Live data from Hacker News

FreeInk: Open ecosystem for e-readers

freeink.org

131–140 of 176 posts

Re: FreeInk: Open ecosystem for e-readers

#131
post #52

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Which reader do you have? I've been looking everywhere I can think of for a good 8-inch device, but I need it to run Android. Heck, I even tried looking into tablets with traditional screens and am having trouble turning up anything serviceable. I have a 6" screen and it's too small. I got a 10.3" one and it was too large. But I'm starting to suspect those of us who primarily want to read are the only ones who want 8…

Viwoods AI Paper mini and Supernote Nomad if you want 8” Android. They’re primarily focused on the writing experience but they will run most Android apps and Koreader. The downsides are that they are expensive and the Nomad does not have a front light.

Not having a front light is a dealbreaker for me.

My favorite device is still my Boox Poke 2 Color. I just wish it were slightly bigger. I don't care about writing on it (I have a BT keyboard that should work fine and don't write much by hand anyway if I can avoid it). Just want to read/highlight/annotate in KOReader, but need syncthing for my workflow.

Re: FreeInk: Open ecosystem for e-readers

#132
post #5

I got an Xteink X4 a few weeks ago and love it. I've tried out a few different firmwares but haven't settled on one yet. I love the screen and how simple the interface is. It's kind of a pain in the butt getting my Kindle books on there, but worth the effort. It's also encouraging me to buy books outside of the Amazon ecosystem. I've been getting more stuff from Humble lately.

Seems cool, ordered one. I like my Kobo but the ability to shove it in a pocket seems sweet.

Re: FreeInk: Open ecosystem for e-readers

#133
post #100

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Are there any serious legislative efforts to fix the ebook market? I know getting rid of DRM entirely isn't likely to happen, but at this point I'd be happy with just vendor-neutral DRM.

We're using LCP from EDRLab which is an open standard. Other vendors are starting to adopt it and I think Kobo intend to this year too. Basically the LCPL files you download can be opened on any compatible LCP reader.

I keep hoping interoperability becomes something the European Commission decides to tackle. I can't see the US ever doing anything about this.

Re: FreeInk: Open ecosystem for e-readers

#135

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Is the only way to use it to break the DRM? I wish there was a path to being able to use all these devices with kindle ebooks legally

If you’re not redistributing ebooks you bought, it’s hard to imagine what legal claim someone could make against you, and even harder to establish the ethics of that claim. To say nothing of Amazon’s ethics.

In some jurisdictions the act of removing DRM and any other similar kinds of protection is actually illegal by itself.

Ethics-wise, hard agree.

Re: FreeInk: Open ecosystem for e-readers

#136
post #5

I got an Xteink X4 a few weeks ago and love it. I've tried out a few different firmwares but haven't settled on one yet. I love the screen and how simple the interface is. It's kind of a pain in the butt getting my Kindle books on there, but worth the effort. It's also encouraging me to buy books outside of the Amazon ecosystem. I've been getting more stuff from Humble lately.

My favorite at this point is Witch reader ( https://github.com/jpirnay/witchhunt-reader ). All the features of Cross-point, with better book rendering, and more features. I've tried a lot of the various alternatives, and keep coming back. If you want all your book series displayed together, AALU ( https://github.com/dawsonfi/aalu ) might be worth a look. And Crosspoint OS itself is still really nice.

any that support custom fonts without jumping through hoops? none of them support atkinson hyperlegible for my adhd ass lol

Re: FreeInk: Open ecosystem for e-readers

#137
post #5

I got an Xteink X4 a few weeks ago and love it. I've tried out a few different firmwares but haven't settled on one yet. I love the screen and how simple the interface is. It's kind of a pain in the butt getting my Kindle books on there, but worth the effort. It's also encouraging me to buy books outside of the Amazon ecosystem. I've been getting more stuff from Humble lately.

How do you get your kindle books on it?

Look into Calibre.

Re: FreeInk: Open ecosystem for e-readers

#138
post #5

I got an Xteink X4 a few weeks ago and love it. I've tried out a few different firmwares but haven't settled on one yet. I love the screen and how simple the interface is. It's kind of a pain in the butt getting my Kindle books on there, but worth the effort. It's also encouraging me to buy books outside of the Amazon ecosystem. I've been getting more stuff from Humble lately.

Is there a non-annoying way to get Libby books onto it? It's a step or two with a Kindle, but it would be cool to have them on a more portable device

No. You would have to get it onto your kindle and then break DRM. I personally wouldn't go that far, since the library is paying for it and not me. I feel like if I pay for something, I have the right to back it up how I see fit, whether the law agrees or not, but if I didn't pay for it, it is not mine.

Re: FreeInk: Open ecosystem for e-readers

#139
post #23

Are there any instances from the closed e-book system (kindle, nook, etc..) where you paid for a book and the book was either updated to a revised version or just removed from the device because of the content in the book?

Sort of.

- I've often bought books with old/traditional covers which I like, but then a movie is made and the cover is "updated" to the movie tie-in version

- I've found at least one typo in pretty much every e-book I've ever read, and usually report them --- they rarely get fixed, which annoys me to no end (esp. if it's a copy were there cover has changed as noted above)

There's also the old news story about the kid who bought the pirated copy of _1984_ took class notes in it, and then had the copy deleted, which presumably is why when Microsoft took the ebook reader functionality out of Edge they issued checks to people who had used the note-taking functionality.

Re: FreeInk: Open ecosystem for e-readers

#140
KOReader support (not just KOReader sync) has become my new line in the sand for an e-reader. I'm currently using my jailbroken Kindle PW5 and loving it.

KOReader paired with BookOrbit is my sweetspot and I love having all the data under my control. If my Kindle died today I'd probably grab a Kobo and put KOReader on it.

This project is very interesting to me but they seem to want to "own" the whole software stack, it seems like it won't support things like KOReader? Or am I mistaken?

Post reply on HN