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The Kindle is fine, but could’ve been much more

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Re: The Kindle is fine, but could’ve been much more

#131

Post by alok-g »

canuckintime wrote: post #103
VvR-Ox wrote: post #77

That's the problem with many proprietary consumer devices (take the iPad into this category as well). 1. Vendor lock: You can't install or change most of the things including OS and Apps. 2. Locked down OS: You can't do anything with your device. If you try to change the OS you'll maybe brick it. 3. Planned obsolescence built in: If the vendor decides it's "time to say goodbye" you won't get updates anymore and proba…

> I'm a bit sad that innovation in this sector stopped and I'd be willing to pay up to 1k $ for the described features. It's practically a market failure. There was a color eReader[1] running Android 8 years ago (a small tablet before the iPad mini and Nexus 7)! That mirasol display is still better outdoors than the iPhone 11 Pro or iPad Pro at max brightness. If anyone took that old display tech and put it in a mode…

I was the lead technology architect for the next generation of mirasol referred to in the engadget link, and really wish that the technology had survived. For reflective displays, there isn't practically anything that could produce good colors, that too along with video-capability.

Re: The Kindle is fine, but could’ve been much more

#132

Post by lisnake »

nickcw wrote: post #85

I love my kindle, but I really miss one thing from paper books - the cover. When you have a paper book whenever you pick it up you see the title and the author and the cover image. I find I still remember these from books I read long ago. However on the Kindle you only see the cover of the book you are reading if you make an effort to scroll to the start of the book - by default the kindle starts you at the first bit…

Kobo e-readers do exactly that

Re: The Kindle is fine, but could’ve been much more

#133

Post by lisnake »

WalterBright wrote: post #69
LordN00b wrote: post #66

Earlier quoted context omitted.

+ All the votes for the DX. Apart from having to replace the battery (and having the ability to do so.), it has been the most trouble free electronic device I have ever owned. I love the screen size, and I can read textbooks, and code at the same time etc. It has niggles (PDF viewing being a bete noire), but it's reliable, coupled with Calibre I can read anything, it hsa handled my lazy attitdue to device care admira…

Oh, how I wish the DX would show the last page read as the screensaver. I could open a page on a "cheat sheet" and just keep it at my desk.

It's possible to do that on a jailbroken kindle

Re: The Kindle is fine, but could’ve been much more

#134

Post by hairofadog »

damontal wrote: post #123

I've been struggling with this in a weird way. I have an iPhone 8, and kindle keyboard, a paperwhite, and physical books. Each has it's plusses and minuses... The KKB's screen looks better to me than the paperwhite's (the text seems to be more on the surface rather than below it) and it's got buttons -- but no back light. The paperwhite's backlight makes it convenient because I can read it in bed -- but no physical b…

Very much with you on this.

I wish Apple would make a backlit e-ink tablet for books. It really is the best way to read things cover to cover and it eliminates the distractions that come with reading on the phone. I don’t expect they’ll ever do it, but in this world where you have to opt in to an ecosystem, that’s the one I’d prefer to opt into.

Setting aside the dream of a DRM-free world, what I’d love is

- aforementioned backlit Apple e-ink reader

- iBooks app to work with Overdrive (the library-lending app)

- iBooks app to make its margins adjustable or at least not take up 20% of the horizontal width of the screen

- iBooks store to have a wider range of books (I was recently unable to get both _Theory of Bastards_ and some other notable book there that I forget the name of)

- I actually sorta like the way kindle handles comics and graphic novels

Looking at the list above a same person might ask why I don't just go with kindle instead of iBooks; the reasons are that a) there are certain aesthetic things that get under my skin about the kindle, and b) using the kindle means investing in the kindle ecosystem, and I'm not sure I want to do that for reasons.

I've been thinking of going back to paper books but reading in bed at night is so much nicer with a lightweight, backlit device. I know it sounds pathetic but trying to read one of Neal Stevenson's tomes while lying in bed is a challenge.

Anyhoo. Option paralysis! Right on.

Edit: billeted list

Re: The Kindle is fine, but could’ve been much more

#135

Post by e12e »

sohkamyung wrote: post #117
e12e wrote: post #87

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I'm with you on the disappointment. Devices like remarkable and onyx book do give me hope that we might be going somewhere (finally). I remember there was a company that sold laptops with hybrid screens - that could do e-ink when used outside - but I think the screen manufacturer folded. Good color would be nice - but it doesn't look like anything will beat oled in that department for the forseeable future. If the re…

> I remember there was a company that sold laptops with hybrid screens - that could do e-ink when used outside - but I think the screen manufacturer folded. Could you have been thinking of Pixel Qi and its LCD panel that could operate in transflective mode in daylight? [1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pixel_Qi

That's it.

