Top 10 Software Update Requests for the Kindle

Daithi · 12-09-2009, 02:42 PM

If you would like to see these features added to the Kindle then please take the time to email Amazon. Just cut and paste into an email and send to kindle2-feedback@amazon.com. The more people who email them the stronger the chance they will listen.

If you have your own suggestions then list them in this thread, along with which item you think your suggestion should replace. If we get a consensus I'll update this top ten list.

TOP 10 SOFTWARE UPDATES REQUEST FOR THE KINDLE
(as posted on MobileRead.com)

1. Folders/Tags/Readlists
When we have a large library of books, we need a better means of managing the content than just sorting by author, title, and most recent. One solution is to allow us to add a tag to a book (i.e. mystery, sci-fi, freebee, etc.) and then give us the option to just display the books having a certain tag. Another option is to allow us to create Readlists that are similar to Playlists for MP3 players. For example, we could create a 'Mystery Readlist' and then select books to add to that Readlist, and when viewing the Readlist only those books in the list are displayed. A third option is to allow us to create folders that are managed by connecting the Kindle to a PC and then dragging and dropping files into folders. Each option has its advantages and disadvantages. Tagging is the most robust because each book can have multiple tags, but it requires the user to tag each book, which is time consuming. Folders provide the fastest mechanism for us to setup and manage books, but it is not as versatile and easy to use as Tags. The Readlists option falls somewhere in the middle. Supporting all three options would probably be the best of all possible worlds. (We've heard something in this regards will be released the first half of 2010, but we wanted to make sure you knew this feature is badly desired.)

2. ePub
The rest of the ebook industry seems to be getting behind the ePub standard. This standard has distinct advantages over the AZW file format. For example, support of dropcaps, text flowing around images, and just a far more robust display format in general. More importantly, ePub files are displayable on most ereaders, but not on the Kindle. We very much would like to have the ability to display these files on the Kindle, even if the Kindle only supported non-DRMed ePubs. However, a Kindle that supported non-DRM ePub and the ePub with Adobe DRM would be preferred. This would allow us to buy ebooks from multiple sources and use the Kindle to check out ebooks from libraries.

3. More robust PDF support
We should be able to perform the same functions within a PDF document as we can within an AZW file. Namely, we should be able to annotate, highlight, bookmark, search, click on internal hyperlinks, and use the dictionary. It would also be nice to do a few things we can't do in AZW files. For example, it would be nice to go to a certain page number within a PDF. We can do this when reading a PDF on a PC and it would be great to do it on the Kindle as well. Another option supported by PDFs on a PC is to view thumbnails of the pages. This allows you to quickly browse a document and select a page to go to. This is especially useful with documents containing graphics or illustrations. Lastly, it would be nice to have the ability to view PDF documents that are protected with Adobe DRM.

4. Ability to zoom in on images
Sometimes an image, particularly a PDF image, is too big to display on a single page. Normally the image gets scaled down so that it will fit within the Kindle's screen, but this often makes it unreadable. The Kindle does a pretty good job of displaying an image in sections when viewed in landscape mode, but viewing images could still be a lot better. Some ereaders allow you to zoom in on a section of an image, and it would be really nice if the Kindle supported this option as well.

5. User ability to fix meta-data
Books often contain authors with misspelled names, or the last name and first name are reversed, or the title has a misspelling, or everything is in CAPS. It would be really nice if we could fix these errors in a book's meta-data directly from the Kindle.

6. Full Unicode support
The Kindle could display virtually any book written in any language if the Kindle had full Unicode support. We could view the Koran in Arabic, or Bible in Hebrew, or Green Eggs and Ham in Chinese. If a book is available in a language that isn't English, or in a Roman alphabet, it shouldn't matter. The Kindle should have the ability to display the book.

7. User supplied font support
In conjunction with Unicode support the Kindle will also need more robust font support to display books not written in English. It would also be nice if we could just select our own fonts in general. Sometimes it is easier to read a book printed on screen with a san-serif font. Other books might look better with Old-English font, or with a Comics font, or whatever. It would be nice if we were the ones with control over which font is used to display a book.

