Worse then soggy
July 19th, 2010Someone should pry Amazon open to start licensing the Kindle so an ecosystem of readers can bloom. You’ll notice the below image is patently false, looking over this limited range of reading options presented as a plethora there is a key accessibility challenge: none of them are suitable for that important reading venue, the bathtub. This was brought home to me this weekend as I managed to throw out my back last week and have been doing some long soaks and all of a sudden none of the books I’m currently reading were available. A travesty, and a tragedy of closed platforms.
6 Comments
The kindle works great in a bathtub, when enclosed in a ziplog bag!
That’s what Bezos himself does. “I take a one-gallon Ziploc bag, and I put my Kindle in my one-gallon Ziploc bag, and it works beautifully. It’s much better than a physical book, because obviously if you put your physical book in a Ziploc bag you can’t turn the pages. But with Kindle, you can just push the buttons.” http://www.nytimes.com/2009/12/06/magazine/06fob-q4-t.html?_r=1
The joy of blogging and having good friends is it’s more fun to be wrong then right. Love the Bezos quote. (still I had fun writing the mock outrage)
Also, there are now waterproof cases: http://www.businessinsider.com/now-jeff-bezos-doesnt-need-a-ziploc-bag-to-read-his-kindle-in-the-bath-2010-1
It wouldn’t help your bathtub problem, but I have to say I’ve had the same thought about the Kindle Store. Against all my expectations, I’ve come to love reading on my iPhone/iPad, and it makes me want to create the ultimate reading app. If there was a Kindle API, such a thing would be possible.
I know I’m late to the party, but I have this waterproof case for my Kindle and it rocks. It’s a glorified ziploc, so it’s lightweight and doesn’t take up space in your luggage, etc – but has better waterproofing by design than a ziploc. It’s akin to the waterproof bags you take camping.
http://www.amazon.com/TrendyDigital-WaterGuard-Waterproof-Kindle-Purple/dp/B0027DET28/
Mine’s been in the ocean, pool, hot tub, and bath tub.