Retirement of Amazon MOBI eBook file format • Hacker News Board

Re: Retirement of Amazon MOBI eBook file format

#81

Post by anakaine » Thu, Aug 11, 2022, 6:51 AM UTC

nucleardog wrote: post #80

jfim wrote: post #39

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> Combined with Calibre, I don't even see what the Kindle value prop is. Easy purchasing of ebooks from Amazon, combined with their large selection of ebooks.

Yeah like, I don't wanna point out the typical HN problem but... Imagine explaining this to someone's grandma. "Click this Amazon shortcut, type your book name up here, click on it down below, press 'buy now'. If it doesn't show up right away, wait 5 minutes and check again." Versus... something to do with trying to download mobi files (from where?), starting calibre, starting an import process, locating said files (…

1. Turn on the reader.

2. Go to "Kobo Store".

3. Look for a book.

4. Click "Buy".

5. Click the book to open it.

Thats about my workflow in the kobo, assuming I didn't drop a file on there via usb.

Re: Retirement of Amazon MOBI eBook file format

#82

Post by huimang » Thu, Aug 11, 2022, 6:53 AM UTC

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.

I love my kobo. It's more open than kindles (you just mount it and shlep books over), and I like the kobo bookstore. That said, I had a kindle paperwhite and it was nice as well.

If you want to run android apps then check out Boox. I immediately bought one after playing around with one in person. But that's more of a tablet that can be used for reading than just an ereader.

Re: Retirement of Amazon MOBI eBook file format

#83

Post by jamiek88 » Thu, Aug 11, 2022, 6:54 AM UTC

CallMeJim wrote: post #53

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.

Yep, it’s the ffmpeg of reading!

Re: Retirement of Amazon MOBI eBook file format

#84

Post by nephanth » Thu, Aug 11, 2022, 6:55 AM UTC

fastball wrote: post #68

adgjlsfhk1 wrote: post #44

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The lack of 5 ghz wifi and micro usb are slightly annoying, but overall, I love it.

What in the world do you need 5GHz wifi for on an e-reader?

Maybe their AP only supports that?

Re: Retirement of Amazon MOBI eBook file format

#85

Post by zzzbra » Thu, Aug 11, 2022, 6:56 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.

Kobo’s iOS and desktop reading experiences are very subpar (although they seem to be fixing that with new experimental features for iOS)and there’s no cloud sync for the most popular (“cheaper”) models.

Re: Retirement of Amazon MOBI eBook file format

#86

Post by debugnik » Thu, Aug 11, 2022, 6:56 AM UTC

innocenat wrote: post #69

debugnik wrote: post #14

Is this to stop users from downloading MOBI files with old versions of the Kindle app and export them with Calibre? Or was that already over?

That process has been being done with AZW3 for a long, long time already. It's not related.

Last time I checked, removing the AZW3 DRM required third party plugins that many people had trouble making work, while the MOBI downloads were easy and DRM-free. But that was long ago, so maybe it's easier now.

Re: Retirement of Amazon MOBI eBook file format

#87

Post by wy35 » Thu, Aug 11, 2022, 6:57 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.

Back when I was shopping for an e-reader, the Kobo was more expensive than the equivalent Kindle for the same price. Plus, Kindles go for very cheap on Prime Day.

Re: Retirement of Amazon MOBI eBook file format

#88

Post by gommm » Thu, Aug 11, 2022, 6:57 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.

It's more convenient to send an ebook via calibre to my kindle than to my kobo. I configured send to email on calibre, so it's just one click to send via calibre. On the other hand, I love the pocket integration on kobo whenever I want to read articles and the overdrive library integration is great. It's why we have both a kobo and a kindle shared between me and my wife.

Besides this, from an ergonomic point of view, the kindle oasis is better than the kobo sage, it's lighter, feels better in hand. The Kobo forma is better than the sage in term of ergonomy but when I had mine it broke after 13 months.

Re: Retirement of Amazon MOBI eBook file format

#89

Post by Kelm » Thu, Aug 11, 2022, 7:00 AM UTC

fastball wrote: post #68

adgjlsfhk1 wrote: post #44

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The lack of 5 ghz wifi and micro usb are slightly annoying, but overall, I love it.

What in the world do you need 5GHz wifi for on an e-reader?

Wouldn't it be more convenient to only need one wifi network without 2 frequencies? Especially in dense urban areas where "wifi pollution" is high and it can be difficult to find an unused 2.4GHz channel

Re: Retirement of Amazon MOBI eBook file format

#90

Post by sureglymop » Thu, Aug 11, 2022, 7:01 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've been using it for years with KOReader instead of the stock OS and it's been amazing. I can ssh into it, open epubs directly from my nextcloud, sync reading progress etc with calibre. It's great! KOReader is one of the best pieces of open source software i have ever come across.