[paulcole]

> Every time they announce new Kindle products, half of the comments are like "I hope they have buttons," "I hope they bring back the Oasis," etc.

WWII fighter plane with red spots on it dot gif.

The vast majority of people who buy Kindles simply read books on them and don’t repeatedly cry online about features that are never coming back.

I’ve bought about 10 of the things dating back to 2012 either because I wanted to have the latest model or because I wanted to give one as a gift. They are all amazing devices.

I’ve never thought, “boy I better go online and complain about this one.” I’ve just been too busy buying and reading books on them!

[kuschku]

The reason people complain is because the old kindles used to have buttons, and honestly the touch screen is really fucking janky if you're used to the page turning buttons of the kindle 4, or the onscreen keyboard is janky if you're used to the kindle 3g.

And the sad part is that there's no best of both. You can't get a kindle paperwhite with buttons.

[PunchyHamster]

Different way to think about it: Whatever failings device might have, people still buy it for Amazon service integration.

Also "but people buy it anyway" is terrible way to disregard legitimate criticizm without thinking

[paulcole]

“But people cry about it” doesnt mean the criticisms are legitimate.

To be fair, I don’t think the criticisms are illegitimate by your definition, I just think they’re pointless and from vocal crybabies.

[lynndotpy]

You are only making complaints about criticisms (which you acknowledge as legitimate). If complaints from consumers about consumer devices are pointless and the consumers are "vocal crybabies", then how would you categorize yourself and your complaints about their complaints?

[paulcole]

I’m no better than anyone. I was using the other persons definition where it seems there is no illegitimate criticism. I honestly think anybody crying that there aren’t buttons on a kindle needs to come to terms with reality and move on with their life.

[lynndotpy]

"Crying" is needlessly dismissive and it doesn't strengthen your position.

I'm happy there is a mass of popular sentiment that consumer devices are better with buttons. I think they're to whom we can credit the return (or addition of new) buttons to cars, to phones, and to all manner of appliances (induction stoves, thermostats, ACs.)

In either case, it looks like the last Kindle with buttons disappeared only late 2024, a year and a half ago. This was a recent enough phenomena that these complaints make sense. Amazon still has a chance to get with the times and release an eReader with buttons.

[paulcole]

> I'm happy there is a mass of popular sentiment that consumer devices are better with buttons

There is not. It’s the same 11 people who have a hobby of posting online about how much they miss buttons.

[wiseowise]

> I’m no better than anyone.

> dismisses user wishes and calls people “vocal crybabies”

I’m honestly amazed how someone can lack so much self-awareness.

[paulcole]

I’m not amazed by it!

[wiseowise]

You don’t really care about any buttons or Kindles, you just want to complain about “vocal crybabies”, do you?

[trueno]

if they want buttons just look at the various e-readers online there's like such a breadth of these things now its insane. i personally was fetched an xteink reader cause theyre tiny (literally magsafes to the back of my phone wtf) and i love that (they have buttons) and chucked this dudes custom firmware on it to make formatting and usability a lil bit better https://github.com/crosspoint-reader/crosspoint-reader

is it kindle, no but can i read a book on it yeah. easily.

[Insanity]

+1. It seems like there is just a vocal minority who complain about the missing HW buttons etc.

I’m sure Amazon has enough actual customer data to make their product decisions based on what moves the most volume.

[ryandrake]

Just like the 3.5mm headphone jack, which a very vocal bunch of people are still complaining about, 10 years after iPhone got rid of it.

[anonymars]

I traded occasionally making my life more difficult, and in return I got what? My old phone was equally waterproof

[u_fucking_dork]

Keep buying phones with headphone jacks and removable batteries then. They exist. If every social media user that whined about these things acted with their wallet maybe they’d be able to change something.

[kuschku]

They are — all non-flagships do still have headphone jacks, even the Pixel A lineup kept them for many many years after the mainline Pixel phones dropped them.

And the reason most phones keep these is because wireless headphones are in the end luxury. They're not necessary, they're not even significantly better, but they're in the end a class symbol.

[u_fucking_dork]

They are significantly more convenient. No wired to tangle or snag on anything. Seamless handoff between all your devices. It’s genuinely a better user experience.

They don’t sound better, but if you care about sound quality over ux then you’re even luckier nowadays than any time prior because you can plug an amp/dac into your phone

[anonymars]

This very much depends on region

Also I think the more serious issue is the SD card slot. The missing headphone jack is annoying, but you can work around it with an adapter. Not so for the card slot

[PaulDavisThe1st]

Earlier this year, the Guardian had a piece about the way in which wired headphones were now the status signifier among a certain cohort ...

[Macha]

I recently had to do a flight without my headphones, because they had discharged because the switch had got jostled and activated in my luggage. 10 years on, we're still running into the disadvantages of losing 3.5mm headphones, so of course there's complaints.

[wiseowise]

Ultimate consoomer. Eats whatever shit it’s being fed and doesn’t complain. Powers that be know better what is good for you anyway, right?

[carlosjobim]

Even in the past, when the only thing people would purchase was livestock, you wouldn't expect them to last more than 12 years.

[paulcole]

Why would I complain? I can start reading nearly any book I want to in a few seconds for around $10.

[smcin]

How long is your expectation that you can access that e-book, after you pay $10?