The Kindle Scribe and the joy of focus

Amazon's note-taking ereader thankfully doesn't do it all

Welcome back to Multicore for Tuesday, February 14th.

Today's issue is about Amazon, specifically the Kindle. I was an early ebook adopter, first with the Sony Reader before eventually giving up and moving to the Kindle line, which I tend to update every few years whenever the improvements seem notable enough. I get a lot of use out of each model, so the upgrade usually feels justifiable.

For the past couple of months I've been testing the new Kindle Scribe, which is Amazon's largest and highest-end Kindle to date, as well as its first entry into the growing category of stylus-equipped note-taking ereaders. Honestly, I really like it. Many reviewers disagree!

The Verge called it "absolutely adequate". Inverse said “Note-taking feels like an afterthought”. Tom’s Guide described it as “difficult to justify over other Kindles or similarly priced, more feature-rich tablets”.

These are all well-argued reviews written by experienced people who had fair reasons to expect more from the Scribe. None of them are wrong. But their reactions made me consider what it is that I like about the Kindle, and why I appreciate Amazon's approach to the product.