October 06, 2009
Virtual Readality
I haven't written about my Kindle lately, but feel an update is in order as I have found another complaint.
Not all books translate into Kindle format.
I knew there would be certain genres that would not make the leap to eInk; e.g. the scrapbooking and other craft titles I enjoy would be a big disappointment without the gorgeous color photos. However, a couple of text specific titles have caused me irritation, as well.
Both were read via the "Sample Chapters" feature offered by Amazon. In many instances, a quick start on the sample has been all I need to go ahead and complete the purchase. Unfortunately, in the case of Michelle Malkin's Culture of Corruption, I found the typos and formatting issues completely off-putting. So much so that, should I choose to read the rest, I would avoid the Kindle version - unless they redo the conversion. I assume that in the dead-tree version, they have proofreaders that would have stopped that.
Then there is Glenn Beck's Arguing with Idiots, which I wouldn't even have looked twice at if not for the glowing reviews I am seeing all over the internets, and the ability to sample before I buy. The book, though, appears to be laid out to include fun little facts and drawings and trivia....most likely on the edges of the page in obviously separate spaces so as not to disrupt the flow while you are reading. In the Kindle version, as you read happily along, you are suddenly in a paragraph that has nothing whatsoever to do with the subject at hand. There is no real delineation (I noticed a couple had an extra blank line preceding) and no rhyme or reason. Then poof, there you are, back in the chapter you thought you were consuming in the first place. Again, there is no way I would buy this title for my Kindle unless they took the time to redo it and make it readable. I assume with this one also, that the dead-tree version has someone actually thumb through the finished product to ensure customer satisfaction.
I LOVE my Kindle, and I certainly find plenty to fill it up, plenty to keep me reading. However, neither of those titles was a small release - with two proven authors writing two almost guaranteed bestsellers, why wouldn't the publisher want to ensure a quality product for a market like Kindle owners?