Review: Convenient, Simply-formatted, Pricey
Rating: 4 out of 5
Date: 03 3, 2012
I've been an occasional reader of the Wall Street Journal for many years, but had never really considered subscribing to it. For the most part I've been happy to get my news for free online from a variety of sources, but of late I've been craving a more consistent access to the kind of high quality news stories that WSJ is known for. I decided to check out several subscription options, and compare them to each other. The Kindle version, even though it is very limited in many respects, turns out to be pretty good and in line with my expectations for what I wanted to get out of reading WSJ.Once you subscribe to WSJ, you can setup the delivery to any one of your Kindle devices or enabled Kindle readers. You can also manually download the current issue of WSJ to another device, but the automatic downloads are enabled for only one device at the time (you can change which one in the online Kindle setting at any time). Kindle formatting of WSJ leaves a lot to be desired. As you may imagine, the reading experience will be much closer to reading a book than a newspaper. I don't mind this all that much, as WSJ has always been a pretty text-heavy newspaper. The exceptions are the graphs and charts, which can be almost illegible when presented on Kindle. The sections and articles are well organized and easily accessible through the menu, and I am overall pleased with the navigation options. In terms of formatting, I still prefer the dedicated WSJ iPad version, but the Kindle version gets the job done.One big difference between the Kindle version and those for various tablets is that you won't be able to access various embedded videos on Kindle (not even in the tablet version of Kindle software). Those small video clips are indeed a lot of fun, and definitely add to the overall "reading" experience. However, they also add to the size of the download, and unless you have a really fast wireless connection and the latest version of the tablet, the download can be choppy. For me these videos are a nice addition, but they are not crucial.As far as the price goes, yes, Wall Street Journal on Kindle is kind of expensive. However, keep in mind that you can in principle cancel your subscription without much trouble after any number of months has passed, something that in my experience is not that easy to pull off with a print subscription of any newspaper. I do consider WSJ to be a very high quality publication, and in my opinion the price is reasonable for the kind of content and convenience that you get. We've all been spoiled by the years of de-facto free online access to various newspapers and magazines, but unfortunately this free-for-all state of affairs has lead many fine journals and newspapers to shut down.If you are seeking the convenience and the ease of use that the Kindle version of WSJ provides, and are not too concerned with the formatting and various bells and whistles, then I'd definitely recommend that you check it out. So far I've been more satisfied than I had expected based on all the negative reviews that I have read.