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I like e-readers now

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Re: I like e-readers now

#61

Post by NoGravitas »

clktmr wrote: post #9

Personally would love to use an e-reader to read lengthy blog posts, but last time I tried it was very tedious. I converted the post to PDF using firefox's reader mode and uploaded these to the device. Are there any e-readers with something like firefox's reader mode integrated?

Kobo's stock reader has integration with Pocket: you add an article to Pocket on your desktop/phone, and your reader pulls queued articles when it's on WiFi. You can read them offline, and they're basically like reader-mode.

KOReader, which you can install on several ereader devices, has similar integration with Wallabag. I find it extremely convenient to read lengthy blog posts and news articles this way.

Re: I like e-readers now

#62

Post by ChrisMarshallNY »

I've been using an iPad Mini for the last few years, for my reading. I have about 400 books on it.

I needed to get used to it. Now that I am used to it, I actually have difficulty with paper books.

My wife is the opposite. She doesn't want to use an eReader.

Re: I like e-readers now

#63

Post by mkr-hn »

JasonFruit wrote: post #57
AdmiralAsshat wrote: post #22

> I had a rather frustrating time setting up the damn device – it’s annoying to have to connect to wifi, make a Kobo account, make an Overdrive account, and search for books with a terrible response time to text input, and it’s especially annoying when you enter the wrong wifi password multiple times and end up restarting the device because you’re so convinced you have the right password before finally realizing your…

Mine was a disaster to type on. Slow, unreliable, and for some reason the closer to the right edge of the screen you got, the further left on each key you had to touch, until finally you would have to touch the key to the left of the one you want. But it was a great reader until a kid stepped on my bag a couple weeks ago. I ordered an Onyx Boox Nova Air, in hopes the software will be better. I also hope it's anywhere…

That sounds like a faulty digitizer.

Re: I like e-readers now

#64

Post by wheybags »

The best thing about an ereader for me is, I can read it lying down on my side. I wear glasses, so if I'm reading a real book I need to have them on, and lying on my side crunches the frame up. But with my kobo, I can crank the font up to baby book size, then take off my glasses and read lying on my side.

Re: I like e-readers now

#65

Post by fullstop »

ChrisMarshallNY wrote: post #62

I've been using an iPad Mini for the last few years, for my reading. I have about 400 books on it. I needed to get used to it. Now that I am used to it, I actually have difficulty with paper books. My wife is the opposite. She doesn't want to use an eReader.

The battery life of a Kindle is what draws me there, along with the lack of distractions. The screen looks like paper and has no glare like an iPad Mini does. If I were reading reference manuals with either color or a lot of diagrams, though, the iPad would be preferred.

Either way, the best feature of eReaders is that you don't need a bookmark and you can carry a lot of books with you. It's perfect for traveling.

Re: I like e-readers now

#66

Post by spicybright »

clktmr wrote: post #9

Personally would love to use an e-reader to read lengthy blog posts, but last time I tried it was very tedious. I converted the post to PDF using firefox's reader mode and uploaded these to the device. Are there any e-readers with something like firefox's reader mode integrated?

Not sure if it still exists, but when I had a kindle, I had a virtual printers you'd print documents to, and it would automatically appear on the kindle. Very good experience.

Re: I like e-readers now

#68

Post by sharikous »

I really like e-readers and e-books, mainly for the reasons commenters pointed out (much lighter than physical books, configurable font size, etc..).

But there are big downsides too. Mainly the market discourages ownership on the one hand and encourages piracy on the other hand. The result is that DRM protections are everywhere and some authors like Jonathan Lewin were burned up by e-book piracy and reverted to only physical copies. Also for some reason e-readers perform badly with technical writing (many references) and math formulas. It's not a technical barrier, it's just that the software is not optimized for these use cases.

Also showing off huge book shelves is impossible with an all-digital model. Some people care about that.

Re: I like e-readers now

#70

Post by fullstop »

willvarfar wrote: post #5

I fell into a phase of reading free e-books (I love amateur authors and fan-fiction generally) on my phone and that lasted about a year but the constant charging and eye strain was a pain. So I finally got an e-reader (the cheapest simplest Kobo) and I've had it nine months now. Oh what a difference the screen makes! Completely transformed how much I read and for how long I read. The software on the Kobo sucks, and e…

> I fell into a phase of reading free e-books (I love amateur authors and fan-fiction generally) on my phone and that lasted about a year but the constant charging and eye strain was a pain.

Have you read Worm? [1] There are tools available to convert the whole thing to an eReader format, and it was the best work of fiction I've read in a long time.

1. https://parahumans.wordpress.com/

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