h2g2 The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy: Earth Edition

I'm a bit concerned that the rumours are it will have a locked bootloader. It shouldn't be too much of an issue but potentially very annoying.

FB

That's a very believable rumor. What defines Kindles is that Amazon doesn't see the devices themselves as profitable, but rather all the things they will sell you to load onto it. They're more open than the Appleverse, but still definitely a gated community.

Remains to be seen if any platform can afford to be gated; I already got a Google Chrome extension called "Kindle Fire Apps" loaded on my laptop...and the Fire gets here Thursday. And I found out that I will be able to put an ad block on, when I activate it, as my vision doesn't like busy ad-cluttered screens, so that's good.

Does anyone else think we need to add the phrase "tablet tease" to the urban dictionary, after all the coy come-ons from Apple/the tech sites about the iPad mini? A simple Yes or No would be refreshing, at this point...

Does the Kindle show ads?

Yes, on the lock screen. You can pay an extra $15 to turn them off, but you may not want to.

http://www.businessinsider.com/kindle-amazon-special-offers-2012-9

I'll gladly pay it, to avoid the ad clutter.

I'd wait a month or so before paying if you can (I mean who really spends anytime looking at their lockscreen?). Because if the "scene" are successfull in unlocking the bootloads, and my is that there will pretty quickly be a work around, then you will be able to remove them for free if oyu are so inclined.

FB

Spaceechik, how are you getting yours so fast? I ordered one last Thursday and the original ship date was October 4! I got an email Tuesday that revised it to September 21-24...

I have no idea...I actually jumped in on Friday, as Saturday at midnight is when Amazon started charging Cali folks sales tax on purchases; saved myself ~$34. I also got their free shipping, since I was willing to wait 5-8 days for delivery. broelan, it might be that I didn't preorder it as soon as it was announced?

Called today, and found out that I can get any Android apps from Google Play or the Amazon Appstore for Android...they will work on Kindle, with the exception of ones which require GPS or the back camera (as a scanner), which Kindle Fire HD doesn't have..

broelan, my mistake, I didn't read your post fully -- you only ordered the day before I did! I'm puzzled on that too. I did notice when I tracked it that they kept moving the delivery date forward; originally it was for 20-22, but dropped back to the 20th...

Well, if I had to guess, it's probably because you live closer to a distribution center or warehouse. I was reading about that somewhere last week, that the states they're starting to charge sales tax in are places they have, or are going to build warehouses. So the trade off is that although you'll have to pay sales tax, you'll get faster delivery on just about everything.

Got an email this morning, mine's coming from Pennsylvania and due to arrive tomorrow. I'm excited! I haven't had a tablet or a reader before.

You're probably right -- the Amazon "Fulfillemt Center" (rolf) is in Las Vegas or thereabouts.

I did get my tech toy today -- but after spending an hour (and some dosh!) the Cisco/Linksys call center guy couldn't help me set it up...so, my friend Pam will come to my rescue, I hope.

okay, I'm trying on my own this time to set up my WiFi router -- cover me, I'm going in...

broelan, did you receive Fire?

Yes! And I spent all weekend playing with it! It's like an itch, I can't leave it alone... How did I manage to wait this long to get one? Although I'm glad I did, otherwise I'd have tech envy. My dad just ordered a 1st gen Fire about two months ago.

I was a very good girl today though, and left it at home, didn't bring it to work.

Did you get yours set up?

Yes, just this afternoon...long story short, my wifi set up hasn't gone well, so I went out with a friend for lunch, and we compared his old Fire and my new one.

His is definitely slower than my new HD one, and a difference in the display quality...but the watery place and I will be having a talk from Starbucks tomorrow, to find out why I was never given an option to slay the ads-clutter. Not as annoying as I feared, but I like a clean interface. Besides, their recommended reads usually totally miss the mark, even after 300+ purchases over the past couple of years.

Don't expect recommendation engines to improve anytime soon. It may be an impossible task to get an algorithm to tell you what you might like to read or watch. Back in 2006 Netflix offered an "X-prize" type contest with a $1million reward if anyone could improve their recommendations by a mere 10%. I don't believe anyone ever claimed that prize. It's now known as the "Napoleon Dynamite effect". Basically what it comes down to is there are unquantifiable differences in taste that can't be parsed by software. You either love Napoleon Dynamite or you (as I do) hate it with the searing heat of a thousand novae. "Quirky", along with many other aspects of art, literature and whatnot, just doesn't compute.

https://www.nytimes.com/2008/11/23/magazine/23Netflix-t.html?pagewanted=all&_r=0

http://www.nytimes.com/2008/11/23/magazine/23Netflix-t.html?pagewanted=all&_r=0

Even more annoying...I don't want what someone else bought at the same time showing as I skim through my titles carousel...GAHHHH. Totally worth the $15 for the ad-slayer!!!

Somehow that has never bothered me. I've just never paid enough attention to it to be annoyed by it.

Now there is a root exploit for the Fire HD I am fascinated to see how long it is before there is a scene solution to getting rid of the ads.

FB