8. Support user supplied screen savers
The original Kindle 1 had the ability to display screensavers that were supplied by the user. This was a really nice feature. It allowed Kindle owners to display images of their children, families, pets, favorite bookcovers, etc., as screensavers. We would really like to see this feature brought back. Additionally, it would be nice to select a single default screensaver (maybe if only one image was in the screensaver directory). This image might be a picture of family, or it might be something more practical, such as an image containing contact information so that we can be found in the event that we misplace our kindle.

9. Password protection option
Some users would like to have some kind of password protection for their Kindle. This would allow them to maintain some degree of privacy in situations where their Kindle might be accessed by individuals other than the owner. However, this feature should only be an "option" as many Kindle users do not want to be hassled by having to routinely enter a password to access it. Furthermore, you should be able to turn on/off "Password Protection" from your "Manage Your Kindle" page on Amazon. This would allow you to protect your Kindle through Whispernet should your Kindle ever be lost or stolen. The password screen displayed on the Kindle should also contain instructions on how to return a lost Kindle to its owner. Lastly, having the ability to password protect individual files would also be useful, as in the case of a family that shares a Kindle and doesn't want their children viewing certain files.

10. Software API
Apple has some really nice applications in its App Store that were created by third parties. Apple was able to accomplish this by providing an API that programmers could use to interact with their iPhone. Who knows what kind of apps could be developed for the Kindle if it included a similar API. Calendars, Address books, games like Sudoku and Crossword puzzles all come to mind, but any interactive application that didn't require video could be integrated. Give us an API and let's see what the Kindle App Store will soon have to offer.

daffy4u · 12-09-2009, 02:51 PM

Great list. I shall use most of it and send it on. I've covered #9 in the Kindle Myths wiki and don't think it's really needed in that sense. I would prefer remote a kill switch, that would make the Kindle totally unusable the first time the wireless is turned on.

For Parental Control, I don't have a solution but if a password option is added, it really has to be an "option" because I don't want to deal with passwords.

Thanks for pulling this together.

freezer2k · 12-09-2009, 02:58 PM

An option to protect certain folders with a password for some more private reading material/notes would be great too.

For advanced security one might even consider to encrypt the contents of such a folder

Rootman · 12-09-2009, 03:37 PM

Great list, covers all the complaints that I have.

bzImage · 12-09-2009, 03:39 PM

Password protect the registration information, so if you lost your kindle only with the password they can de-register the device

Connallmac · 12-09-2009, 05:16 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Daithi

9. Password protection option
Losing a Kindle could be expensive. Anyone finding your Kindle could quickly buy a ton of books and have themselves a nice little library of brand new books in their hand. It would really be great if we had the ability to password protect our Kindle. Most users would probably get annoyed if they had to enter a password every time the Kindle went into sleep mode, but if we are traveling, or just have books on our Kindle we don't want others to see, then having a password mode would really be useful. Having the ability to 'lock out'/'password protect' certain files would also be useful in the case of a family that shares a Kindle and doesn't want their children viewing certain files.

Amazon has stated that they will not hold a Kindle owner responsible for purchases made on a lost or stolen Kindle. It's also a very simple matter to de-register a Kindle from your Amazon account.Right near the top of your "Manage Your Kindle" page, it lists all of the Kindle devices registered to your account with the device's name, it's e-mail address, it's warranty number(if any), a hotlink to edit the device's info, and then a hot link to deregister it. A follow up call to Kindle support should then take care of any unauthorized purchases. I de-registered my Kindle 2 when I sold it to my father-in-law after upgrading to the DX and it was just as easy as following that hot link.

Some sort of way to keep children out of files you don't want them to have access to is another story. I don't see any way to do that with the way it's set up now.

