Plaidophile

So, photos of the new Kindle have been spreading around for a couple days. I personally think that the new design looks terrible, and in fact it's ridiculous that the only really bad thing about the old design (the horrible attempt-at-paper-white plastic) is the only thing they kept!

Also apparently they've replaced the scroll wheel with a joystick. I can understand them wanting to replace the scroll wheel (since it was a terribly unreliable part) but it sounds like the joystick they've replaced it with is worse.

The only true improvements seem to be build quality, and the fact that now it charges via the miniUSB port instead of through the (also failure-prone) round-style wallwart plug. Well also the new pageturn button placement looks a bit better. But the overall design just looks ridiculous.

Oh, and some more thoughts about it:

• Kindle 1.0 had a unifying theme, which was very much "this is a book." From the way the edges tapered to the way the keys were angled so as to suggest the splayed-out pages of a book rested on its bindings, it was very clearly a book. Kindle 2.0 just looks like a damn calculator.
• I still think it's funny that people compared the original Kindle with a TRS-80. Have they ever seen a TRS-80? There is absolutely no similarity! If I had to say there was any similarity between the Kindle and an 80s computer, it'd be either the Apple IIc (which is still a nice design!) or maybe the original PC Jr, if you stared at the keyboard too long.
• Spud pointed out that its profile was exactly like an iPhone's. And you know what? I really hate that overdone, personality-free "slab with round corners" look that's gotten so popular ever since, well, the iPhone. Where the hell is your design team, Amazon? Sure, the original looks chunky and boxy but so do books. The original was also very comfortable to hold. The new one doesn't look so comfortable.
• Again, the only real problem I (and many others) had with the old design was the color, and that's the only thing they kept the same. Of course that can be fixed thanks to the wonders of, you know, paint.