Retirement of Amazon MOBI eBook file format • Hacker News Board

Re: Retirement of Amazon MOBI eBook file format

#251

Post by BSOhealth » Thu, Aug 11, 2022, 12:23 PM UTC

Lio wrote: post #208

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.

That's not Kindle's only disadvantage. Kobo had distinct features I wanted that no Kindle offered at the time I last purchased. Like a screen big enough to comfortably read PDFs. 10.3" on Kobo Elipsa vs 7" on Kindle. IMHO that makes the Kindle only really useful for fiction. There's also Pocket support for reading offline web articles. Overdrive support so I can borrow books from my local library for free. Free Dropb…

Libraries are very important, and Kindle supports borrowing from them (for free): https://help.overdrive.com/en-us/0431.html

Re: Retirement of Amazon MOBI eBook file format

#252

Post by levesque » Thu, Aug 11, 2022, 12:29 PM UTC

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.

Kobo appears to be an inferior device on most accounts. Both of my Kobo readers have had glitches, required reboots, and at times had a suspiciously low battery life. The first even just stopped working all of a sudden. But all of it was worth it knowing I wouldn't have to support Amazon's walled garden. Now it's mostly down to "do you support Amazon?", and I'm still not sure if I want a Kindle. I'll keep my Kobo H2O until it dies of old age, then we'll see.

Re: Retirement of Amazon MOBI eBook file format

#253

Post by anuragsoni » Thu, Aug 11, 2022, 12:35 PM UTC

BSOhealth wrote: post #251

Lio wrote: post #208

Earlier quoted context omitted.

That's not Kindle's only disadvantage. Kobo had distinct features I wanted that no Kindle offered at the time I last purchased. Like a screen big enough to comfortably read PDFs. 10.3" on Kobo Elipsa vs 7" on Kindle. IMHO that makes the Kindle only really useful for fiction. There's also Pocket support for reading offline web articles. Overdrive support so I can borrow books from my local library for free. Free Dropb…

Libraries are very important, and Kindle supports borrowing from them (for free): https://help.overdrive.com/en-us/0431.html

So does the kobo (at least in the US). Kobo devices have the overdrive app installed on them and you can search for and borrow library books from within the device.

Re: Retirement of Amazon MOBI eBook file format

#254

Post by corobo » Thu, Aug 11, 2022, 12:36 PM UTC

another-circus wrote: post #130

DharmaPolice wrote: post #116

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I highly doubt that people are thinking of 50 year olds when they're talking about grandmas. But in answer to your question, I suspect the cliche will slowly die out when most of the 60/70/80 year olds we meet are tech savvy.

A ton of kids these days aren't that tech savvy. I work with high school kids and many have a real lack of understanding about how things work. A large number have no idea how to much with software outside of browser, believe that internet traffic travels through satellites to get between continents, and can't even debug simple printer jams.

High school kids have a lack of understanding of how things work? We should put them in a school or something :P

It sounds like you're the person who could be the one to teach them this stuff, is that not an option?

Re: Retirement of Amazon MOBI eBook file format

#255

Post by multicelled » Thu, Aug 11, 2022, 12:36 PM UTC

BSOhealth wrote: post #251

Lio wrote: post #208

Earlier quoted context omitted.

That's not Kindle's only disadvantage. Kobo had distinct features I wanted that no Kindle offered at the time I last purchased. Like a screen big enough to comfortably read PDFs. 10.3" on Kobo Elipsa vs 7" on Kindle. IMHO that makes the Kindle only really useful for fiction. There's also Pocket support for reading offline web articles. Overdrive support so I can borrow books from my local library for free. Free Dropb…

Libraries are very important, and Kindle supports borrowing from them (for free): https://help.overdrive.com/en-us/0431.html

So does Kobo! https://help.overdrive.com/en-us/9988.html

Re: Retirement of Amazon MOBI eBook file format

#256

Post by erispoe » Thu, Aug 11, 2022, 12:37 PM UTC

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 am tempted to switch to Kobo just for the Pocket app.

Re: Retirement of Amazon MOBI eBook file format

#257

Post by tiahura » Thu, Aug 11, 2022, 12:40 PM UTC

levesque wrote: post #252

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 appears to be an inferior device on most accounts. Both of my Kobo readers have had glitches, required reboots, and at times had a suspiciously low battery life. The first even just stopped working all of a sudden. But all of it was worth it knowing I wouldn't have to support Amazon's walled garden. Now it's mostly down to "do you support Amazon?", and I'm still not sure if I want a Kindle. I'll keep my Kobo H2O…

Agreed. I love my kobo’s form factor, but the glitchiness is frustrating. For me, the inaccuracy of the Aura HD’s touch recognition is what causes the most headaches.

Re: Retirement of Amazon MOBI eBook file format

#258

Post by sudo_rm » Thu, Aug 11, 2022, 12:41 PM UTC

AndyJames wrote: post #118

lizzard wrote: post #49

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I had this happen as well and ran the epub through Calibre, converting epub to epub. That actually fixed it and the Kindle accepted the new file.

I never investigated this deeper but I have similar issue on my Nook Glowlight. Despite it supporting ePUB files some of them just throw an error on the devices. Converting them ePUB to ePUB solves the problem.

I've learned recently at my new job that ePubs are just a giant zip file of html, css, etc. Sometimes you need to rezip them if they are not working quite right and I imagine that is what converting them from ePub to ePub is doing.

Re: Retirement of Amazon MOBI eBook file format

#259

Post by tmd83 » Thu, Aug 11, 2022, 12:41 PM UTC

One of my favourite kindle feature :) it fits in most of my back pockets. I like to read while on the road, when waiting etc and not having to carry it on my hand which is a hassle and not forgetting in random place is a big feature for me.

Re: Retirement of Amazon MOBI eBook file format

#260

Post by levesque » Thu, Aug 11, 2022, 12:46 PM UTC

tiahura wrote: post #257

levesque wrote: post #252

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Kobo appears to be an inferior device on most accounts. Both of my Kobo readers have had glitches, required reboots, and at times had a suspiciously low battery life. The first even just stopped working all of a sudden. But all of it was worth it knowing I wouldn't have to support Amazon's walled garden. Now it's mostly down to "do you support Amazon?", and I'm still not sure if I want a Kindle. I'll keep my Kobo H2O…

Agreed. I love my kobo’s form factor, but the glitchiness is frustrating. For me, the inaccuracy of the Aura HD’s touch recognition is what causes the most headaches.

Oh right, forgot about touch recognition, that's also a bit off. Needs more strength / pressure than it should. I'm guessing they didn't tune it properly when they made the devices water resistant?