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Open-source, DRM-free Kindle alternative

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Re: Open-source, DRM-free Kindle alternative

#11

Post by jonahbenton »

inetsee wrote: post #8

My question is whether this device can download and read ebooks from Amazon? I don't have a Kindle and the small number of Amazon ebooks I have (many of them free), I read on Amazon's Reader page. My take on Amazon is they aren't going to make it easy to bypass their controls, both DRM and otherwise.

I have removed DRM from all of my Kindle book purchases over the years (over 100) to read as PDFs on my Remarkable without issue. The Calibre toolchain- bless the work of the author- is a little painful to use but works consistently and though it's a GUI, the CLI works as well and can be automated.

It is definitely possible to make de-DRM harder, but lots of things are possible and thankfully don't happen.

Re: Open-source, DRM-free Kindle alternative

#12

Post by Wowfunhappy »

ikeboy wrote: post #9
Wowfunhappy wrote: post #3

I want an e-ink web browsing tablet. I want to be able to go to nytimes.com, or Vox, or Hacker News, and read the articles and comment threads on a high-contrast screen that doesn't hurt my eyes. I don't want to use some read-later service that sends specific articles to my e-reader, I want to just navigate to the sites directly. There would be trade-offs for sure, but it seems like the benefits would outweigh the do…

Well, the Kindle has a web browser. What's wrong with that?

It's slow to the point of being painful to use, never mind actually pleasant. I know the refresh rate is always going to be crap, but there's no reason we can't get half-decent internals alongside an e-ink screen.

Re: Open-source, DRM-free Kindle alternative

#13

Post by cherioo »

criddell wrote: post #7
cherioo wrote: post #5

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Those exists now, in the form of eink Android phone/tablet. The refresh rate of eink makes their experience suboptimal, but some find it usable enough. You can search for Boox tablet, or Hisense A5 phone.

There's also ones from Sony, Supernote, and Remarkable.

None of those appears to be Android, which IMO makes them have less utility value. There's definitely pros and cons though, and one should research which is right for them.

Re: Open-source, DRM-free Kindle alternative

#14

Post by Wowfunhappy »

cherioo wrote: post #5
Wowfunhappy wrote: post #3

I want an e-ink web browsing tablet. I want to be able to go to nytimes.com, or Vox, or Hacker News, and read the articles and comment threads on a high-contrast screen that doesn't hurt my eyes. I don't want to use some read-later service that sends specific articles to my e-reader, I want to just navigate to the sites directly. There would be trade-offs for sure, but it seems like the benefits would outweigh the do…

Those exists now, in the form of eink Android phone/tablet. The refresh rate of eink makes their experience suboptimal, but some find it usable enough. You can search for Boox tablet, or Hisense A5 phone.

Oh that's interesting, I missed this one: https://www.techrepublic.com/article/review-onyx-boox-max3-a...

I know I shouldn't be complaining about price now that I've heard it exists at all, but $840 is really steep! I was thinking something more like $400. I know it's a niche product, but even so.

Re: Open-source, DRM-free Kindle alternative

#15

Post by ikeboy »

Wowfunhappy wrote: post #12
ikeboy wrote: post #9

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Well, the Kindle has a web browser. What's wrong with that?

It's slow to the point of being painful to use, never mind actually pleasant. I know the refresh rate is always going to be crap, but there's no reason we can't get half-decent internals alongside an e-ink screen.

Have you tried the Kindle Oasis?

Re: Open-source, DRM-free Kindle alternative

#16

Post by jonahbenton »

Wowfunhappy wrote: post #3

I want an e-ink web browsing tablet. I want to be able to go to nytimes.com, or Vox, or Hacker News, and read the articles and comment threads on a high-contrast screen that doesn't hurt my eyes. I don't want to use some read-later service that sends specific articles to my e-reader, I want to just navigate to the sites directly. There would be trade-offs for sure, but it seems like the benefits would outweigh the do…

Yeah- part of the reason is that a browser is an extremely expensive piece of machinery to host from a hardware utilization perspective. The horsepower required on the device is extremely high.

eInk displays are incredibly limited- low refresh rates, low density, limited/no color, limited/no touch etc.

It just doesn't make sense to build a product with that combination- high end under the hood, low end IO to the user.

Re: Open-source, DRM-free Kindle alternative

#19

Post by [deleted] »

inetsee wrote: post #8

My question is whether this device can download and read ebooks from Amazon? I don't have a Kindle and the small number of Amazon ebooks I have (many of them free), I read on Amazon's Reader page. My take on Amazon is they aren't going to make it easy to bypass their controls, both DRM and otherwise.

[deleted]

Re: Open-source, DRM-free Kindle alternative

#20

Post by GekkePrutser »

This isn't really equivalent to a kindle though. The fonts are basic, there's no enclosure. Fonts are a huge thing for eReaders and Amazon has spent a lot of time perfecting them.

It's also important to remember that it's perfectly possible to use the Kindle without DRM. You can just put your own books on it with a cable, though you'll have to convert them to MOBI as it doesn't do ePub. The same can be done with other brands like Kobo, which can take raw ePub. Also, the Kobo's can be pretty easily modified as they just run plain Linux, I'm running PyGame on an older one. The entire OS was simply on an internal SD card so really easily modified (though not sure if the new ones can be modified too).

I think the problem with DRM and ebooks is not the readers. It's the availability of books without DRM... Basically the "GOG" of eBook stores. Even if you have an open eBook reader, where are you going to get the books from?

I think for the reader, I would prefer to buy commercial hardware as look and feel is an important thing for a device you will interact with a lot. Similar to the way us Open Source aficionados don't build our own laptops, but do use free software :)

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