Daithi · 12-09-2009, 05:28 PM

I revised the "Password Protection" option. I kind of incorporated Daffy's idea about a "Kill Switch", but I just called it setting Password Protection from the "Manage Your Kindle" page on Amazon. It accomplishes the same thing as a Kill Switch. I'm probably like Daffy in that I wouldn't use the Password Protection, but I imagine others would want it -- such as parents with kids, or a college student living in a dorm.

Daithi · 12-09-2009, 05:32 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Connallmac

Amazon has stated that they will not hold a Kindle owner responsible for purchases made on a lost or stolen Kindle. It's also a very simple matter to de-register a Kindle from your Amazon account.Right near the top of your "Manage Your Kindle" page, it lists all of the Kindle devices registered to your account with the device's name, it's e-mail address, it's warranty number(if any), a hotlink to edit the device's info, and then a hot link to deregister it. A follow up call to Kindle support should then take care of any unauthorized purchases. I de-registered my Kindle 2 when I sold it to my father-in-law after upgrading to the DX and it was just as easy as following that hot link.

Some sort of way to keep children out of files you don't want them to have access to is another story. I don't see any way to do that with the way it's set up now.

Yeah, I know that deregistering is pretty easy, but if you could use an optional password to protect your Kindle from unauthorized viewers/your kids, and also protect it if it is lost or stolen then you are killing two birds with one stone. Especially if Amazon can turn on a page that provides instructions for how to return a lost Kindle to its owner.

daffy4u · 12-09-2009, 05:39 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Daithi

I revised the "Password Protection" option. I kind of incorporated Daffy's idea about a "Kill Switch", but I just called it setting Password Protection from the "Manage Your Kindle" page on Amazon. It accomplishes the same thing as a Kill Switch. I'm probably like Daffy in that I wouldn't use the Password Protection, but I imagine others would want it -- such as parents with kids, or a college student living in a dorm.

Cool! If the instruction screen said that the Kindle should be returned to Amazon and Amazon would return it to me, I would willingly pay for all the shipping costs plus say a $50-$75 reward to the finder.

fugazied · 12-09-2009, 07:02 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Rootman

Great list, covers all the complaints that I have.

Yup if Amazon covered all of those bases in a major update I would be VERY happy.

rcuadro · 12-09-2009, 08:01 PM

What a freaking good idea! I cant believe no one had though about it until now!
Email sent!!!

Daithi · 12-09-2009, 08:24 PM

I will give Karma to anyone that posts that they have sent Amazon this email.

bzImage · 12-09-2009, 08:30 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Daithi

I will give Karma to anyone that posts that they have sent Amazon this email.

Done..

Here is the return email:

Hello,

Thanks for your comments about improving Kindle features to make it even more powerful digital reader. We'll consider your feedback as we plan further improvements.

Strong customer feedback like yours helps us continue to improve the service we provide, and we're glad you took time to write to us. I'll send your comments to the Kindle development team.

We hope to see you again soon.

Did we answer your question?

rcuadro · 12-09-2009, 08:38 PM

I didnt get a return email! what freaks

JMikeD · 12-09-2009, 10:32 PM

I sent them a message, with about five or six of the ones you had, and half dozen of my own. Received boiler-plate response several hours later.

