Random thoughts on Amazon’s new Kindle Scribe

Note the little psychological trick that Amazon did (above) with the left bezel on the new Kindle Scribe. It’s now two colors, making the border of the device look thinner than the one on the first-generation Kindle Scribe.

This was an approach previously used to similar effect on the reMarkable 2.

In reality, the screen on the new Kindle Scribe is exactly the same size (10.2 inches) as the original device, as are the overall dimensions (7.7 x 9.0 inches).

It was fun to see pics of Panos Panay pitching a very different tablet!

Overall, the new Kindle Scribe looks promising, and it’s nice that the new features will also be released as a software update for the original (i.e., notetaking in the flow of a book, generative AI summaries of handwritten notes, etc.).

I just hope the new Kindle Scribe pen doesn’t feel like a plastic toy, like the first one does. The weight of the pen makes a big difference for the writing experience.

Amazon’s description makes me optimistic: “The Premium Pen is finely crafted to deliver just the right heft and balance, so it feels like holding an actual pen, and the new soft-tipped eraser feels like a pencil—you’ll think you have to brush the screen clean after erasing.”

Actually, the soft-tipped eraser sounds weird. Will reserve judgment for now.

So far, I’m finding the (color) reMarkable Paper Pro very nice for writing on a desk, a little disappointing in terms of the artifacts that happen when you write in color or erase, and way too big to try to read when lying down in bed.

Also, reMarkable still really suffers for lack of an integrated e-book store. This is the reason I’m still using my first-generation Kindle Scribe. It’s great for reading newspapers and sampling books from the Kindle Store, to wind down at night.

I’ve been underwhelmed by the washed-out colors on the reMarkable Paper Pro (see below). Not every page is this bad, some of the colors are more vivid, but this is a good example of where it might as well be black and white.

(That Seattle Times’ “Forest Feud” piece was extremely good, by the way.)

Here’s a screenshot of the PDF so you can see what the original looks like.

It will be interesting to see how the colors compare on the new Kindle Colorsoft. They look more vivid in Amazon’s photos, but the true test will be real life.

That said, I’m still a fan of the reMarkable as a notetaking device, especially when sitting on a desk, with its giant 11.8-inch display. And Amazon still hasn’t matched the seamlessness of reMarkable’s PC and mobile apps.

I get what reMarkable is doing by focusing so intensely on notes, and more power to them for their purity, I just wish someone would combine the best of both the Kindle and the reMarkable approaches.

Basically, I’d like a black-and-white reMarkable Paper Pro, with the giant screen but for considerably less than the $579 starting price, with an integrated e-book store. Is that so much to ask? (I have not tried Kobo, Onyx, etc., so fans of those devices are welcome to take me to task. My contact info is below.)

At any rate, maybe the new Scribe will be a step in this direction. Looking forward to trying it out and reporting back. The price for the new Kindle Scribe starts at $399.99 for a 16GB version with a basic pen, shipping Dec. 4.

More context and coverage in the links below.

• Today’s coverage: Amazon unveils first color Kindle, and new Kindle Scribe with ability to write directly in books
• From September: Challenged by Amazon, reMarkable unveils new ‘Paper Pro’ color tablet
• From 2022: Can the Kindle Scribe replace the yellow notepad? Notes on taking notes with Amazon’s new device