Hacker News Board Hacker News, browsed like a classic message board
Live data from Hacker News

Open-source, DRM-free Kindle alternative

vice.com

Post reply on HN
Print view View original

21–30 of 109 posts

Re: Open-source, DRM-free Kindle alternative

#21

Post by souterrain »

ikeboy wrote: post #15
Wowfunhappy wrote: post #12

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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?

Is the Oasis performance that different than the Paperwhite?

I personally am less concerned with closed-platform reader technology, and more concerned with closed-platform content. If a reader will let me sideload my open content, I'm reasonably okay with it. (Yes, I acknowledge supporting such an ecosystem is contributing to the overall problem.)

Re: Open-source, DRM-free Kindle alternative

#22

Post by [deleted] »

jonahbenton wrote: post #16
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…

[deleted]

Re: Open-source, DRM-free Kindle alternative

#23

Post by komali2 »

GekkePrutser wrote: post #20

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 othe…

> Even if you have an open eBook reader, where are you going to get the books from?

There's a huge ebook pirating scene, so you could always do that, buying the book beforehand if the ethics disturb you.

What is sad to me is that there's no way to check out an ebook from a library in a way that doesn't involve Amazon.

Re: Open-source, DRM-free Kindle alternative

#24

Post by skyfaller »

jonahbenton wrote: post #18

Hoping for good things for this product but will put in an plug for the Remarkable- open source software, well designed and capable hardware, solid product vision.

Are you sure it's accurate to say the Remarkable uses open source software? Their website says it runs on "Codex — A purposely designed Linux-based operating system for low-latency digital paper displays", so at least the Linux kernel is open source, but look at their EULA: https://support.remarkable.com/hc/en-us/articles/36000028275...

"You are not entitled to modify or distribute the Software."

Doesn't sound like open source software to me.

Also, in this day and age, I believe that devices should be open hardware as well (as the Open Book appears to be). Open source software is a good start, but it isn't good enough.

Another Kindle alternative that is open software + open hardware is the Inkplate 6, I've pre-ordered one: https://www.crowdsupply.com/e-radionica/inkplate-6

Re: Open-source, DRM-free Kindle alternative

#25

Post by tpmoney »

GekkePrutser wrote: post #20

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 othe…

>Even if you have an open eBook reader, where are you going to get the books from?

At the very least, Baen and Tor offer DRM free ebooks of their offerings.

Re: Open-source, DRM-free Kindle alternative

#26

Post by xellisx »

jonahbenton wrote: post #18

Hoping for good things for this product but will put in an plug for the Remarkable- open source software, well designed and capable hardware, solid product vision.

I just want a ReMarkable, because I want a more pen and paper experience. I can't justify the price at this time though, since I wouldn't be able to use it to the full potential for a couple more years, and I'm sure something better will be out by then, Unless the market decides that writing stuff down by hand isn't trendy anymore.

Re: Open-source, DRM-free Kindle alternative

#27

Post by phasnox »

jonahbenton wrote: post #18

Hoping for good things for this product but will put in an plug for the Remarkable- open source software, well designed and capable hardware, solid product vision.

The only thing keeping me from getting one is the reading experience.

I don't mind the lack of store so much, but things like the dictionary and being able to sync and read "saved" articles from anywhere.

Re: Open-source, DRM-free Kindle alternative

#28

Post by akavel »

Wowfunhappy wrote: post #14
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.

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.

Take a look at the smaller models, like Onyx Nova 2 or Note 2; if you're ok with smaller size, they're cheaper

Re: Open-source, DRM-free Kindle alternative

#29

Post by input_sh »

tpmoney wrote: post #25
GekkePrutser wrote: post #20

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 othe…

>Even if you have an open eBook reader, where are you going to get the books from? At the very least, Baen and Tor offer DRM free ebooks of their offerings.

ebooks.com has plenty of them, Kobo has some of them, and pretty much every publisher offers DRM-free works if you purchase directly from their website (to name a few: Smashwords, Verso, No Starch). Oh, and there's Humble Bundle. Sometimes there's watermark involved, but I'm personally completely fine with that.

If all else fails, you can remove DRM protection from pretty much any major DRM method (Adobe Adept ePub and PDFs, Barnes & Noble ePubs, Kindle ebooks, Kobo ebooks).

Re: Open-source, DRM-free Kindle alternative

#30

Post by input_sh »

kick wrote: post #10
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.

Calibre strips Amazon's DRM and most book reading software supports you fetching books directly from Calibre.

Note: not out of the box, but there's a plugin for that. Keywords that will lead you to it: Apprentice Alf.
Post reply on HN