KINDLE READER REVIEW - A Screenwriter's POV

On January 1st, I ordered my Kindle Reader (6” Global Wireless, Latest Generation) and was surprised at the speed at which it arrived. I had expected it would end up in customs for several weeks, followed by demands for duty and brokerage fees – none of which occurred. Off to a good start.

Not an avid fan of reading instructions and user manuals, I advanced to the Getting Started booklet enclosed in the packing case. Seemed simple enough, and in seconds I was away to the races, eager to download my own scripts created in Final Draft and converted to PDFs.

This marked the beginning of the disappointment curve. I first uploaded a one-pager I’d written, Signs of the Time that made the top 30 in a Wild Sound competition. http://www.wildsound-filmmaking-feedback-events.com/screenplay-reading-series-january-2009.html

Squinting, it’s barely readable regardless of the ability to change font size and flip between landscape and portrait views of the reader. However, when going back to the original script in Final Draft and bolding and increasing the font size on my computer, things improved insofar as being readable.

One downside of taking these time-consuming steps is the percentage of page that’s displayed; i.e., the Kindle reader is now capturing about half a page of a script on the screen which means more page turnings for the reader. And for readers like me who like a large visual field and the ability to eyeball a lot of words in one fell swoop, it’s another plot point on the disappointment curve.

On a positive note, I downloaded American Beauty from http://www.script-o-rama.com/table.shtml, which I then converted to PDF. Quite an acceptable read on the Kindle, but limited to seeing only a fraction of a page at a time.

Another sore point is the Kindle User Manual. I am going to suggest that less would be more. Instead of countless pages (107 to be precise) where you have to search for information, a simple diagram properly labeled would have saved a lot of time and frustration.

The following are a couple of the commands that should have been on the diagram in the Getting Started booklet. Like why didn’t they label the ALT key on the opposite side of the SPACE BAR, the arrow up key and SYM? Even in the Kindle User’s Guide, 4th Ed, page 27, they missed the opportunity to label the ALT key and arrow up key. As well, the text key AA is very difficult to read as the font is so small. Increasing the magnification on the page only provides a distorted image.

Some shortcuts include ALT B to add or remove a bookmark, ALT spacebar to play or stop background audio, ALT F to forward to the next track.

I also ordered the Amazon Kindle leather cover for $29.99. It was more difficult to install than setting up the reader. The only instruction was a transparent plastic insert held in place by two plastic pieces. The wording on the insert is simply:

1. Rotate
2. Snap
3. Slide

Good old Murphy’s Law kicked in. I rotated, I snapped and I slid to the point where the little plastic pieces and I were all ready to snap. Figured there must have been a little tool hidden somewhere in the packing case, kind of like a mini screwdriver to facilitate the “rotation,” but alas none was to be found.

Then the word “hinged” dawned on me as I was becoming unhinged. Simply line up the hinge openings of the reader with those two little plastic pieces, slide them in for a nice snug fit.

For those of you who sew or know someone who does, soon I will have a free pattern on how to make your own Kindle carrying case. When completed, I’ll update this with a link.

Haven’t tried the audio on the reader where you can select either a male or a female voice. Now if I could only get the Kindle version of the script of Paul Abbott’s British TV series State of Play with him reading it, I’d be in seventh heaven. Heck, I’d be there if I could buy a copy of the script anywhere. The TV version far outshines the movie starring Ben Affleck and Russell Crowe – but that’s another story.