1 week ago
3
Amazon just released its newest Kindle Scribe last week, but I've been using the older Scribe model for two years now, and I don't plan on upgrading any time soon. Sure, it's tempting to spring for a new device, but Amazon released a handful of hardware and software updates for the first-generation Kindle Scribe that significantly improve its functionality.
I updated my original Kindle Scribe to the 5.17.2 software and am very pleased that Amazon continues to enhance this pen-enabled e-reader on a regular basis. If you haven't seen the update pop up on your own Kindle, you may have to run it manually. Just visit this Amazon page for step-by-step instructions. It's very easy for a Windows computer, but takes a bit more work for a Mac since you first need to download and install the Send to Kindle utility.
Also: The best Kindles you can buy: Expert tested and reviewed
ZDNET's Kyle Kucharski recently went hands-on with the second-generation Kindle Scribe, and lauded the Active Canvas in his review as one of its standout features. So I was happy to find it is also now available on my original Kindle Scribe. Personally, I rarely make notes in my Kindle books, but I appreciate that the feature is there should I want to try it.
I do, however, like making notes and lists. Paper notes used to be strewn around my desk, but now you will only find the Kindle Scribe. I capture notes for meetings, product briefings, task lists, outlines of larger documents, conference notes, and more. Some of my notebooks are several pages long so it takes time to go back through these to find key data that I need for other conversations or to include in submittals.
The AI-powered features bring some extra usefulness to your notes that I appreciate. To try them out, go into a note, tap the top right and find the AI icon, then tap on it to reveal two options; Summarize and Refine writing. The Summarize feature uses AI to provide an overview of either the current page or the entire notebook, and is customizable with the font family, font size, and line spacing to your preference.
Also: The best e-readers you can buy: Expert tested
The Convert to text feature takes your handwritten notes, runs it through the conversion and email process on Amazon's servers, and generates a text document. Helpful if you don't have the greatest handwriting in the world.
The new Refine writing option is useful for checking the text conversion on your Kindle Scribe prior to sending via email or saving it. Once you start the process, you will see a splash page and then your handwritten notes will appear on the display in script font in a format similar to how you wrote the notes, such as outline, indented bullets, numbered lists, and more.
The same Customize and Add to Notebook options appear in the bottom right of the refined page. I like these options since you can still maintain your original handwritten note and supplement it with this conversion. My wife has difficulty reading my handwriting, but Amazon's generative AI built on Amazon Bedrock seems to have little trouble parsing it.
I have been very impressed with the speed and accuracy of both the summaries and handwriting conversion of the new AI feature. I need to investigate the AI model since I don't want to share sensitive business information with a public data source and violate our work AI policy.
For private notes and those that are not confidential information, I will likely use the Summarize feature with most of my notes to act as an index where I can find more details within the notebook. The fact that these features work so well in the first-generation Scribe means this device is far from obsolete.
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