# Folders on the way in 2010?



## Chris W (Aug 17, 2009)

Just saw this on my Facebook feed (from the Kindle Fan Page)

Amazon Kindle - Kindle Customers, We have heard from many of you that you would like to have a better way to organize your growing Kindle libraries. We are currently working on a solution that will allow you to organize your Kindle libraries. We will be releasing this functionality as an over-the-air software update as soon as it is ready, in the first half of next year. - The Kindle Team
http://www.facebook.com/pages/Amazon-Kindle/14408401557


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## Prazzie (Oct 25, 2009)

I'm not good with folders.  I make too many folders.

But I know you all are foaming at the mouth for them, so yay for you!


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## Chris W (Aug 17, 2009)

Prazzie said:


> I'm not good with folders. I make too many folders.
> 
> But I know you all are foaming at the mouth for them, so yay for you!


Actually, I meant to point out that they did not specifically say the word folders, just that they would offer an organizational method. Either way, it's good to know they are listening to their customer feedback.


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## meljackson (Nov 19, 2008)

I just saw this on facebook myself! Cooool!! Any kind of organization abilities has to be a good thing 

Melissa


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## drenee (Nov 11, 2008)

Wow....that's great.  
deb


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## Angela (Nov 2, 2008)

I would just be happy if I could specify which books to show on my home page. I have a K1 and would love to be able to show just the SD card or just the memory or just the Samples. Probably won't matter what update is coming, I am sure it will only be for the K2. I got tired of waiting for some type of organization and just created my own with a spreadsheet.


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## JeanneB (Aug 31, 2009)

I would love folders.... this mixed up method of "filing" drives me crazy.  I like to keep it all organized..Can't wait!


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## KBoards Admin (Nov 27, 2007)

My guess (and it's pure speculation) is that they'll use a tagging concept instead of folders. The trend generally in information organization is to tag, which allows for multiple virtual folders, rather than a single hierarchical folder concept. 

Kind of like how Picasa lets you tag your photographs.


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## akpak (Mar 5, 2009)

Tags > Folders. Hopefully that's the way they'll go. Then a single book could be tagged by author, series, genre, etc. If this solutions is good, maybe I will start keeping *all* my books on the K2, rather than just my TBRs.


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## KBoards Admin (Nov 27, 2007)

So, any bets on when we'll see this? 

Amazon is genius at making conservative projections and then delighting with early delivery. (Witness: the June 2009 DX release which had been billed as shipping in "summer 2009".)


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## cloudyvisions (May 21, 2009)

Very cool and exciting news! Whether it's tags or folders, I'm excited for a new way to organize things.


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## Ann in Arlington (Oct 27, 2008)

The facebook post said the first half of next year for implementation.


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## Chris W (Aug 17, 2009)

Harvey said:


> So, any bets on when we'll see this?
> 
> Amazon is genius at making conservative projections and then delighting with early delivery. (Witness: the June 2009 DX release which had been billed as shipping in "summer 2009".)


I've been thinking the same thing. They'd be smart to get this out before Christmas, so to better influence E-Reader shoppers.


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## KBoards Admin (Nov 27, 2007)

Ann in Arlington said:


> The facebook post said the first half of next year for implementation.


Right - I'm thinking it'll be closer to January than June.


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## MarthaT (Mar 3, 2009)

Can't wait for this!


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## The Hooded Claw (Oct 12, 2009)

Great to hear this, and I think the avoidance of the word "folders" may indeed be a clue to which way Amazon is headed on this.

I'll defer doing my Snoopy dance until it is installed on my K2 and working, but Amazon does have a good track record of living up to their promises.  So I suspect I'll be doing a Snoopy dance before long.


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## Anju  (Nov 8, 2008)

Also a little bit of competition addition.  I'm all for it, but I do hope they will give it to the K1 owners as well rather than making them purchase a K2.


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## Ann in Arlington (Oct 27, 2008)

I don't expect it to be implemented for the Original Kindle.  After all, they don't even sell them new any more.


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## KBoards Admin (Nov 27, 2007)

Some people have PM'd me asking what is meant by "tagging".
A "tag" is simply a descriptive word or phrase that you assign to an object - for example, a music track, a photograph, or - in the case of Kindle - an eBook. 

