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Amazon reveals first color Kindle, new Kindle Scribe, and more

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Re: Amazon reveals first color Kindle, new Kindle Scribe, and more

#261
post #179

I have a pretty old paperwhite. When it started deleting books i had side-loaded via calibre, I decided to get a kobo. I have a libra color, and I have to say: price notwithstanding, it's a great device. I don't have a lot of experience with more recent devices, but compared to my 2nd gen paperwhite, it is _amazing_. Color is good enough to read comic books on it, the google drive integration means it's not too hard…

I got a libra color myself and cab second this recommendation.

It was so good I got a second one for my 5 year old daughter, figured it was a good alternative to the iPads I see her peers with.

Re: Amazon reveals first color Kindle, new Kindle Scribe, and more

#262
post #2

I own a Kindle Paperwhite (last gen, relative to this new one) and a Kobo Clara BW (purchase in the last 6 months). IMO, the Kindle is the premium e-reader when it comes to look and feel. It's just a fantastic experience. The issue is Amazon and how even if you want to put your own purchased ebooks on it, you have it send it through their servers. That tied with a few other privacy issues over the years led me to als…

> IMO, the Kindle is the premium e-reader when it comes to look and feel. It's just a fantastic experience.

Interestingly, I switched from Kindle to Kobo because it was lacking various basic features that made it not feel premium.

* Kobo epubs can show "pages in chapter" progress so I know how much longer there is until a nice stopping point, while Kindle only shows "minutes left in chapter" which is functionally useless.

* Kobo had blue light blocking night shift before Kindle Paperwhite (I think both have it now?)

* Kobo had a convenient feature where you slide your finger along the side of the screen to change brightness, instead of having to go into multiple menus to do this.

It's possible these things have been remedied, but especially the chapter progress thing put such a bad taste in my mouth that I never wanted to touch Kindle again.

Re: Amazon reveals first color Kindle, new Kindle Scribe, and more

#263

I was quite hopeful for this refresh to upgrade my Oasis but it looks as though they've regressed on weight: 188g for my current Oasis vs 211g for the Paperwhite. The new entry level kindle is indeed lighter but unfortunately lacks a warm light. I hope something else will be on the horizon!

warm light (ideally adjustable temperature) and page turn buttons are the killer features for the Oasis. faster page turns and all the rest I can live without.

Re: Amazon reveals first color Kindle, new Kindle Scribe, and more

#264

Using the wisdom of the crowd here: what is the best ereader for tinkering? I'm browsing the answers here looking for that and I don't know if anything actually fits the bill. Something with Android, tablet-type machines, seems to be the answer? Is there nothing better?

Look into PocketBook readers. They have a full lineup with color and grayscale in various sizes. They run linux, you can ssh into it and install koreader, etc. They have a good privacy story and little vendor lock-in. The experience is a lot like my Kobo, but the matching mobile app is much better. I continue where I leave off with my iPad sometimes, it's a nice feature.

https://pocketbook.ch/en-ch/catalog

Re: Amazon reveals first color Kindle, new Kindle Scribe, and more

#265

We had books, but then we thought, what about screens. Then we had screens but we thought, what if screens were more like books. Then we had book screens and we thought, what if the screens we made to look like books were more like screens.

Similarly, I saw someome on social media yesterday post about buying "Monopoly Go" boardgame at the store. The box says "Based on the popular mobile game". The joke was the same, we had a board game, then we made a mobile video game based on the board game, now they are selling a board game based on the video game that was based on the board game.

In this case there's the extra meta joke with Monopoly originally being created to show how capitalism is bad.

Re: Amazon reveals first color Kindle, new Kindle Scribe, and more

#266

I hope they’re not abandoning page turn buttons for good, like my Oasis has — the only reason I bought the Oasis. Touch screens are just not a good reading experience, for me.

That's why I love my Kobo Libra 2. Physical buttons, sweet spot for size, easy to sideload or I can buy on Kobo on device/mobile/desktop or sync pocket or get library books from overdrive/Libby.

Re: Amazon reveals first color Kindle, new Kindle Scribe, and more

#267
post #32

Earlier quoted context omitted.

A friend showed me usb adapters from usb-c to lightning and I found that very helpful for usb-c -> micro as well to charge the kindle.

unfortunately it's not much different carrying an adapter around than carrying the cable; but I'll have a look at options, thanks

I have a single USB-C to USB-C cable for travel that has a permanently attached USB-A adapter on one side, and lightning and micro adapters (also attached) on the other end. Not as slick as just USB-C, but it’s a single cable that does power and data, along with a single USB-C brick, and since it does data it works in any rental car as well. Check them out!

Re: Amazon reveals first color Kindle, new Kindle Scribe, and more

#268

I loved my kindle paperwhite so much. I have a case on it all the time, there is not a single scratch on my kindle. One day, out of the blue, the touch screen stopped working. it is unresponsive to any touch, I've soft reset it, hard reset it, googled everything. Apparently its a common thing in amazon forum, and of course what does amazon support say? just buy a new one. At this point my kindle is only 2.5 years old…

My Kindle Paperwhite has been running strong for 10 years. No issues whatsoever except diminished battery life.

Re: Amazon reveals first color Kindle, new Kindle Scribe, and more

#269
post #252

There is so much market disruption potential for e-readers. Every one has a pretty big tradeoff if you are looking to use the e-reader as a general study tool (i.e. using it with Anki for language learning) - boox devices run Android 11, illegally violate the GPL, and have poor customer service - meebook devices are too underpowered and also run Android 11 - Kindles are too restrictive and anti-consumer; also does no…

Why would I want Android on my e-reader, again?

Because most people who read ebooks use a Kindle, and an e-reader having Android is by far the simplest way to read your collection of Kindle books on a non-Amazon e-reader. This is because you can just download the Kindle app to access your collection.

Re: Amazon reveals first color Kindle, new Kindle Scribe, and more

#270

I loved my kindle paperwhite so much. I have a case on it all the time, there is not a single scratch on my kindle. One day, out of the blue, the touch screen stopped working. it is unresponsive to any touch, I've soft reset it, hard reset it, googled everything. Apparently its a common thing in amazon forum, and of course what does amazon support say? just buy a new one. At this point my kindle is only 2.5 years old…

My dad, partner, and I all have our own Kindles on my Amazon account. Over the past decade I’ve had them break a few times out of warranty. What I do is chat with support online and explain the issue. They may offer you a coupon to replace it at a discount. Decline and tell them not to worry about it, you’ll just toss it in the trash.

I think this has gotten a free replacement Kindle on 2 of 3 times that I’ve tried it.

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