Kindle App
I love the Mac/iPhone/iPad Mental Case apps. It would be great to use Mental Case on my Kindle too (I like the screen/battery life).
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Support Staff 1 Posted by drewmccormack on 30 Mar, 2011 06:00 AM
Hi Robert,
I'm afraid you cannot develop an app like MC on Kindle. The hardware is not suitable.
Sorry.
Kind regards,
Drew
2 Posted by Robert on 30 Mar, 2011 10:27 AM
Drew,
The Kindle runs games like Monopoly and Scrabble, I can't imagine that the limitations are hardware based.
Thanks,
Robert
Support Staff 3 Posted by drewmccormack on 30 Mar, 2011 10:32 AM
The hardware is quite underpowered compared to other mobile platforms. If we created an app, it would have to be quite basic. The e-ink screen would also not be ideal for an app like Mental Case where you need to constantly change what is on screen.
In any case, we'll take it on board. Thanks for the feedback.
Kind regards,
Drew
4 Posted by Robert on 30 Mar, 2011 10:55 AM
Have you truly considered it and figured out the limitations or are you speculating? Maybe you aren't familiar with the platform, and that's fine. It has a 533mhz ARM processor. It browses the web and runs games with animations, I'm not familiar with any screen issues that would limit a flashcard application.
Thanks,
Robert
5 Posted by Robert on 30 Mar, 2011 11:17 AM
Maybe an "export to kindle" function akin to the "export to old ipod" function. It could export the cards in a book format and each page turn could be a side of a card. I'm just speculating here. I'm sure I'm one of your top customers (I have every mental case app on all the platforms). I just thought I'd let you know what else I'm interested in in case you were looking to broaden your platform support.
Support Staff 6 Posted by drewmccormack on 30 Mar, 2011 11:29 AM
Thanks Robert. I'm familiar with the platform. I have a Kindle myself.
In my experience it works best for static content. The screen is special, and has a very slow refresh rate. Maybe it is improving, but it is still relatively slow.
But you might be right: you probably could make a flashcard app on it. It is worth thinking about, although we are currently very busy supporting 3 Apple platforms.
Kind regards,
Drew
7 Posted by Robert on 30 Mar, 2011 11:57 AM
Flashcards are static. I know how the Kindle screen works and it's not unsuitable for displaying static sides of a flashcard. If you're just not interested in branching out that should has been the answer. Not some garbage about inadequate hardware.
Support Staff 8 Posted by drewmccormack on 30 Mar, 2011 12:06 PM
I don't know why you are getting hot under the collar. I was just trying to answer your questions honestly.
It is true we don't have time to branch out at the moment, but even if we did, we would probably look at platforms like Android first, because those devices seem much more appropriate for a flashcard app than the Kindle.
The hardware really is only designed for a certain type of media. It's a cheap book reader. I wasn't making up garbage.
Can you make a flashcard app? Probably. Will it be easy and worthwhile? Probably not. The screen, RAM etc are far less capable than iOS and Android devices.
Even if it were completely capable and easy to port to Kindle, the question is whether it would be worthwhile from a business standpoint. I don't know many people who install apps on their kindle. They buy it as a reader, so there is unlikely to be a very big market there for apps. I don't know of any popular apps that have been ported to it.
Unfortunately, this is largely an academic discussion, because we do have our hands full with other devices, and a major upgrade for the Mac.
Drew
9 Posted by Robert on 30 Mar, 2011 01:18 PM
I'm really not that upset. I just expected an actual answer and not an excuse. Hardware is just not a limitation, I'm sorry.
Here's some "popular apps" that have been ported to Kindle.
Electronic Arts: Monopoly, Scrabble, Solitaire, SuDoKu, Texas Hold 'Em
Here's an app that actually uses flashcards to teach kids fractions:
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B004O3ZJP0?pf_rd_p=1292067022&...
I understand that MC isn't on board with Kindle, but it's a legitimate platform. There is a conference tomorrow that Amazon is putting on regarding porting iOS apps to the Kindle.
http://www.appleinsider.com/articles/11/03/28/amazon_inviting_apple...
10 Posted by Robert on 30 Mar, 2011 01:20 PM
Regarding the new Mac update. I would literally pay a monthly fee for cloud syncing of flashcards. I've never had trouble WiFi syncing working, but it is rather tedious.
Support Staff 11 Posted by drewmccormack on 30 Mar, 2011 01:32 PM
We would like to do that at some point. It is a challenge, because you have to write another app in the cloud. But I agree it would be the best option in the long run.
Drew
12 Posted by Robert on 07 Apr, 2011 06:22 PM
The difficulty is, you can't use WiFi sync on an enterprise PEAP (MSCHAPv2) authenticated WPA network. This is the kind of network authentication my university uses, so I can't sync mental case on campus.
13 Posted by Robert on 07 Apr, 2011 06:23 PM
So mental case isn't suitable for the campus environment without cloud syncing or some alternative.
Support Staff 14 Posted by drewmccormack on 07 Apr, 2011 06:32 PM
We are looking at how best to move forward with syncing. Unfortunately it is a difficult problem.
Drew
15 Posted by Collin on 08 Apr, 2011 05:48 AM
It is difficult to discuss with someone who does not understand the diffirences between smartphone platform and e-reader platforms! I have found Drew's answers informative and convincing.
Thanks Drew
drewmccormack closed this discussion on 08 Apr, 2011 06:21 AM.
J. Robert Kroeger III re-opened this discussion on 08 Apr, 2011 09:05 AM
16 Posted by J. Robert Kroeg... on 08 Apr, 2011 09:05 AM
Yes, I obviously don't understand the "diffirence" between the Kindle and iOS devices. Perhaps we should discuss. I am sorry for wasting my time here.
Sent from my iPhone.
drewmccormack closed this discussion on 13 Apr, 2011 08:20 AM.