Need to KnowFIRST LOOK10 1 - 14 May 2019
Amazon Kindle (2019)
bit.ly/kindleFor the purest ebook experience,
Amazon’s Kindle has alwaysbeen the
best e-reader. The only real complain t
about the entry-level version of th e
device was that it was too simple
compar ed to the more sophisticated- and more expensive – Paperwhite.
Amazon, it seems, has hear d those
crie s and upda ted its classic e-reader
accordingl y.
The all-new Kindle (as Amazon is
calling it) finally adds a built-in front
light for reading day and night. And
that’s not all, with the device receiving
a Bluetooth upgrade andsuppor t for
audiobooks from the Amazon-owned
Audible. A word of warnin g, though:
with no audio ja ck, you’ll needto hook
up Bluetooth head phones to listen to
Kindle isn’t as
feat ure-rich as the
Paperwhite, which is
equipped with five
(rather than four)
LED front lights,
a cellular connection,
and IPX
waterproofing.
For audiophiles, the
real differen ce comes down to
storage, with the Paperwhite loaded
with 8GB, compar ed to the latest
Kindle’s 4GB. Likewise, if you’re not
fussed about the all-new Kindle’s
upgrades, the old eigh th-generation
Kindle is still £20 cheaper.
Amazon is se lling the device fo r £- although that modelcomes with
on-screen ‘special offers’ (better
known as adverts); you can avoid
these by spending an extra tenner.
What happened?
A growing numberof social-media users
are sufferi ng epileptic seizures , the
Epilepsy Society has claimed (bit.ly/
epilepsy474), when flashingimages are
shared across Facebook, Twitter and
Instagram.
According to Clare Pelh am, Chief
Executive of th e society, whil e many
users share these images without
unders tanding the risks, others are more
malici ous. She said, “When it co mes to
deliberately target ing people with
epilepsy with the intention of causing a
seizure, we needto call that beha viour
what it is – a pre-meditated and
pre-planned intention to assault.”
These images often feat ure hashtags
related to the neurologi cal disorder,
tricking epilepsy sufferers into clicking
on videos and images that trigger the
condition. Pelh am’s charity is
demanding that “the government
must br ing this beha viour within the
reach of th e criminal law”.
The charity hopes that by writing to
Digital Secretary Jeremy Wright now,
the government will implement a
warnin g schemeinto its ongo ing
attempt to crackdown on nebulous and
ill-defined ‘online harms’.
“We are currently consulting on this,”
a government spokesperson said, “and
want to hear from the Epilepsy Society,
and others, about what steps they
Charity calls for social-media seizure warnings
would like to see
platforms take to
make the internet
a safer place.”
While it’s
unlikely to offer
any comfort to
those already
target ed,
Facebook says
it’s looking at new
waysto offer a
more inclusive
online space
because
“everyone
deserves to enjoy
the benefi ts of th e
internet safely ”.How will it affectyou?
The Epilepsy Society reckons that the
UK has around20,000 people sufferi ng
from photosensitive epilepsy of th e sort
triggered by flashinglights and fast-
paced imagery, with kids and younger
people most affe cted. If you’re one of
them, or know someonewho is, it
means being extra careful when visi ting
social-media sites – possibly avoidin g
them altogether. However, outside of
website warnin gs, the charity’s thinkin g
relies on pr otection after the event –
and that’s no goodfor those already
triggered.What dowethink?
Social-media sites such as Facebook
already have polici es in place to protect
users from abuse (however ineffe ctive
they may be). The law, too, prevents this
sort of online assault. So, whil e stronger
action may be necessary, we’d rather
not resort to the usual bansand arrests
that are the hallmark of online
regulation these days. A far better
alternativ e would be to do what
Facebook does with potentially
upsetting images : blur the image, add a
warnin g and let the user decide if they
want to click to view.them. The upda ted
device feels lighter
and, with its
smoothed-out edges
and bezels, even more
comfortableto hold.
But despite fancynew
internal tools, the core
Kindle experience
remains unchanged.
The 6in screen with its 256ppi E ink
display will be familiar to existing Kindle
owners – and whil e it’s admittedly easier
on the eyes than the bright lights of a
standard table t, it lack s the general
crisp imagery of it s older, pricier
counterpart. Old-school fans may be
disappointed to see this is yet another
touchscreen e-reader, with no sa tisfying
‘click’ of physical buttons when you
‘turn the page’.
Another drawback is that the all-new