Update to my blog article on The New Yorker essay by Nicholson Baker on what he felt were unattractive qualities of a reading device "not ready" for the market. My response was a longish one to what was a long article AND to the Q&A session that followed the publishing of the report -- which caused an acolyte to dub the Kindle an "inadequate device" based on the power of words alone.Baker's review serves as a sincere anti-ad that counterbalances Amazon's ad campaign, which Baker clearly resents and asks be slowed down despite Kindle-user excitement that he notes. The power of a strong dismissal from a formidable platform like The New Yorker has had large, somewhat destructive effect in the past, as the interview linked to in the next paragraph reminds us.
But a good product should be able to take it, even if the criticism left out important context. Balance is something we can't really expect from an opinion piece, from any side of the issue.
Len Edgerly of the weekly The Kindle Chronicle podcast has done a 47-minute interview with writer Baker, and the tape was uploaded today to TKC 55 Nicholson Baker and can be streamed or downloaded (the latter is best for sound quality). Len is always a good listener, so Mr. Baker has good time to expand on his thoughts on things Kindle and iPod in response to Edgerly's excellent questions and observations which are never confrontational but which lead to useful conversation (rare in this world?) and it's a good interview.
