Aging Machines Part 3: Kindle Fire!
Kindle Fire! Fire!
[caption id=”attachment_245” align=”alignnone” width=”474”] 3 Years of service[/caption]
My grandma received an original Kindle fire for Christmas 2011. She didn’t want it. So I adopted it! It was awesome! When the kindle fire first came out it was the first small tablet competitor. Sure the iPad was shiny and apply, but this little plastic slate had a touchscreen for $200. That a good deal, and amazon already had all my books so integrating was easy. I still read on it every night before bed. But that’s it. I hope my grandma gets a paperwhite next Christmas.
Battery The Battery is amazing, it still lasts for weeks if I leave it off. The sleep mode is really a slumber. When watching netflix, it’ll last at least 2 hours. That’s better than the Macbook Pro. Overall the battery has exceeded expectations.
[caption id=”attachment_247” align=”alignnone” width=”474”] Good arrangement of I/O[/caption]
Hardware I put a case on the Kindle as soon as I got it because I wanted a way to prop it up and keep it safe in transit. I put a Marware case on it and it works great, and even has a little slot on the back to put your hand in. The hardware is still working well. It looks good, feels good in the hands, and the charging port and power buttons still give satisfying clicks. However, It’s easy to see the dot matrix on the touchscreen, it’s picked up a couple of scuffs, and the charging light is too bright. Overall the hardware has held up very well.
[caption id=”attachment_246” align=”alignnone” width=”474”] Why are settings and this pbr ad so close together? [/caption]
Software This thing was great out of the box, snappy and easy to use. I was able to reasonably check email and browse the web without wanting to pull out my laptop. Now this thing is nearly unusable, highlighting text is difficult and using the browser stinks. It’s running version 6.3.2. Which in Kindle talk means absolutely nothing to me. There was only one update that I can recall and it didn’t change anything. A couple months ago I factory reset it, and didn’t install any extraneous apps. Netflix, kindle, Facebook, and IMDb. That was it. The thing is still very sluggish and hard to use, which is totally fine. I really like this device, and it’s perfect for an occasional movie and reading every night. It makes me laugh when I have to press on the screen 4 times because I’m not sure if the touchscreen picked up my input, and with the kindle app hiding everything, you have to click on the screen plenty. It’s like a wonder ball you never know what you’re gonna get. Its great. It does exactly what I need and nothing else. Overall the software is barely usable, but that’s okay.
This little device has aged gracefully into its niche. Fire!