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Not buying another Kindle

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Re: Not buying another Kindle

#161

Post by beezlebroxxxxxx »

nickvec wrote: post #150

Besides portability, what other benefits are there to using e-books? I vastly prefer having a physical copy of a book, mainly because I’d rather not look at a screen while reading (unless necessary.) Plus, I love lending out books to friends, and I feel like it’s a much bigger pain to do so virtually (unless they’re tech savvy!)

They are very practical for travelling. I love reading physical books, but also read fast and love reading 3-4 books at a time. An e-reader is basically half the weight of 1 book compared to lugging 3 or 4 books in a carry-on.

Re: Not buying another Kindle

#162

Post by azeirah »

johngossman wrote: post #8

I can understand why one would want to move from Kindle to another device, but this article starts by complaining that support is being dropped for devices from before 2013. I can even understand being upset by this, but I have absolutely no faith that whatever other device I switch to will still be supported in 10+ years. Could be. But I sure wouldn't count on it.

reMarkable is doing a decent job, their first generation device launched in 2017. Still getting updates. It is discontinued for sale, but there is no reason to believe reMarkable will stop updating their other devices if they're _still_ updating a device they don't even sell anymore.

On top of that, their aftermarket and open source situation is pretty good.

They're not ideal e-readers though, but if you're in the market for a good e-ink device with long-term support and that works well with calibre? Might be worth a look.

Re: Not buying another Kindle

#163

Post by [deleted] »

johngossman wrote: post #8

I can understand why one would want to move from Kindle to another device, but this article starts by complaining that support is being dropped for devices from before 2013. I can even understand being upset by this, but I have absolutely no faith that whatever other device I switch to will still be supported in 10+ years. Could be. But I sure wouldn't count on it.

[deleted]

Re: Not buying another Kindle

#164

Post by ReliantGuyZ »

nickvec wrote: post #150

Besides portability, what other benefits are there to using e-books? I vastly prefer having a physical copy of a book, mainly because I’d rather not look at a screen while reading (unless necessary.) Plus, I love lending out books to friends, and I feel like it’s a much bigger pain to do so virtually (unless they’re tech savvy!)

I mostly use my Kindle to read books from my local library's digital catalog. The Libby app hooks into many (all?) US library systems, so I use my phone to check out a book and it's available immediately to download. This is hugely convenient and feels magical since it doesn't cost anything.

Re: Not buying another Kindle

#165

Post by squeaky-clean »

nerdix wrote: post #63
Aeolun wrote: post #50

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Wait, wut? How would they stop me from adding new book to my kindle? I can just plug into USB and load directly right?

No you can't do that on a kindle. They have a "send to kindle" feature that allows you to add non-Amazon purchased ebooks to your library. But that requires support from the backend (and an internet connection). I'm assuming send to kindle will no longer be supported on these older devices.

I have a Kindle that took a fall about 8 years ago and the wifi has never worked since then. I've been able to load books onto it using USB with no issues.

Re: Not buying another Kindle

#166

Post by jay_kyburz »

wao0uuno wrote: post #15
boplicity wrote: post #14

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I really want to like the Kobo. I really do. But I've had such bad luck with their devices. For example, sometimes the pages randomly start turning, really fast, so I completely lose my place. It also never reliably syncs between devices. And the integration with Overdrive is unreliable, only working some of the time. I also read it in the bath sometimes, which supposedly is one of the features available due to the w…

I bought a Kobo Libra about a year ago and it's rock solid although I'm not using any sync features. I turned on the airplane mode on day one. Just works.

i love my libra. i added a pop out handle thing they make for phones and its much easier to use one handed.

Re: Not buying another Kindle

#167

Post by Insanity »

azeirah wrote: post #162
johngossman wrote: post #8

I can understand why one would want to move from Kindle to another device, but this article starts by complaining that support is being dropped for devices from before 2013. I can even understand being upset by this, but I have absolutely no faith that whatever other device I switch to will still be supported in 10+ years. Could be. But I sure wouldn't count on it.

reMarkable is doing a decent job, their first generation device launched in 2017. Still getting updates. It is discontinued for sale, but there is no reason to believe reMarkable will stop updating their other devices if they're _still_ updating a device they don't even sell anymore. On top of that, their aftermarket and open source situation is pretty good. They're not ideal e-readers though, but if you're in the ma…

until the software compatibility with the older model compromises the newer models. Kudos for them for still updating a device no longer on sale, but Apple does the same, until it doesn't. The fact that they are still updating the first generation today does not mean they will do so tomorrow.

That said, remarkable are great devices as well.

Re: Not buying another Kindle

#168

Post by com2kid »

jgeada wrote: post #83
com2kid wrote: post #38

Earlier quoted context omitted.

A number of authors have written about this and the tldr is that ebooks aren't really any cheaper to produce. Paper is cheap. Shipping is cheap. The incremental cost of making a physical book is so small as to be noise in the overall book price.

If that is true, of which I remain highly skeptical, then it implies that books are wildly inefficient to produce. What on earth are all the middlemen between book being authored and it being sold to a customer that add so much overhead that the cost of printing and logistics disappears in the noise???

> If that is true, of which I remain highly skeptical, then it implies that books are wildly inefficient to produce.

It just means that publishers are really good at manufacturing physical goods. They've been doing it for several hundred years so no big surprise there.

Books don't sell in large quantities. The economics of scale for the publishes for labor aren't there.

No one is getting rich off of fiction publishing except for the rare break out author. Publishers go out of business (or get acquired) all the time because they are constantly one step away from being insolvent.

This is also why the industry has massively consolidated.

I highly suggest reading breakdowns of the finances of publishing books, it is an interesting field that is incredibly different than how we are used to seeing numbers work in software.

Re: Not buying another Kindle

#169

Post by Insanity »

stevekemp wrote: post #21
johngossman wrote: post #8

I can understand why one would want to move from Kindle to another device, but this article starts by complaining that support is being dropped for devices from before 2013. I can even understand being upset by this, but I have absolutely no faith that whatever other device I switch to will still be supported in 10+ years. Could be. But I sure wouldn't count on it.

I feel the same way. To be honest I'm on my third kindle, their life-span seems to be about five years for me. I don't love having to replace them, but paying €120 every five years is probably worth it. I mean that's €2/month, and I have a huge library of books which I load via calibre. I read daily, on the bus to work, at home in bed, and while there are "more free" ereaders I've become accustomed to the kindle and…

Same boat as you, I'm on my second kindle in 10 years. Absolutely love the device and the convenience of reading on it. Also have a large physical library that I still add to occasionally (esp in relation to the space I have in Condo buildings), but reading on my kindle is my go-to choice.

Re: Not buying another Kindle

#170

Post by Insanity »

andrewla wrote: post #17

In my view the death of the eReader is just the price fixing on ebooks -- that ebooks are sold at par with at a premium to physical books still bothers me, and I think is responsible for the fact that the Kindle is dying -- Amazon can't move enough ebooks at these price levels to be worth investing anything in interested new hardware.

I might be misreading your message, but most ebooks I buy are in the $5-15 range, whilst physical books I buy are usually $20-30 range. I'm reading your message as in "they are equally expensive" which is not the case. But I'm having a bit of trouble parsing your second sentence lol.
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