(The information is sometimes referred to as metadata, which literally means "data about the data"... i.e., it's information about the eBook file. The tag is sometimes referred to as a metatag.)

An example you may be familiar with is iTunes, where you can assign information to a music track, such as genre, composer, date recorded, etc. Each of those is a piece of metatag data.

A tag is a generic text string that you can assign to an object. For example, you might want to "tag" an eBook with tags like 'readnext', 'favorites', 'reference', 'manuals', 'fiction', etc. 

You could assign multiple tags to a single eBook. 

Then you could view and sort your eBooks by specifying a tag. 

This is all speculation in terms of how this might apply to Kindle, but in a general sense this is how tags are used, and could potentially be used with books on your Kindle.


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## Raffeer (Nov 19, 2008)

Thank you so much for posting this...................and thank you Amazon for listening. This is good.


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## Ann in Arlington (Oct 27, 2008)

There are a number of Kindle fan pages on Facebook. . . .one with around 5400 fans and one with over 6000 fans. . . .the others are significantly smaller and there's pretty much no activity.

I am not sure either one of the larger ones actually 'belongs' to Amazon.  The one that the notice was posted on is the one with fewer fans.  I'm also a 'fan' on the other one and they haven't said one word.

So. . . . .not saying it's not legit, just saying it's possible that it's nothing more than wishful thinking. . . . . . or, worse: a cruel hoax.   My fingers remain crossed, however!


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## The Hooded Claw (Oct 12, 2009)

Ann in Arlington said:


> There are a number of Kindle fan pages on Facebook. . . .one with around 5400 fans and one with over 6000 fans. . . .the others are significantly smaller and there's pretty much no activity.


A most excellent point. If someone finds a link somewhere on Amazon.com and posts it here, I'll be forever grateful and might even dedicate a weird book title to them!


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## Varin (May 12, 2009)

*dies*

_*
Pleaseletitbetrue !!!!!!*_


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## chilady1 (Jun 9, 2009)

Skeptical - I think this might be a joke!  Reserving judgment


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## Susan in VA (Apr 3, 2009)

Ann in Arlington said:


> I don't expect it to be implemented for the Original Kindle. After all, they don't even sell them new any more.


But wait, when they do other updates via Whispernet, don't they do those for the KK as well? Maybe not the same ones, but surely they're still making ongoing improvements (or at least changes) to the KK?


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## Ann in Arlington (Oct 27, 2008)

Susan in VA said:


> But wait, when they do other updates via Whispernet, don't they do those for the KK as well? Maybe not the same ones, but surely they're still making ongoing improvements (or at least changes) to the KK?


I doubt it. I expect it's considered a 'legacy' device. . . . . .the last software update was just before the K2 came out which was back in February. . . . .I really don't expect to see any more. . . . .


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## Varin (May 12, 2009)

Ohh! OHHHH!

From the Kindle Customer Service Q&A Community:

Amazon Kindle Customer Service says:
Q: When will Kindle have better options for organizing content?
A: *We have heard from many of you that you would like to have a better way to organize your growing Kindle libraries. We are currently working on a solution that will allow you to organize your Kindle libraries. We will be releasing this functionality as an over-the-air software update as soon as it is ready, in the first half of next year.
*

http://www.amazon.com/tag/kindle%20customer%20service%20q%20and%20a/forum/ref=cm_cd_tfp_ef_tft_tp?_encoding=UTF8&tag=kbpst-20&cdForum=Fx1GLDPZMNR1X53&cdThread=Tx15AVUSLQD0EJT&displayType=tagsDetail

It be true! We are saved!!!! Weep with joy, we will soon be delivered from our pain!


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## The Hooded Claw (Oct 12, 2009)

Anarel said:


> Ohh! OHHHH!
> 
> From the Kindle Customer Service Q&A Community:
> 
> ...


Okay, so I am forever grateful to Anarel, and might even dedicate a weird book title to her, unless she has already looked at that thread, in which case I'll presumably hear from her lawyer.....


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## chiffchaff (Dec 19, 2008)

If it's a tagging system I'd actually be happier than I would with folders.  Tags mean every book can be classified and sorted several different ways (so I don't have to choose one filing system).  This is great news!


