I'm thinking I'd much prefer a non-internet connected ebook reader. Something that might have wifi but only for transferring books. The problem with a reader that's essentially an android device is that it's much too easy to become distracted as you go off to look up something that's come up in the text - and then an hour later get back to actually reading the book.
That’s exactly how I use my kindle. Keeping the wifi off saves battery life and the web browser is terrible and the eink screen isn’t color so it’s not like you want to do web things anyway.
> 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…
> The Kobo is an excellent reading device, but it is a very poor internet browsing device. Sounds like a feature to me - perfect!
I've found a use for the browser - it allows me to easily load DRM-stripped books from various places without having to bother plugging the device in. You can set the homepage to a server on the LAN with your books and download what you want easily.
That's... about all the browser really handles. But Pocket or Wallabag get you a far better article reading experience anyway. Any long form article on the web now gets shoved in Pocket and read on my Kobo.
I'm confused. The switch has a screen and accelerometers. How does that that result in a situation you can just let your arms drop that you can't when playing the PS4?
If he's playing the switch docked, the split controllers mean that the arms can be moved freely. Normal controllers don't allow that
Doesn't technically have to be docked to do this. It's how I use it on an airplane often. Screen on the tray table with it's little kickstand, arms to my sides maybe in my hoodie pockets. It took a little bit of getting used to strangely but once you do :thumbsup:
> I've never understood how this isn't a standard feature with standalone Kindles. Is this an accessibility issue? I work fairly extensively with ebook devices and users in my job and this has never come up, I doubt it even occurs to most people, which probably answers your question. However, I also work quite a bit with accessibility (for which the Kindle is excellent for many common challenges that come with age) a…
No, for me it's just a laziness issue. ;) I just enjoy not having to hold the device. I can just rest my arms wherever they naturally would rest. Or put them under the sheets when the bedroom is cold. Etc.
I think people just think of an e-reader the same way they do a book, and so use the same solutions they use for not-having-to-hold-up books: lecterns and stands, bed/bath tables, suspended clamps, etc.
I finally found a way to do remote page-turning for Kindle -- something I was trying to do for years. It does mean I have to read books on my Android phone instead of the Paperwhite. With OLED and white on black, I find it's pretty all right though. But I can finally rest the reader somewhere, on my knees, on a pillow, whatever, and click a remote button to get to the next page. Freedom! You enable volume button page…
What is the use-case, exactly? The only real-life experience I have with wanting to turn ebook pages remotely is during the winter, when my hands are cold and even touchscreen-compatible gloves/mittens don't work well with the touchscreen sensor. But if I ever truly got that desperate, there are several lines of Kobo and Kindle devices with physical touch buttons that would solve the problem.
For me, I'd love to use my e-reader to handle sheet music while playing my piano or cello, but the screen size means that I have to turn pages far more often than with physical sheets, and ends up being impractical in real life. I love playing around with a lot of different sheets and trying things out before deciding if I want to really spend time on it, and I hate how much I have to print to do so, and using screens for the purpose ends up being also impractical (and I much prefer how sheet music looks on e-ink vs a backlit LCD). If I could tap a button on the floor with my feet to turn pages, it would make this quite reasonable.
I wish there were a Netflix like model for books. I think Amazon has a service like that, but without very much content (last time I checked). If the selection was good I would be happy to pay monthly for what is effectively a library card (which is basically how you do that today with ebooks but for free. Much worse user experience than piracy unfortunately) I too love ebooks by the way. Between that and audiobooks…
> If the selection was good I would be happy to pay monthly for what is effectively a library card Libraries offer this service for free. Our local library has a huge and increasing number of ebooks available.
Also keep in mind that your local library may be in a larger system. My local library can borrow books from almost the entire state (minus from the largest city in the state, for some reason). If you're willing to wait a week or more, you can put books on hold and get an email when they arrive to your local branch.
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.
i listen to audiobooks. come to think of it, i have been doing that for the last decade and i recently found out that i do not sleep well if i do not have some book speak to me while i fall asleep.
How do you remember where you left off?
voice. android app. does what i want. auto sleep timer bookmarks
i listen to audiobooks. come to think of it, i have been doing that for the last decade and i recently found out that i do not sleep well if i do not have some book speak to me while i fall asleep.
How do you remember where you left off?
the audible app has a sleep timer you can set that will turn it off after a specified period of time. 15 mins is usually enough for me.
I prefer reading on my e-reader for a number of reasons you’ve probably come across elsewhere. But the most underrated thing for me is that I can read large books. I feel they’re too unwieldly to carry around and also heavy enough that I feel too much friction actually starting to read. I had The Gene on my shelf for 3 years before I realised this was why I hadn’t even read 10 pages of it. I bought the ebook and fini…
There seems to be a weird reluctance in the American publishing market to split larger books into volumes. "War and Peace" editions I see on Amazon are typically single-volume; Russian editions are either two or four volumes.
Unfortunately, translated books are (in most cases) published in the same way as the original, so the tradition of multi-volume editions is dying out, being replaced by these awful bricks you can't properly hold or keep open, all set in tiny type with narrow margins.