[dupe] https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=43046995 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=43039924 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=43041726
This comment is itself a dupe of https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=43070314
Kindle is removing download and transfer option on Feb 26th
171–180 of 226 posts
Re: Kindle is removing download and transfer option on Feb 26th
#172Earlier quoted context omitted.
>I’m not sure why anyone buys Kindles when there are so many better options available. For me, the Kobo lacks something like the Send to Kindle feature. I can send books I've obtained from outside the Kindle Store (DRM free sellers, Humble Bundle, public domain etc.) and then store them in my Kindle library. These are then synchronised across all of my Kindle devices and apps - completely for free Kobo does have inte…
Isn't that what Calibre is for?
Why would I want to connect my ereader to a computer?
It's not 2004 and it's not an iPod.
Re: Kindle is removing download and transfer option on Feb 26th
#173As of this writing I can still connect my kindle and then read the kfx file with Calibre and then convert it to azw3 or epub (with the dedrm plugin). Should I loose every way to backup my books, then probably I'd use tesseract, puppeteer and their cloud reader to re-ocr the books (it's better than nothing). Also note that the country I live in, libraries have no ebooks. Kobo drm is another nuisance.
When I try to do this, it flatly doesn't work -- I get a popup message saying "This book has DRM". I have what I believe to be the latest version of the DeDRM plugin installed in Calibre.
(I am currently attempting to follow a recipe off the internet that begins with "install an old version of the PC Kindle app, disconnect from the internet before running it so you can tell it not to auto-update itself, ...". Perhaps that will work.)
[EDITED to add:] Yup, looks like that has worked, though most of the titles and authors will need to be entered manually.
Re: Kindle is removing download and transfer option on Feb 26th
#174There was a post on HN a couple days ago about the launch of bookshop.org, which lets you buy e-books from your local bookseller. Good timing! https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=43056526
That's arguably got even more restrictive DRM than the Kindle Store.
And it's only available in the US.
Re: Kindle is removing download and transfer option on Feb 26th
#175Earlier quoted context omitted.
you're right. it's an e-reader that you can email any epub file to and it'll read it. if you don't want to pirate, there's a functional store. what more do people need?
> you can email any ePub file Except when you can't, like literally yesterday: subscribed to Asimov's, sent ePub, got a link, clicked a link, "that link is not valid". Repeat, same message. Why? Who knows? My next ereader won't be a Kindle.
The web app for sending to Kindle is a lot more reliable:
Re: Kindle is removing download and transfer option on Feb 26th
#176I own Kindles and I have bought a lot of ebook content from the Amazon store over the years but they don't seem to realize that the more restrictions they put in place, the more they are incentivizing just someone going to the effort to decrypt/de-DRM everything to epub and shoving it into a Kobo (or apple's Books.app, or comic book reader, or anything else that reads the ebook or comic book formats) ...Which is exac…
The first iPod and iTunes stores were very full of DRM.
And Jobs, to his credit, convinced them to let go of the idea.
Re: Kindle is removing download and transfer option on Feb 26th
#177I’m not sure why anyone buys Kindles when there are so many better options available. I bought a Kobo Clara years ago, and it supports regular MOBI and ePub files. My book purchases are no longer liked with the reader and I’ve never had a problem in all these years. And this wasn’t even the best or best value for money device I could have bought. Today there are so many other better alternatives in all price points a…
I still have found nothing really comparable to the Kindle Oasis on any other platform. At least not with good enough user reviews to consider trying.
I actually picked up a refurb unit to have as a spare since Amazon discontinued it.
I would love a modern USB-C or wireless charging version of it. Roughly same size and form factor, physical buttons, backlit, and completely waterproof.
That said since they discontinued that model line I would have no real reason to stick with kindle when my two on-on hand finally kick the bucket aside from convenience.
The Kobo Libre Colour seems to be the current closest option, so we shall see how it stands the test of time for when I finally leave my last Oasis on a plane or whatnot.
Re: Kindle is removing download and transfer option on Feb 26th
#178Earlier quoted context omitted.
The alternative I see mentioned here is kobo. I haven't used/owned a kindle so I don't know what amazon do better than the kobo store. I can say that I've bought over 50 books on the kobo store, can't recall a single instance of it not having a book I wanted.
Another reason people (e.g., my mother in law) buy kindles is that the price of ebooks is very often much less from Amazon than from the Kobo store. My mother in law wants to be like us and so she recently bought a kobo. But then she bought herself a new kindle as well simply so she can buy cheaper books and then transfer them (which she hasn’t figured out how to do, and which according to this thread will no longer…
> Another reason people (e.g., my mother in law) buy kindles is that the price of ebooks is very often much less from Amazon than from the Kobo store.
Note that Kobo will price match plus credit 10% of the difference. It’s pretty quick and I’ve never had one of my requests denied.
Re: Kindle is removing download and transfer option on Feb 26th
#179Earlier quoted context omitted.
Kobo Libra color. If I’m being very honest, the screen isn’t as good as the oasis but it’s a compromise I’ve accepted for vastly superior hackability. I telnet into my kobo and installed tailscale then pointed the api to my calibre web instance, I have a much better experience overall because the books are drm-free(d) and calibre web handles sync with kobo really well. And it has physical buttons. I was clinging to m…
> the screen isn’t as good as the oasis Genuinely interested: how good does the screen have to be for mimicking text on paper? I have a Kindle from around 2013, I don't think I would ever need a better quality? > I telnet into my kobo and installed tailscale then pointed the api to my calibre web instance Wow that sounds great! This would make me consider a Kobo now (though my old Kindle is still good enough) :-).
> Genuinely interested: how good does the screen have to be for mimicking text on paper? I have a Kindle from around 2013, I don't think I would ever need a better quality?
The 300 DPI screens are a nice step up, as are the variable colour-temp backlights.
Re: Kindle is removing download and transfer option on Feb 26th
#180I'm surprised no one here has mentioned about how Winterbreak can now jailbreak any kindle regardless of its firmware, this is the way to go if you wanna get out of Amazon's ecosystem