Retirement of Amazon MOBI eBook file format • Hacker News Board

Re: Retirement of Amazon MOBI eBook file format

#51

Post by thaumasiotes » Thu, Aug 11, 2022, 5:44 AM UTC

innocenat wrote: post #35

Barrin92 wrote: post #18

I'm extremely confused about this. I have an older Kindle Paperwhite (PW 3/ 7th gen I think?) and when I used the 'email sent' feature I got that mail about dropping mobi support in favor of epub, but when sending an actual epub I got an error for sending a wrong file, ostensibly because the Kindle only supports mobi. Are they going to ship a software update? Would be a shame if that service doesn't work any more in…

Probably because the EPUB file has some problem. Amazon is very strict about EPUB validity.

> Amazon is very strict about EPUB validity.

They're also bad at converting perfectly valid epubs to their own format.

Re: Retirement of Amazon MOBI eBook file format

#52

Post by Abishek_Muthian » Thu, Aug 11, 2022, 5:46 AM UTC

Thorentis wrote: post #25

I very consciously did not buy a Kindle when choosing an Ereader about a year ago. The Kobo H2O is incredible and has served me very well. The format support is wonderful, and the stock OS does more than I need (though there is a whole community of custom OSes that also look cool). Combined with Calibre, I don't even see what the Kindle value prop is.

> I don't even see what the Kindle value prop is.

Availability. I can get the Kindle delivered the same day (or) the next from a village(Now a corporation) in Southern India. Once my Kindle didn't wake up, Got it replaced within couple of days near the end or after warranty period.

That said, I'm with you and wouldn't be buying a Kindle again. It's Value/Price is low for its utility, Especially since Amazon is locking up the device and has started interrupting bulk emails from approved email addresses. Also since I have started to limit my purchases from Amazon.

Now, I have to pester my friends and family from overseas to buy the Ereader not available here (or) Order one with international shipping and pray that the customs don't hold it and charge me a kidney(Compute devices are often charged 2x-3x the cost as excise duty!).

Re: Retirement of Amazon MOBI eBook file format

#53

Post by CallMeJim » Thu, Aug 11, 2022, 5:51 AM UTC

I wrote myself a tool to monitor the RSS feeds of a bunch of web serials, and send any new chapters to Kindle.

Using Calibre CLI, adapting to send EPUBs instead of MOBIs was as easy as changing from:

ebook-convert chapter.html chapter.mobi

To:

ebook-convert chapter.html chapter.epub

Calibre is incredibly powerful.

Re: Retirement of Amazon MOBI eBook file format

#54

Post by xvilka » Thu, Aug 11, 2022, 5:54 AM UTC

It's sad that leaner and better designed FB2 format (or helped to improve it) didn't gain support from vendors. ePub format is just a bunch of HTML without meaningful semantics.

Re: Retirement of Amazon MOBI eBook file format

#55

Post by zinekeller » Thu, Aug 11, 2022, 5:54 AM UTC

Abishek_Muthian wrote: post #52

Thorentis wrote: post #25

I very consciously did not buy a Kindle when choosing an Ereader about a year ago. The Kobo H2O is incredible and has served me very well. The format support is wonderful, and the stock OS does more than I need (though there is a whole community of custom OSes that also look cool). Combined with Calibre, I don't even see what the Kindle value prop is.

> I don't even see what the Kindle value prop is. Availability. I can get the Kindle delivered the same day (or) the next from a village(Now a corporation) in Southern India. Once my Kindle didn't wake up, Got it replaced within couple of days near the end or after warranty period. That said, I'm with you and wouldn't be buying a Kindle again. It's Value/Price is low for its utility, Especially since Amazon is lockin…

> Now a corporation

Just stating that while I understand what you meant, it could be confusing to others not familiar with subdivisions of India (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Municipal_corporation_(India))

Re: Retirement of Amazon MOBI eBook file format

#56

Post by Bud » Thu, Aug 11, 2022, 5:55 AM UTC

pseingatl wrote: post #33

cable2600 wrote: post #13

Amazon chose MOBL because it was compatible with the PRC format the old Palm Pilots used. The Palm Pilot was the original eBook reader.

No it wasn't. The original eBook reader was the Rocket eBook reader. The books were html 3.3 files.

The original ebook reader was a microfilm machine.

Re: Retirement of Amazon MOBI eBook file format

#57

Post by Abishek_Muthian » Thu, Aug 11, 2022, 5:58 AM UTC

zinekeller wrote: post #55

Abishek_Muthian wrote: post #52

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> I don't even see what the Kindle value prop is. Availability. I can get the Kindle delivered the same day (or) the next from a village(Now a corporation) in Southern India. Once my Kindle didn't wake up, Got it replaced within couple of days near the end or after warranty period. That said, I'm with you and wouldn't be buying a Kindle again. It's Value/Price is low for its utility, Especially since Amazon is lockin…

> Now a corporation Just stating that while I understand what you meant, it could be confusing to others not familiar with subdivisions of India ( https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Municipal_corporation_(India) )

Thanks, It's indeed confusing without specifying what a corporation is.

Re: Retirement of Amazon MOBI eBook file format

#58

Post by utucuro » Thu, Aug 11, 2022, 6:01 AM UTC

pseingatl wrote: post #33

cable2600 wrote: post #13

Amazon chose MOBL because it was compatible with the PRC format the old Palm Pilots used. The Palm Pilot was the original eBook reader.

No it wasn't. The original eBook reader was the Rocket eBook reader. The books were html 3.3 files.

The Palm Pilot 1000 was launched in 1996, the Rocket, 2 years later in 1998.

Re: Retirement of Amazon MOBI eBook file format

#59

Post by powersnail » Thu, Aug 11, 2022, 6:02 AM UTC

My biggest confusion about Send-to-kindle, is that you can't send an `AZW3` file. It's the format that Amazon uses; it works if you transfer it by USB; for some reason, you just can't send it by email. Makes no sense to me.

Re: Retirement of Amazon MOBI eBook file format

#60

Post by addingnumbers » Thu, Aug 11, 2022, 6:02 AM UTC

innocenat wrote: post #41

wyldfire wrote: post #37

Aside: what's the best e-reader device (ignoring cost)? I'd like to invest in one soon, something robust and durable, good contrast. I kinda like the idea of running open source software on an ereader but I'd probably consider it merely nice-to-have.

Kindle Paperwhite (2021) is one of the fastest E-reader available right now (in term of responsive ness). Kindle device have excellent dictionary too, especially for non-latin language. (Japanese dictionary implementation on Kobo is not very good). Kobo is more open and is price competitively with Kindle. It's also much more customizable if you are into that. There are also a lot of Android e-ink tablet like BOOX. Th…

What about battery replacement?

Seems like no matter how good the display and build quality, all eBook readers are bound to stop holding a charge after 3-4 years. I feel like the ongoing availability of newly-produced replacement batteries and the difficulty of replacing them are the primary factors in choosing an ebook reader.

My 2015 Paperwhite barely lasts 20 minutes after I pull the charging cable, even back in 2018 it was down from two weeks to two days per charge.

It's not like you can avoid the problem by loading up on extra batteries. A replacement battery manufactured shortly after the reader is going to be as bad as the one that came installed by the time I need it.

All the other problems I worry about like responsiveness, display quality and defects apply early on when a refund or warranty replacement is a solution.