Just got back from Mike Daisey's one-man show about Steve Jobs and Apple, "The Agony and the Ecstasy of Steve Jobs" at the Seattle Repertory Theatre (my first time to the venue). Thanks to my buddy Sage for the ticket! (And even though I do have a black mock turtleneck and blue jeans, I avoided wearing them to tonight's (April 26) performance.)

Though there was almost nothing new to me in the historical content of the two-hour show, it was well-done and the alternation of past and present and general tone kept my interest throughout. It was trenchant prophetic critique by a self-proclaimed "fanboy"—yet not preachy—of what is happening in Shenzhen at places like Foxconn. He takes exclusive aim at Apple, though by implication, the blood is also on everyone else's hands who depends on Chinese labor for their manufacturing.

Since I got a Kindle 3G last October, I have used it to read several books and have generally found the experience quite pleasing for all the commonly cited reasons: readability in many lighting conditions, portability, and battery life. I love the ability to email myself documents to read via my @free.kindle.com address, though I have given up on trying to read most PDFs because the 6" screen is just too small, even in landscape reading mode (I've been trawling Craigslist now for several weeks for a good deal on a 9.7" Kindle DX, mainly so I can read PDFs). The typography is not bad, though I wish it were sharper, and the keyboard is just serviceable. And I'm not sure how worrisome this should be, but I have had my Kindle replaced twice since I bought it in October, both times with the unit becoming unresponsive, even to a hard reset.

I have also tried reading content on the Kindle for iPad app and have enjoyed the benefit of the larger screen, but have found (as I feared even before I bought the iPad) that the weight of the iPad makes reading for long stretches more challenging.

There are two things I prefer about the iOS Kindle app to the hardware Kindle:

First, touch is a much more intuitive and smooth way to select and highlight than the click-tap-tap-tap...-click routine of the hardware Kindle. And since I do this frequently, I notice how much less friction there is on the iPad.

Second, and this may really seem petty, but I really do not like having a percent indicator at the bottom of the page. The iOS app shows a progress meter (and no percentage) when you tap on the page to reveal controls, but it is otherwise out of sight most of the time. The Kindle app always shows the percentage at the left and the progress bar at the bottom. I find the presence of that little number intrusive to the point that I now keep it covered with my left thumb. And there is in the current Kindle OS (version 3.1) no way to suppress it.

It's the little things.