I think there was also a small manufacturer that shipped laptops with e-ink (or pixel qi) screens for use outdoors, like on a sailing boat - but I forget the name. Something with "sun"?

Re: The Kindle is fine, but could’ve been much more

#136

Post by e12e »

xnzakg wrote: post #106
e12e wrote: post #87

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I'm with you on the disappointment. Devices like remarkable and onyx book do give me hope that we might be going somewhere (finally). I remember there was a company that sold laptops with hybrid screens - that could do e-ink when used outside - but I think the screen manufacturer folded. Good color would be nice - but it doesn't look like anything will beat oled in that department for the forseeable future. If the re…

The remarkable actually gives you the root password you can use over SSH in the device settings. Also runs Linux (even has vim installed by default)

Right, I saw that. But how do I compile and install a patched kernel? Or patched ssh for that matter? That was what I couldn't quite figure out last I looked - but maybe I looked in the wrong place?

Re: The Kindle is fine, but could’ve been much more

#137

Post by SergeAx »

For humanity sake, please buzz off the Kindle. If you want color, interactions, fresh articles any time, stylus and other bells and whistles - just buy yourself a tablet.

Kindle is a perfect tool for one and just one task: longreading. It's display is optimized for hours of non-eyes-violent usage, including before-sleep time with internal lighting only. It has a great battery life, it's compact and can be fit into almost any inside pocket, it's really lightweight — 33% to 50% less weight compared to similar form-factor tablets.

It doesn't need an internet connection and it is great: no distraction! It is a natural selection for airplane or time far from civilization. I like sailing, and there were tons of great books and articles read during sea passages and anchorage evenings.

Maybe, just maybe, it can be better with file transfers. Something like Bluetooth or direct WiFi. But I have a small USB OTG adapter for my Android phone, always tucked into a Kindle's soft case, so when once a month I want to read something on my Kindle immediately - I just use it as an external drive. My condolences to Apple ecosystem inmates.

(I actually understand that it is not in Amazon best interests to have a good file transfer for Kindles — it messes with their business model. $1.5 OTG adapter is just fine)

Re: The Kindle is fine, but could’ve been much more

#138

Post by VvR-Ox »

e12e wrote: post #87
VvR-Ox wrote: post #77

That's the problem with many proprietary consumer devices (take the iPad into this category as well). 1. Vendor lock: You can't install or change most of the things including OS and Apps. 2. Locked down OS: You can't do anything with your device. If you try to change the OS you'll maybe brick it. 3. Planned obsolescence built in: If the vendor decides it's "time to say goodbye" you won't get updates anymore and proba…

I'm with you on the disappointment. Devices like remarkable and onyx book do give me hope that we might be going somewhere (finally). I remember there was a company that sold laptops with hybrid screens - that could do e-ink when used outside - but I think the screen manufacturer folded. Good color would be nice - but it doesn't look like anything will beat oled in that department for the forseeable future. If the re…

Thank you I appreciate that. Yes I think so, too.

I bought an Onyx and so far it does well with tasks like note-taking, viewing PDFs and books without scrambling everything and also annotating.

What it lacks most is the colors and exporting "notes" as vectors (the resolution is not really good so I can't use it for sketching).

The display idea sounds interesting, sad it had to die :-(

Re: The Kindle is fine, but could’ve been much more

#139

Post by nyolfen »

boredishBoi wrote: post #101
tjpnz wrote: post #89

I bought a Kindle in 2012 and the thing just sits in a drawer now. The hardware's great but it's crippled by the software/DRM which now refuses any attempt to login. Can't work out whether it's due to the age of the device or the fact I've since moved to Japan (Amazon JP is "special" compared to virtually every other country). I won't be buying another one.

You can use Calibre to side load books without an account. It can also convert epubs to mobi’s.

you can also just plug it into your computer and drop files in it

Re: The Kindle is fine, but could’ve been much more

#140

Post by VvR-Ox »

canuckintime wrote: post #103
VvR-Ox wrote: post #77

That's the problem with many proprietary consumer devices (take the iPad into this category as well). 1. Vendor lock: You can't install or change most of the things including OS and Apps. 2. Locked down OS: You can't do anything with your device. If you try to change the OS you'll maybe brick it. 3. Planned obsolescence built in: If the vendor decides it's "time to say goodbye" you won't get updates anymore and proba…

> I'm a bit sad that innovation in this sector stopped and I'd be willing to pay up to 1k $ for the described features. It's practically a market failure. There was a color eReader[1] running Android 8 years ago (a small tablet before the iPad mini and Nexus 7)! That mirasol display is still better outdoors than the iPhone 11 Pro or iPad Pro at max brightness. If anyone took that old display tech and put it in a mode…

Yes I think so, too. Shouldn't innovation be one of the things being inhibited by competition on a capitalist market?

Wow this looks awesome and it has been 8 years since!

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