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## Varin (May 12, 2009)

The Hooded Claw said:


> Okay, so I am forever grateful to Anarel, and might even dedicate a weird book title to her, unless she has already looked at that thread, in which case I'll presumably hear from her lawyer.....


Lol. Yay for a dedication to me!

*still dancing around from the news* My roommates think I'm crazy and I can't find it in me to care!

..... it is kind of sad that the introduction of this (much desired/long awaited) feature can draw such an emotional response.


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## MikeD (Nov 5, 2008)

Ann in Arlington said:


> I don't expect it to be implemented for the Original Kindle. After all, they don't even sell them new any more.


You may well be right, but Amazon has promised continued support for the K1 so I'm hopeful that this includes an update of this magnitude and importance. Shouldn't be all that big of a deal since it is just a "software" update as opposed to a firmware update. Still, I sure wouldn't bet my paycheck on it happening...


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## Susan in VA (Apr 3, 2009)

Ann in Arlington said:


> I doubt it. I expect it's considered a 'legacy' device. . . . . .the last software update was just before the K2 came out which was back in February. . . . .I really don't expect to see any more. . . . .


Maybe they're not doing the minor tweaks anymore, but this a major support issue, judging by how many requests for these they've had. If it's technically feasible, they'd be wise to do it for all Kindles rather than incurring the wrath of thousands of KK-owners.


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## VictoriaP (Mar 1, 2009)

Oh please, Oh please, Oh please, Oh please, Oh please, Oh please, Oh please .....

I don't care WHAT they implement at this point, as long as it's sorta relatively kinda user friendly.  I'm not looking for perfect now.  I'm looking for a way to not have to cope with over 200 Kindle books all lumped into one truly lousy sort.

Unless all 200 are in the same category. LOL

And I devoutly hope that I don't have to individually tag them all from the K2 to make it work, but if I do, so be it.

Sooner is better, Amazon.  January would be EXCELLENT.


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## esper_d (May 2, 2009)

yay


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## mlewis78 (Apr 19, 2009)

I'm happy for all of you who want the folders, if that's what they will be doing.  I would probably use them (for TBRS, fiction, non-fiction, history, etc.), but then once in the folder, those books will be out of sight, out of mind.  But once again, I'm happy for you.


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## intinst (Dec 23, 2008)

Susan in VA said:


> But wait, when they do other updates via Whispernet, don't they do those for the KK as well? Maybe not the same ones, but surely they're still making ongoing improvements (or at least changes) to the KK?


I don't think there has been an update for the KK since the K2 was released.


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## mindreader (Oct 8, 2009)

As a K1 owner I'm holding out hope that it will apply to us - based solely on the fact that they didn't specifically say which models it will affect. Yeah, I know I'm probably delusional. 

Even if it does only apply to the newer models, it'll be a nice upgrade for you guys.  Happy that Amazon continues to listen.


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## mwb (Dec 5, 2008)

Oh, yeah.  I so want a good tagging system!  I'm just geeky enough to enjoy tagging all nearly 600 of books!  I may not feel that way once I start doing it though.

Of course, there's always plan B - a dedicated Kindle for each genre.


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## RamTheHammer (Apr 17, 2009)

I would like to see a tagging system as well, but doesn't that imply a database? Is so I would think we would have less memory for ebooks. That would be Ok for me as long as I could still store 600-800 books.


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## mwvickers (Jan 26, 2009)

I know I'm really wishing for too much here, but it would be great if the organizational system could work for the Archive, too.  As we get more and more books in the Archive, it will get harder to look for one we may want.  LOL


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## rho (Feb 12, 2009)

Chris W said:


> Actually, I meant to point out that they did not specifically say the word folders, just that they would offer an organizational method. Either way, it's good to know they are listening to their customer feedback.


I would be thrilled with a read and unread division - I know I could just delete read books from my Kindle but I like having my whole library with me  And those little dots all look alike to me hehehe


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## Jason in MA (Apr 28, 2009)

I'd definitely rather see a label/tag implementation similar to Gmail. That is much more powerful and flexible than a rigid folder structure.

It would also be nice if the books came "pre-tagged" with things like genre tags.


