Head First" title the illustrations won't work for everyone.  I find it helps if you're coming from a nontraditional background or from a more creative bent (left brain.) And even then sometimes the images and graphics can be overwhelming, which is a problem that I find sometimes in this book.  I found that thT images, while helpful in the beginning, often start to become overwhelming as you get more and more into the problem being solved and make it a bit difficult at times to concentrate on following the step by step instructions. 

Overall this is a fairly good introduction book and easy to read if you're coming from a nontraditional programming background (and are left brain) then this might just be the book for you to learn more about scripting languages.  If you're more right brain then you might want to look for a more traditional book on jQuery, such as "Learning jQuery, Third Edition" from Pact.

Initial Kindle Fire impressions

I've had my Kindle Fire for just about a day now and thought I'd offer my initial impressions.

First, as so many others have said, if you're looking for a replacement for a laptop...don't.  This isn't meant to be that or an iPad killer (whatever that's supposed to mean.)  What it is meant to be is a solid little tablet that you can read, listen to music, watch videos, and surf the web a bit and it does this really well.

First off books:  I've only played with other ereaders before, but I really like how they display on the Fire.  The screen is easy to read on no matter where I've been (office/home/a bit outdoors) and it's easy to navigate through the pages.  I really enjoy how easy it is to find specific titles of new books and they offer some nice lists of top free books (mostly things out of copyright so a lot of classics) that are easy to get to.  I've also tested briefly and been able to access the books without wifi, even though they don't seem to be actually stored on the device (don't ask me how I'm not sure...)

One thing that I have been curious about is how comics/graphic novels would show up on an ereader, since so many of them weren't designed with the ereader in mind.  And I've tested it briefly and it isn't bad, but it's still not as good as having the actual book.  You have to double tap on images to get them to expand and then they're a bit blurry.  Not the fault of Amazon, just how the publisher encoded the books.  So for me, reading comics is still a bit of hit or miss on this device.

Movies: This was one of the features that intrigued me was being able to watch movies on the device and it works really well.  Clear, crisp colors, it displays well on the screen and it's easy to navigate through the Amazon library.  I've also tested the Netflix app (which is a bit buggy) but it worked well also.  The sound came out perfectly clear on this as well.  I can imagine using this feature anywhere where I can access wifi just to entertain myself for a bit.  I've not tried extensively with streaming sites, such as Hulu or the History channel, but brief test with free Hulu doesn't work on this device (not the fault of Amazon though...)

Music is easy to use and I love that it connects to the Amazon cloud.  It's easy to store all of your CD's there and purchase new ones and have access through one device instead of putting it on multiple.  If you're going somewhere without wifi though you'd have to download it to the device and that uses up storage so it's a bit of a mix there.  The sound quality for some of the songs that I listened to came out a bit tinny.  I'm not sure why it was different than the shows, but just something that I noticed.

The one thing that does bother me a bit is that there isn't much actual storage space on the device, especially if you want to download movies/music to use while you don't have wifi.  It's only about 6.5 gbs of free space which isn't a lot.  But the nice thing about the Fire is that as long as you have wifi you have access to the cloud so everything is there, which I actually like a lot since wifi is becoming more and more prevalent in the places that I visit.  Would it be nice if it had 3g? Yes, but then we wouldn't have gotten the price that we did.

I found it fairly easy to browse and surf the web and the speed was decent enough for what I was looking at.  I wasn't waiting more than 15 to 20 seconds for most pages to load and it was easy enough to make the page a bit bigger to look at the ext.

Since I'm a librarian I have to take a moment and look at it from a librarian perspective.  And for my two cents this is a great little device for a librarian to have handy (as long as your building has wifi.)  It's easy to browse and surf the web and would be a great little device to have handy while helping patrons in the stacks.  Not only that it's a nice device just to show people how ebooks work, what it's like to stream a movie or music from the cloud.  For my money it's a good device for a library to ease into the tablet market without spending too much.

My one issue is that the controls are a bit buggy sometimes.  I've having to press the button three or four times for it to actually go back, go home, or switch to a different menu.  I'm not sure why this happens, but judging from some of the other reviews and comments I've seen online I'm not the only one.  Perhaps this can just be a software fix somewhere along the way, but I wouldn't let that stop me from recommending this to someone.

This is a great product at a great price.  I had been looking at getting a Kindle or an ipod touch and this device is a good merger of the two.  Other than the somewhat buggy controls it works well, easy to handle, easy to navigate and fits my needs perfectly.

Talk About a Library day

A couple weeks ago I posted about how libraries need to get better about not standing on the sidelines. So to put my foot where my mouth is or whatever phrase you want to use here's my idea: National (or International) talk about a library day.  We pick a day, say Wednesday January 18 2012, and spread the word.  So what is this National Talk about a library day?  Read on.


Now I know what you’re thinking that this is like National Library week or something like that, but it isn’t.  This isn’t where librarians and libraries talk about themselves.  Nope this is where our users, our patrons, the press, anyone that we can get ahold of will talk about libraries.  Even if it’s just for five minutes or ten minutes or all day, they’ll tell their audience/the world/space aliens/whomever what makes libraries shine for them.  Why do they use us?  What special memory do they have about the library?  Whatever they want to say.  This is the day that our users will talk about us to let the rest of the world know why they should care about us.  

I know that many of our patrons to talk about us anyway, but what about one day where the stories spread like wildfire.  How cool would it be to hear Jon Stewart share a story about libraries? Or see TechCrunch splash up a story about us on the main page?  Or the Mythbusters talk about us?  Or you local postal carrier? 


So who should you tell about International Talk About a Library Day?  Everyone.  Seriously.  
Think local:  newspaper, TV station, school newspaper, local bloggers
Think big: send it to national TV shows (Daily Show anyone?), blogs like Lifehacker, Techcrunch, the Pioneer woman, to twitter, to anywhere and everywhere that you can think of.


Librarians can talk all day about how great and awesome we are. Librarians can say all kinds of things to the administration to politicians, we can share numbers and statistics to the hills run with them, but the power of the voice is even better.  What we need though is our users, our patrons, the people that we serve every day to talk about us.


So what do y'all think? Can we make it happen?


Possible release to send out about

National Talk About a Library Day
Wednesday January 18, 2012.


Dear x (fill in with name group, whatever you like just be nice),


I know, I know y’all probably get emails like this all day long.  And nope this won’t require any money, just a few minutes of your time so please read through (trust me it will be worth your while.)


I’m writing about "National Talk About a Library Day.”  That’s right, talk about a library.  I know, I know you’re probably thinking it doesn’t fit your blog/tv show/whatever, but here’s the thing...it does.  Libraries are a universal place.  You go anywhere and you’ll find one, even if it’s a burro carrying around a sack of books.  Think about the impact that your local library had on you. On your family. On your children.  I don’t need to remind you about it, because its already jumped into your head.  


And this is what National Talk About a Library Day is all about.  A chance for you to share with your audience your favorite memory about libraries or what you like about them or the impact they’ve had in your life.  Whatever you choose.  Even if all you can spare is 5 minutes or one tweet or one blog post, tell your audience.  Tell the world.