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Retirement of Amazon MOBI eBook file format

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Re: Retirement of Amazon MOBI eBook file format

#141

I very consciously did not buy a Kindle when choosing an Ereader about a year ago. The Kobo H2O is incredible and has served me very well. The format support is wonderful, and the stock OS does more than I need (though there is a whole community of custom OSes that also look cool). Combined with Calibre, I don't even see what the Kindle value prop is.

Thanks for the recommendation, this looks like a very interesting product.

But it is Sold Out

Sigh

Re: Retirement of Amazon MOBI eBook file format

#142

Earlier quoted context omitted.

AFAIK Kindle shows you ads and can occasionally delete a book from your library. Isn't it so?

> Kindle shows you ads Never seen an advert on my Kindle.

I turned off WiFi on mine because I was too annoyed by ads.

Re: Retirement of Amazon MOBI eBook file format

#143
post #132

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The Kindle is inexpensive, has great support, has a huge library (open to non-US people with non-US credit cards), and you could just email a MOBI to it (which is great if the Kindle owner is your parent). It's only disadvantage was that it did not support ePub and so one had to go through Calibre. Now that Kindle is supporting ePUB and no Calibre-tion is needed, I don't even see what the Kobo value prop is.

AFAIK Kindle shows you ads and can occasionally delete a book from your library. Isn't it so?

It shows ads if you buy the cheaper ad supported version. (They even removed the ads for me because Amazon did not sell books in my country)

Re: Retirement of Amazon MOBI eBook file format

#144
post #132

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The Kindle is inexpensive, has great support, has a huge library (open to non-US people with non-US credit cards), and you could just email a MOBI to it (which is great if the Kindle owner is your parent). It's only disadvantage was that it did not support ePub and so one had to go through Calibre. Now that Kindle is supporting ePUB and no Calibre-tion is needed, I don't even see what the Kobo value prop is.

AFAIK Kindle shows you ads and can occasionally delete a book from your library. Isn't it so?

If you buy a kindle that is specifically advertised as having ads(and therefore being sold for less money), then yes, you will get ads. If you don't want them, buy the ad free version.

And the deletion from your library happened...once? Over millions of titles available?

Re: Retirement of Amazon MOBI eBook file format

#145

I very consciously did not buy a Kindle when choosing an Ereader about a year ago. The Kobo H2O is incredible and has served me very well. The format support is wonderful, and the stock OS does more than I need (though there is a whole community of custom OSes that also look cool). Combined with Calibre, I don't even see what the Kindle value prop is.

>I don't even see what the Kindle value prop is One reason I'm stuck with Kindles is because Amazon makes it sane to look up words when reading Japanese books and articles. When you use Amazon's "Send to my Kindle" service (eg, you email a book to yourself, and then it appears on your device), Amazon seems to do some kind of de-conjugation which magically knows how to break-apart terms and grammar so that you can eas…

As someone whose first language isn't English - 100000x times this. The fact that I can just hold down on any word and instantly see its definition is just incredible. It's a must have feature of any e-reader for me.

Re: Retirement of Amazon MOBI eBook file format

#146

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Kindle Paperwhite (2021) is one of the fastest E-reader available right now (in term of responsive ness). Kindle device have excellent dictionary too, especially for non-latin language. (Japanese dictionary implementation on Kobo is not very good). Kobo is more open and is price competitively with Kindle. It's also much more customizable if you are into that. There are also a lot of Android e-ink tablet like BOOX. Th…

What about battery replacement? Seems like no matter how good the display and build quality, all eBook readers are bound to stop holding a charge after 3-4 years. I feel like the ongoing availability of newly-produced replacement batteries and the difficulty of replacing them are the primary factors in choosing an ebook reader. My 2015 Paperwhite barely lasts 20 minutes after I pull the charging cable, even back in 2…

My kindle 4 is from 2012 and still holds a charge for 2 weeks if I use it for 20 minutes a day.

You must have had a heavy use of your kindle. Even if the battery is not new they consume so little that I am not having any problems.

Having said that, every electronic should have user replaceable batteries instead of being a programmed obsolescence nightmare.

Re: Retirement of Amazon MOBI eBook file format

#147
post #132

I very consciously did not buy a Kindle when choosing an Ereader about a year ago. The Kobo H2O is incredible and has served me very well. The format support is wonderful, and the stock OS does more than I need (though there is a whole community of custom OSes that also look cool). Combined with Calibre, I don't even see what the Kindle value prop is.

The Kindle is inexpensive, has great support, has a huge library (open to non-US people with non-US credit cards), and you could just email a MOBI to it (which is great if the Kindle owner is your parent). It's only disadvantage was that it did not support ePub and so one had to go through Calibre. Now that Kindle is supporting ePUB and no Calibre-tion is needed, I don't even see what the Kobo value prop is.

Kobo has built-in Overdrive, Dropbox and Pocket support on the device itself, which Kindle lacks.

Re: Retirement of Amazon MOBI eBook file format

#148

Earlier quoted context omitted.

AFAIK Kindle shows you ads and can occasionally delete a book from your library. Isn't it so?

If you buy a kindle that is specifically advertised as having ads(and therefore being sold for less money), then yes, you will get ads. If you don't want them, buy the ad free version. And the deletion from your library happened...once? Over millions of titles available?

Honestly, one time is enough.

Re: Retirement of Amazon MOBI eBook file format

#149

I very consciously did not buy a Kindle when choosing an Ereader about a year ago. The Kobo H2O is incredible and has served me very well. The format support is wonderful, and the stock OS does more than I need (though there is a whole community of custom OSes that also look cool). Combined with Calibre, I don't even see what the Kindle value prop is.

Similar story here. Bought a Kobo Libra half a year ago, after more than ten years using Kindles.

I chose this Kobo for its bigger screen, as well as hackability. It was cheaper than a corresponding Kindle. Also, I knew I could easily install Koreader [1] in it, pretty much the only UI I have been using for many years now. I'm glad I did.

However, and this is important. Though happy with this Kobo, truth is that it feels cheaper. I keep it on a good case, and I use it with care, as I'm pretty sure it won't survive any fall from whatever height I may drop it. And my previous Kindle, a paperwhite 4, had its tumbles, and survived them quite nicely. And not exactly because I was fortunate. So there's that.

But don't get me wrong. I'm not Kindle-nostalgic. I just have enough experience with both to know what I can reasonably expect from my current device.

[1] http://koreader.rocks/

Re: Retirement of Amazon MOBI eBook file format

#150

Is this just trying to frustrate people pirating e-books and e-mailing themselves them via AWS servers?

Why would someone do this? Isn't it basically asking to get the account deactivated due to piracy concerns esp given that now Amazon has the whole trail of things you have pirated?
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