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## Andra (Nov 19, 2008)

Jason Shaffer said:


> It would also be nice if the books came "pre-tagged" with things like genre tags.


As long as we could change them if we have a different system of classifying our books! I'd hate to be stuck with a default that didn't match (although I guess it would be better than the current "heap" method or organization.)


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## Chad Winters (Oct 28, 2008)

mindreader said:


> As a K1 owner I'm holding out hope that it will apply to us - based solely on the fact that they didn't specifically say which models it will affect. Yeah, I know I'm probably delusional.
> 
> Even if it does only apply to the newer models, it'll be a nice upgrade for you guys. Happy that Amazon continues to listen.


It is kind of annoying that I invested a lot of money in my K1 and its totally unsupported within 1 year of purchase. Do they really expect $300-$400 dollar machines to be purchased annually? Definitely not the way they made it sound when I bought the original.


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## Jason in MA (Apr 28, 2009)

Andra said:


> As long as we could change them if we have a different system of classifying our books! I'd hate to be stuck with a default that didn't match (although I guess it would be better than the current "heap" method or organization.)


Yeah, I would hope it'd be user-changeable as well.


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## MamaProfCrash (Dec 16, 2008)

I just hope that they make this available for the K1 as well as K2 and DX


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## mindreader (Oct 8, 2009)

Anyone else think the timing of this upgrade (for current models) is designed to coincide with the release of a Kindle 3?


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## VictoriaP (Mar 1, 2009)

mindreader said:


> Anyone else think the timing of this upgrade (for current models) is designed to coincide with the release of a Kindle 3?


**raises hand**

February will be a year from the K2 release. I absolutely think we'll have a new one available around then. The competition has put too many new features in the marketplace for Amazon to not have the next Kindle coming out pretty quickly.

It may not coincide though--the addition of folders may be a way to placate the current users and keep them from being tempted to switch to the Sony or the Nook while K3 is under development.


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## Scheherazade (Apr 11, 2009)

I would actually prefer something like mp3 organization to folders.  Just being able to sort books by genre, author, alphabetically, by series, and a keyword search would be enough for me.  Folders would be nice for personal documents, but otherwise I'm pretty bad with folders and end up losing more than I keep organized with them.  It would be nice to see both sorts of functionality added though.


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## lorraineya (Aug 24, 2009)

I'm sooooo happy with this news! I first saw it on FB also. I sure hope its folders and not some kind of tagging system. As a computer user, I've always sorted using folders and I've never gotten the hand of using tagging. I would certainly be open to having something like iTunes playlists...even that would be a huge improvement. Thanks to Amazon for listening to us!!


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## ak rain (Nov 15, 2008)

oh how can they make all happy? I like tagging but folders would work too. 
sylvia


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## Susan in VA (Apr 3, 2009)

Pretty much anything would be better than the "heap"...  

I wonder whether whatever the system ends up being will be only for books purchased through Amazon?  If they come pre-tagged from now on, that could easily be the case.  They could even use WN to update your existing ones to include tags.

And whether it's folders or tags, I hope there'll be a way to sort/tag books on the computer rather than on the Kindle itself.  The thought of in some way processing hundreds of books on that little keyboard...  ugh.


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## Annalog (Dec 28, 2008)

lorraineya said:


> I'm sooooo happy with this news! I first saw it on FB also. I sure hope its folders and not some kind of tagging system. As a computer user, I've always sorted using folders and I've never gotten the hand of using tagging. I would certainly be open to having something like iTunes playlists...even that would be a huge improvement. Thanks to Amazon for listening to us!!


I think of playlists as tagging with a sequence added. In other words, every item in the playlist is tagged with the name of the playlist and each item in the playlist knows what number (or order) it is in the list. A sequence would be great for identifying series. 

I prefer organizational methods that will allow each item to belong to more than one type of group (read status, fiction/nonfiction/reference, genres, subject categories) and sometimes more than one item in a group. Depending on what organizational options eventually become available on the Kindle, I might have trouble deciding. I suspect that we will have a limited number of ways we can organize the items so I am hoping that at least I will be able to identify unread, fiction/nonfiction/reference, and subject category.



mlewis78 said:


> I'm happy for all of you who want the folders, if that's what they will be doing. I would probably use them (for TBRS, fiction, nonfiction, history, etc.), but then once in the folder, those books will be out of sight, out of mind. But once again, I'm happy for you.


