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Retirement of Amazon MOBI eBook file format

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Re: Retirement of Amazon MOBI eBook file format

#231

Post by shultays »

spacehunt wrote: post #147
maratc wrote: post #132

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The Kindle is inexpensive, has great support, has a huge library (open to non-US people with non-US credit cards), and you could just email a MOBI to it (which is great if the Kindle owner is your parent). It's only disadvantage was that it did not support ePub and so one had to go through Calibre. Now that Kindle is supporting ePUB and no Calibre-tion is needed, I don't even see what the Kobo value prop is.

Kobo has built-in Overdrive, Dropbox and Pocket support on the device itself, which Kindle lacks.

it also has a (experimental) browser

Re: Retirement of Amazon MOBI eBook file format

#232

Post by nottorp »

Markoff wrote: post #113
nottorp wrote: post #105

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Sony still makes ereaders? Are they affordable yet? Last time i checked they cost an arm and a leg. Don't know about others but the first ereader i bought was a paperwhite on sale. I.e. cheap. I was used to reading on dead tree and pda/tablet and didn't see why I should get an expensive dedicated device. Only tried when it was discounted enough to be an impulse purchase. Don't think Sony ever had something in impulse…

Sony product affordable Pick one. When had last time Sony affordable product with good VFM not beaten by any other brand? It's same story with their smartphones and anything I can think of.

That was kinda my point :)

Re: Retirement of Amazon MOBI eBook file format

#233

Post by goosedragons »

fastball wrote: post #169
qwerty456127 wrote: post #139

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I usually disable 2.4 Ghz WiFi on the routers I set up because 2.4 Ghz WiFi is just a needless radio spectrum pollution nowadays (unless you need to connect retro devices). I initially decided to phase it out in hope of improving BlueTooth (wireless earphones) stability.

2.4Ghz covers more area.

Yeah, and because of that it quickly becomes useless in an apartment building surrounded by a few hundred 2.4GHz access points.

Re: Retirement of Amazon MOBI eBook file format

#234

Post by sundarurfriend »

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) )

I'm from southern India too, likely even from the same state Abhishek_Muthian is from, and this meaning of corporation didn't occur even to me when reading their comment. I was wondering if they meant the village had become a company town or something. Thank you for the clarification.

Re: Retirement of Amazon MOBI eBook file format

#235

Post by goosedragons »

banana_giraffe wrote: post #30
paxys wrote: post #3

I'm very confused about what file format(s) Kindle actually supports. * They are dropping support for MOBI from their Send to Kindle website and apps. * They are adding support for ePub in their Send to Kindle website and apps, but apparently they will be converted to Kindle format (MOBI? AZW?) under the hood. * Several sites mention AZW3 as the official Kindle format. Is that the same as MOBI? * It is unclear whethe…

Mobi and AZW3 (aka KF8) are both at their core Palm DB files. AZW3 are basically Mobi files for backwards compatibility purposes, with an added compiled ePub file for improved layout options. Kindles can read both formats, with newer Kindles using the HTML/CSS from AZW3 files. As far as I know, the only options to get an ePub onto a Kindle convert to an AZW3 before putting sending it to the Kindle (or manually conver…

AZW3 is itself one of their "old" formats. Their new hotness is KFX which is some proprietary binary ever-shifting always-DRM'd even when "DRM-free" format. This is the only format that supports the enhanced typesetting feature. The best way I've found to get ePubs onto Kindles is to use Amazon's Kindlegen. It does the least damage.

Re: Retirement of Amazon MOBI eBook file format

#236

Post by damontal »

topbanana wrote: post #200
biztos wrote: post #193

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I used a Kobo for a long time and I just bought a Kindle, because it was so hard to get articles on the Kobo. They stopped supporting direct file transfers from Mac, so I was left with Pocket, and Pocket didn't think a lot of what I tried to save was "articles." So far I find that for my purposes, the Kindle is way easier to get content onto, and there's quite a bit of content I want that I can just buy there, but co…

How do you get articles onto your Kindle?

You can set Instapaper to auto send articles or a digest of articles to your kindle.

Re: Retirement of Amazon MOBI eBook file format

#237

Post by brokenkebab2 »

PaulRobinson wrote: post #163
qwerty456127 wrote: post #135

Earlier quoted context omitted.

AFAIK Kindle shows you ads and can occasionally delete a book from your library. Isn't it so?

My Kindle doesn't show ads, because I didn't buy the version that shows ads. I have never had a book deleted from my Kindle by Amazon. There was a single instance of a couple of George Orwell's books being removed from user devices in July 2009. Customers had the purchase price they paid refunded. It was done because the company selling those books didn't actually have the rights to sell them. Afterwards, Jeff Bezos…

>Afterwards, Jeff Bezos apologised [...] It is therefore unlikely to happen again.

If it's still technically possible (it is), it will happen again. It's implemented to be used, even if occasionally. And mere existence of this feature is a clear declaration, you don't own it, you rent it. Many people may find it acceptable, taking other circumstances, but it's a big bold minus.

Re: Retirement of Amazon MOBI eBook file format

#238

Post by [deleted] »

haxnewsben wrote: post #190
gambiting wrote: post #144

Earlier quoted context omitted.

If you buy a kindle that is specifically advertised as having ads(and therefore being sold for less money), then yes, you will get ads. If you don't want them, buy the ad free version. And the deletion from your library happened...once? Over millions of titles available?

Also, if you buy the one with ads (because it's cheaper), you can literally just go on amazon customer support chat and ask them nicely to turn them off. It's worked for the few kindles I've owned

[deleted]

Re: Retirement of Amazon MOBI eBook file format

#239

Post by phpisthebest »

maratc wrote: post #132
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.

The Kindle is inexpensive, has great support, has a huge library (open to non-US people with non-US credit cards), and you could just email a MOBI to it (which is great if the Kindle owner is your parent). It's only disadvantage was that it did not support ePub and so one had to go through Calibre. Now that Kindle is supporting ePUB and no Calibre-tion is needed, I don't even see what the Kobo value prop is.

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

It is not amazon encumbered. That is a huge value to many

Re: Retirement of Amazon MOBI eBook file format

#240

Post by Beldin »

gambiting wrote: post #204
Namari wrote: post #188

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Well they already got profits on their bookstore, why would they need to make a version where you got ads on top of that. I guess if we follow your logic they could build phones, consoles and TVs with ads too. I can understand free books with ads but not the hardware/software that reads it.

Again, if Amazon just said "hey you get £10 off your Kindle purchase if you subscribe to our newsletter", would that be any better? >>why would they need to make a version where you got ads on top of that Gee, to make a device cheaper for you. >>I guess if we follow your logic they could build phones, consoles and TVs with ads too I mean....yes. I'm just surprised this hasn't happened already.

It has - 5 or so years ago, non-smart TVs were more expensive than the same ones with "smartness".
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