Amazon Kindle DX panned by Princeton students

Posted by Khidr Suleman on Thu 1 Oct 2009

Undergraduates left unimpressed with new e-Book

Amazon’s trial of its new e-Book reader isn’t quite going to plan as many of the 50 students at Princeton university in the US, who had been granted exclusive use of the Kindle DX, have so far expressed a strong dislike for the product.

It appears that the functionality of the Kindle DX doesn’t quite match up to the sleek design. Students who are only two weeks into their trial have already described the e-reader as “clunky and slow” and “a poor excuse for an academic tool”. Ouch. As well as being slow, the DX uses location numbers instead of traditional page numbers found in the corresponding textbooks. This makes it very difficult to cite sources consistently.

On the positive side though, the DX does cut down on physical resources and chunky textbooks can also be accessed on the move. The 1200 x 824 pixel resolution also means that the screen can be read for long periods without causing any fatigue.

Still, the negative feedback does seem to be outweighing the positives. Ironically, Amazon founder and CEO Jeff Bezos is a former Princeton student himself, and has no doubt been left a little red-faced by the barrage of criticism the DX has received. It appears that Amazon is going to have to go back to the drawing board on this one if it is to trump the classic combination of pen and paper.

An announcement about the launch of the Kindle in Europe is due next week.

Link: Amazon (via PC World)