Other than folders (as in a directory structure), most electronic organizational methods I have used allow showing either all items or a subset of items, even when an item can only be identified as belonging to a single category, so an organizational feature does not necessarily mean that an item disappears from the list just because it has been categorized. I would hope that the Kindle Team would add an organizational method that still allows showing all items. I would think they would as it would be consistent with the current choice of displaying Personal Docs, Subscriptions, Books, and All My Items.


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## ak rain (Nov 15, 2008)

I am a bit worried. I never was able to get last upgrade. hope they do the next one on computer as not able to get via WN
sylvia


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## 4Katie (Jun 27, 2009)

chiffchaff said:


> If it's a tagging system I'd actually be happier than I would with folders. Tags mean every book can be classified and sorted several different ways (so I don't have to choose one filing system). This is great news!


I agree. I'd be happy just to be able to label the order of books in a series.


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## Meemo (Oct 27, 2008)

Susan in VA said:


> But wait, when they do other updates via Whispernet, don't they do those for the KK as well? Maybe not the same ones, but surely they're still making ongoing improvements (or at least changes) to the KK?


Have there been any updates for the K2? I don't remember reading about anything significant - but I don't always remember what I ate for lunch either, so that doesn't mean much....


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## 911jason (Aug 17, 2009)

Just took a survey posted here -->http://www.kboards.com/index.php/topic,16110.0.html

...and look at this image that was part of that survey!!!


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## ak rain (Nov 15, 2008)

Is that what someone wants or is that the idea being put forward?
sylvia


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## marianneg (Nov 4, 2008)

Are these people affiliated with Amazon at all?


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## Ann in Arlington (Oct 27, 2008)

I think it's a "what if" survey. . . . . .definitely NOT what any DX page looks like currently, even with the latest update.


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## chiffchaff (Dec 19, 2008)

seems odd that the OP for the survey didn't say who was behind it, and that the survey is not mentioned on Amazon's Kindle page or on the Amazon Kindle facebook page.  I'm guessing it's not affiliated with Amazon at all.


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## intinst (Dec 23, 2008)

That was my guess, but I took the survey anyway. May be it's Nook design team fishing.


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## chiffchaff (Dec 19, 2008)

I just looked at the survey poster's profile and s/he is a student doing research.  There's another survey called Kindle and Studying from the same person started in early November.  So yeah, they're all "what if" scenarios and not connected with Kindle developers.  Oh well, probably still worth taking the survey!


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## 911jason (Aug 17, 2009)

Guess I should have done that too ChiffChaff... I was kind of hoping this was an Amazon-commissioned focus group type thing.


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## geoffthomas (Feb 27, 2009)

I am afraid that I am suspicious of a brand-new registered KB member that posts a survey asking for info.
When one does this one should identify oneself and provide background.
We had a member that was writing a paper and asked for info to use in it.
But the intentions and expected use were explained in detail up-front.

I don't see that here.


Just sayin......


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## chiffchaff (Dec 19, 2008)

911jason said:


> Guess I should have done that too ChiffChaff... I was kind of hoping this was an Amazon-commissioned focus group type thing.


me too! the screen shots looked interesting. Too bad they're not a real proposal.


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## Jesslyn (Oct 29, 2008)

I have been pondering the type of organization that Amazon says is coming and the more I think about it, the less I think they'll be giving us folders.  If any of you listened and recall it, Len Edgerly (The Kindle Chronicles) interviewed one of the Kindle mucky-mucks at Amazon and he stated (paraphrasing) that the reason they weren't offered at that time was because they had to make sure that everything on the Kindle could be easily understood and done by the 'non-techies'. also that everything should/could be able to be accomplished without connecting to a pc and ideally by not having to read thru a manual.  
So I really think that we'll be getting some sort of expansion of what we already have; maybe a filter for Samples, perhaps?  At best I'm hoping for a couple of user-specified filters to add to the Title/Author/Personal Docs settings, at worst I'm expecting a couple of default folders (set by Amazon) and the ability to 'move' books into them.  Something like Samples, Currently Reading, To Read, etc.


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