Live data from Hacker News

Amazon’s Kindle Scribe is an E Ink tablet for reading and writing

theverge.com

111–120 of 167 posts

Re: Amazon’s Kindle Scribe is an E Ink tablet for reading and writing

#111

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The Oasis, with page-turn buttons, hasn't been refreshed since mid-2019; the latest Paperwhite, with USB-C port, was released two years later. I expect the next Oasis will have USB-C.

I was really hoping for a new Oasis in this announcement! I currently use a Voyage, a long-since-discontinued Kindle that was a hybrid of the Paperwhite and the Oasis, with a symmetric design and haptic page turn "buttons" on the left and right bezels. With the arrival of the Paperwhite Signature Edition I'm wondering if Amazon is going to phase out the Oasis line entirely, just as they did with Voyage. It can't be s…

Virtually every feature except for the physical turn buttons, which was always the feature that made Oasis so much better than cheaper Kindle models.

Re: Amazon’s Kindle Scribe is an E Ink tablet for reading and writing

#112

Earlier quoted context omitted.

FYI the Kobo Libra 2 is just this if you don't need the Amazon ecosystem. If you do, you're out of luck for now though.

The main reason I stick with Amazon is that it has the best integration with my local library, which is where I get 90% of my books. Like most libraries, they are OverDrive based. I can check out a book from the library on my phone and have it appear wirelessly on my Kindle moments later. Last I checked all non-Kindle devices require you to basically download an .epub file onto your computer and then sideload it with…

I've had a pretty good experience with the Kobo Overdrive integration.

My process for checking out books on a Kobo is:

  - check out book on Libby app

  - go to Kobo

  - hit the sync button.
The last time I tried to check out a book for Amazon (admittedly a while ago) it was

  - check out book on Libby app

  - get redirected to Amazon & hit "borrow" 

Re: Amazon’s Kindle Scribe is an E Ink tablet for reading and writing

#113
post #16

I guess it is time for me to upgrade my Kindle Oasis (1st gen I assume), which I never use to this Kindle Scribe, which I also probably never going to use. But the main issue with the Kindles was not being able to read PDF (technical books, technical articles), and I dreamed about the DX when it was available only in US, and I also did not have money to buy one. After I moved to US 13 years ago, the DX version was ou…

I have never once wanted to read a PDF on my Kindle and I'm not entirely sure why anyone would. Mostly because reading PDFs on something like kindle would be a shit show (I assume this is entirely why they haven't added that functionality). I've owned probably 10+ kindles, including the DX, and I think its honestly the bit of technology I used _the most_ outside of my iPhone.

What do you mean by "they haven't added that functionality"? Kindles will readily open PDF files, and DX in particular was great for that on most documents, as the screen size large enough to fit one page at readable zoom level made scrolling unnecessary.

Re: Amazon’s Kindle Scribe is an E Ink tablet for reading and writing

#114
post #25

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The Kindle Paperwhite uses a USB-C connector. (It probably still uses USB 2.x for data transfer, though -- I'm not sure why that would matter to anyone).

I believe only the Kindle Oasis has physical page-turning buttons, and it (inexplicably) still uses Micro-USB. I suspect this situation is what the parent is referring to.

Is that really a big deal? Micro USB is a perfectly cromulent technology and cords cost a fraction of their usbc counterparts (plus everybody has a million of them)

Re: Amazon’s Kindle Scribe is an E Ink tablet for reading and writing

#116

This made it occur to me that a tablet that mimics the form of electric typewriters—a fixed-width LCD screen, a bit akin to those on simple calculators, with the full page above it, and text from the LCD appended to the "page" when you move to the next line—might actually be awesome for writing, coupled with an external keyboard. Potentially-very-low input latency while typing, and no page-flickering except when chan…

Use a Boox device with a Bluetooth keyboard. The ux you're describing could be replicated in a web app or Android app pretty easily.

Re: Amazon’s Kindle Scribe is an E Ink tablet for reading and writing

#117
post #7

Boox e-ink tabs do the same thing, but they're Android underneath so it's not locked down to Amazon and dependent on partnerships with Microsoft to add an export button.

Boox A4 is great (Max Lumi 2), extremely practical. Can't go back to smaller e-inks. Kindle almost needed lens to read anything and I can't imagine writing on it.

Re: Amazon’s Kindle Scribe is an E Ink tablet for reading and writing

#118

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I’ve had one for many years and found it to be the perfect device to read and take notes on PDFs: 13” screen, super lightweight, easy to send PDFs to it and from it through the app and writing on it feels similar to writing on paper. Unfortunately the pen’s tip broke off and there doesn’t seem to be any way to fix it or buy new ones. It is mostly useless without it.

Is it not this: https://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/product/1288294-REG/sony_dpta...

Those are replacement tips. I broke the head, leaving the shaft inside the pen and thats what I'm not able to get out. It seems to be a common problem if you look at the reviews:

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0713VCDPY

Re: Amazon’s Kindle Scribe is an E Ink tablet for reading and writing

#119
post #75

Just for the record, Kobo, reMarkable and Onyx have had similar e-readers that you can take notes on for quite a while.

Amazon clearly felt threatened by the tens of people with a Kobo Elipsa and the dozens of people with reMarkable tablets.

Tens, plus 1 - the Elipsa is an awesome device esp. when the stock stylus is replaced with a Renaisser.

Re: Amazon’s Kindle Scribe is an E Ink tablet for reading and writing

#120
post #81

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Remarkable 2 doesn't have a backlight. Kobo's software is fine (mostly), but the design or manufacturing seems to be a notch below. On my Kobo the touchscreen is enragingly inaccurate. And, direct access to the Amazon library is not an insignificant advantage.

What do you mean by the kobo screen being inaccurate? Is this for the stylus of the touch itself? I was considering buying a kobo but this comment scares me a bit now.

I've been using an Elipsa for about a year with a Renaisser stylus - have not noticed any inaccuracy but the writing can sometimes be laggy. I really like it, all in all though - all of my work notes tend to be on it.
Post reply on HN