12-09-2009, 02:42 PM	#1
Daithi Publishers are evil! Posts: 2,418 Karma: 36205264 Join Date: Mar 2008 Location: Rhode Island Device: Various Kindles	Top 10 Software Update Requests for the Kindle If you would like to see these features added to the Kindle then please take the time to email Amazon. Just cut and paste into an email and send to kindle2-feedback@amazon.com. The more people who email them the stronger the chance they will listen. If you have your own suggestions then list them in this thread, along with which item you think your suggestion should replace. If we get a consensus I'll update this top ten list. TOP 10 SOFTWARE UPDATES REQUEST FOR THE KINDLE (as posted on MobileRead.com) 1. Folders/Tags/Readlists When we have a large library of books, we need a better means of managing the content than just sorting by author, title, and most recent. One solution is to allow us to add a tag to a book (i.e. mystery, sci-fi, freebee, etc.) and then give us the option to just display the books having a certain tag. Another option is to allow us to create Readlists that are similar to Playlists for MP3 players. For example, we could create a 'Mystery Readlist' and then select books to add to that Readlist, and when viewing the Readlist only those books in the list are displayed. A third option is to allow us to create folders that are managed by connecting the Kindle to a PC and then dragging and dropping files into folders. Each option has its advantages and disadvantages. Tagging is the most robust because each book can have multiple tags, but it requires the user to tag each book, which is time consuming. Folders provide the fastest mechanism for us to setup and manage books, but it is not as versatile and easy to use as Tags. The Readlists option falls somewhere in the middle. Supporting all three options would probably be the best of all possible worlds. (We've heard something in this regards will be released the first half of 2010, but we wanted to make sure you knew this feature is badly desired.) 2. ePub The rest of the ebook industry seems to be getting behind the ePub standard. This standard has distinct advantages over the AZW file format. For example, support of dropcaps, text flowing around images, and just a far more robust display format in general. More importantly, ePub files are displayable on most ereaders, but not on the Kindle. We very much would like to have the ability to display these files on the Kindle, even if the Kindle only supported non-DRMed ePubs. However, a Kindle that supported non-DRM ePub and the ePub with Adobe DRM would be preferred. This would allow us to buy ebooks from multiple sources and use the Kindle to check out ebooks from libraries. 3. More robust PDF support We should be able to perform the same functions within a PDF document as we can within an AZW file. Namely, we should be able to annotate, highlight, bookmark, search, click on internal hyperlinks, and use the dictionary. It would also be nice to do a few things we can't do in AZW files. For example, it would be nice to go to a certain page number within a PDF. We can do this when reading a PDF on a PC and it would be great to do it on the Kindle as well. Another option supported by PDFs on a PC is to view thumbnails of the pages. This allows you to quickly browse a document and select a page to go to. This is especially useful with documents containing graphics or illustrations. Lastly, it would be nice to have the ability to view PDF documents that are protected with Adobe DRM. 4. Ability to zoom in on images Sometimes an image, particularly a PDF image, is too big to display on a single page. Normally the image gets scaled down so that it will fit within the Kindle's screen, but this often makes it unreadable. The Kindle does a pretty good job of displaying an image in sections when viewed in landscape mode, but viewing images could still be a lot better. Some ereaders allow you to zoom in on a section of an image, and it would be really nice if the Kindle supported this option as well. 5. User ability to fix meta-data Books often contain authors with misspelled names, or the last name and first name are reversed, or the title has a misspelling, or everything is in CAPS. It would be really nice if we could fix these errors in a book's meta-data directly from the Kindle. 6. Full Unicode support The Kindle could display virtually any book written in any language if the Kindle had full Unicode support. We could view the Koran in Arabic, or Bible in Hebrew, or Green Eggs and Ham in Chinese. If a book is available in a language that isn't English, or in a Roman alphabet, it shouldn't matter. The Kindle should have the ability to display the book. 7. User supplied font support In conjunction with Unicode support the Kindle will also need more robust font support to display books not written in English. It would also be nice if we could just select our own fonts in general. Sometimes it is easier to read a book printed on screen with a san-serif font. Other books might look better with Old-English font, or with a Comics font, or whatever. It would be nice if we were the ones with control over which font is used to display a book. 8. Support user supplied screen savers The original Kindle 1 had the ability to display screensavers that were supplied by the user. This was a really nice feature. It allowed Kindle owners to display images of their children, families, pets, favorite bookcovers, etc., as screensavers. We would really like to see this feature brought back. Additionally, it would be nice to select a single default screensaver (maybe if only one image was in the screensaver directory). This image might be a picture of family, or it might be something more practical, such as an image containing contact information so that we can be found in the event that we misplace our kindle. 9. Password protection option Some users would like to have some kind of password protection for their Kindle. This would allow them to maintain some degree of privacy in situations where their Kindle might be accessed by individuals other than the owner. However, this feature should only be an "option" as many Kindle users do not want to be hassled by having to routinely enter a password to access it. Furthermore, you should be able to turn on/off "Password Protection" from your "Manage Your Kindle" page on Amazon. This would allow you to protect your Kindle through Whispernet should your Kindle ever be lost or stolen. The password screen displayed on the Kindle should also contain instructions on how to return a lost Kindle to its owner. Lastly, having the ability to password protect individual files would also be useful, as in the case of a family that shares a Kindle and doesn't want their children viewing certain files. 10. Software API Apple has some really nice applications in its App Store that were created by third parties. Apple was able to accomplish this by providing an API that programmers could use to interact with their iPhone. Who knows what kind of apps could be developed for the Kindle if it included a similar API. Calendars, Address books, games like Sudoku and Crossword puzzles all come to mind, but any interactive application that didn't require video could be integrated. Give us an API and let's see what the Kindle App Store will soon have to offer. Last edited by Daithi; 12-09-2009 at 08:20 PM. Reason: Revised -- 9. Password protection option

