Tricks of perception
As I use the Kindle to read, every so often I refocus my eyes and notice the niftiest thing about it.
When I opened the package, the Kindle had one of those cling transparent screen protectors on it. You know, the sort that usually have some kind of instructions printed on it for how to handle your device. This one said: Quick Start: 1. Plug in. 2. Push switch at top to wake.
I did this. I pulled the cling protector off.
And then I realized the cling protector was blank.
The start-up instructions had been printed on the screen. Because this is e-ink, not an LCD screen. So the text seems to be printed on the top of it, not under a layer of glass. And once it’s printed, it requires no energy to maintain. When it goes to ‘sleep’, it becomes non-interactive save for the wake-switch, and the screen reprints to a random pre-provided public domain image. It never shuts off, as I previously understood the concept.