Tuesday, October 18, 2011

Frankenkindle Field Test - Great Success!

This last weekend my wife and I packed up our new daughter and headed south to Lompoc to spend some time with the family.  The purpose of the visit was twofold: My sister was due to meet and play with both her new niece and the Frankenkindle.  I'll leave it to you to decide which is more important.

The day was a fantastic success on all levels.

When it finally came time to play with the Frankenkindle, my sister took to it immediately.  A very brief introduction was all that was needed, and she was off and running.  Here is some home video we shot of her using the device.  (Apologies for the quality.  My Dad did a great job with the camera but we only got one take because of a dying battery.)


She was a great beta tester, suggesting a number of improvements to the design.  First, the whole system needs to be raised off the table a bit so she can have better access to the buttons (hence the giant textbook).  The next revision will also use different buttons, and she mentioned that she liked these membrane buttons from Sparkfun but would prefer to see them in a single row rather than a 2x2 design.  Excellent feedback - Thanks Sis!

I'm also aware that some of you can't believe I'd gloss over the new baby in favor of electronics.  For you, I present a still shot of my sister holding her new niece, Zoey.

Zoey, Amberly, and myself