12-09-2009, 02:58 PM	#3
freezer2k Enthusiast Posts: 38 Karma: 154 Join Date: Dec 2009 Device: Kindle 2 intl.	An option to protect certain folders with a password for some more private reading material/notes would be great too. For advanced security one might even consider to encrypt the contents of such a folder Last edited by freezer2k; 12-09-2009 at 03:04 PM.

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12-09-2009, 02:51 PM	#2
daffy4u I'm Super Kindle-icious Posts: 6,734 Karma: 2434103 Join Date: Apr 2008 Location: Long Drive, Calinadia Candafornia Device: KDXG, KT, Oasis	Great list. I shall use most of it and send it on. I've covered #9 in the Kindle Myths wiki and don't think it's really needed in that sense. I would prefer remote a kill switch, that would make the Kindle totally unusable the first time the wireless is turned on. For Parental Control, I don't have a solution but if a password option is added, it really has to be an "option" because I don't want to deal with passwords. Thanks for pulling this together.

12-09-2009, 03:37 PM	#4
Rootman Groupie Posts: 181 Karma: 478 Join Date: Oct 2009 Device: Android & FBReader	Great list, covers all the complaints that I have.

12-09-2009, 03:39 PM	#5
bzImage Enthusiast Posts: 45 Karma: 106 Join Date: Nov 2009 Device: Kindle 2	Password protect the registration information, so if you lost your kindle only with the password they can de-register the device

12-09-2009, 05:28 PM	#7
Daithi Publishers are evil! Posts: 2,418 Karma: 36205264 Join Date: Mar 2008 Location: Rhode Island Device: Various Kindles	I revised the "Password Protection" option. I kind of incorporated Daffy's idea about a "Kill Switch", but I just called it setting Password Protection from the "Manage Your Kindle" page on Amazon. It accomplishes the same thing as a Kill Switch. I'm probably like Daffy in that I wouldn't use the Password Protection, but I imagine others would want it -- such as parents with kids, or a college student living in a dorm.

12-09-2009, 08:01 PM	#11
rcuadro Wizard Posts: 1,686 Karma: 874275 Join Date: Nov 2008 Location: Virginia Beach, VA Device: Kindle DX	What a freaking good idea! I cant believe no one had though about it until now! Email sent!!!

12-09-2009, 08:24 PM	#12
Daithi Publishers are evil! Posts: 2,418 Karma: 36205264 Join Date: Mar 2008 Location: Rhode Island Device: Various Kindles	I will give Karma to anyone that posts that they have sent Amazon this email.

12-09-2009, 08:38 PM	#14
rcuadro Wizard Posts: 1,686 Karma: 874275 Join Date: Nov 2008 Location: Virginia Beach, VA Device: Kindle DX	I didnt get a return email! what freaks

12-09-2009, 10:32 PM	#15
JMikeD Evangelist Posts: 473 Karma: 15000 Join Date: Jul 2008 Device: Various and sundry	I sent them a message, with about five or six of the ones you had, and half dozen of my own. Received boiler-plate response several hours later.

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