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Not buying another Kindle

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Re: Not buying another Kindle

#261

Post by dannyfritz07 »

someone4958923 wrote: post #125

I went through this migration last year. A few things that helped: Calibre is the escape hatch. Converts everything to EPUB. Even if you don't use it day-to-day, it's the best tool for getting your library out of Amazon's format. Public domain catalogs are huge now. Standard Ebooks, Internet Archive, Gutenberg - tens of thousands of well-formatted free EPUBs. Most people don't realize how much is out there. For actua…

I've been using my 2012 Paperwhite Kindle with Calibre and the experience is honestly great. The only thing I miss from the Amazon shut down is Wikipedia lookup and highlight/note syncing. Otherwise, I've steered clear of Amazon DRM for a long time so I didn't really care because I was already sideloading books with Calibre.

Re: Not buying another Kindle

#262

Post by LgWoodenBadger »

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!)

Nearly instantaneous access to the definition of a word, usually.

Re: Not buying another Kindle

#263

Post by adjejmxbdjdn »

With Kobo devices still available I don’t know why anyone was buying Kindles in the first place.

Kobo links with Overdrive which means you can borrow ebooks from your local library for free, and you can transfer books of a variety of formats openly into the device.

Re: Not buying another Kindle

#264

Post by adjejmxbdjdn »

chmod775 wrote: post #57
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.

The Kobo Glo, released in 2012, is still getting updates to the latest Kobo firmware version. In fact all Kobo e-ink devices, except the Kobo Mini, wifi, and the original one, are still getting firmware updates. Their android-based tablets with IPS screens are all discontinued though (as far as I am aware). This is more than Amazon ever did. They haven't updated the firmware on some of their devices that are official…

I don’t understand why anyone would choose a Kindle over the Kobo range of devices.

When I bought the Kobo Clara it was also a significantly better device purely on hardware specs. It was slightly more expensive, but that’s more than paid for by how long it’s already lasted me, whereas my spouse’s kindle (bought before we discovered Kobo), is already e-waste.

Kobo has also officially tied up with iFixit to provide official fixing guides and parts, allowing for relatively inexpensive hardware repair (to be fair, the battery replacement process I went through my device was quite annoying due to the waterproofing layer, but it worked, and my device is much older than their iFixit partnership, so hopefully the newer devices have repairability more in mind).

Re: Not buying another Kindle

#265

Post by footy »

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 share a bed with my wife and I like to read past when she goes to sleep. It's really nice to be able to read in bed with a frontlit device without having to bother with whether I'll accidentally flash my nightlight on her face if I move.

Also, here in Canada Kobos are extremely well integrated with library systems. It's a minor advantage generally, but during covid when libraries were physically closed it was a lifesaver. I'm sure I'd feel differently if I read less, but I read between 60 and 100 books most years so this is a big deal for me.

Re: Not buying another Kindle

#266

Post by NetMageSCW »

adjejmxbdjdn wrote: post #263

With Kobo devices still available I don’t know why anyone was buying Kindles in the first place. Kobo links with Overdrive which means you can borrow ebooks from your local library for free, and you can transfer books of a variety of formats openly into the device.

Because the Amazon ecosystem of ebooks and Kindle Unlimited. The device isn’t as important as the service.

Re: Not buying another Kindle

#269

Post by NetMageSCW »

ChrisArchitect wrote: post #55

Related: Kindle to end store downloads and registering for 1st-5th gen kindles in May https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47678320 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47690049 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47747330 Amazon is discontinuing Kindle for PC on June 30th https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47816878

That last is a bit click bait. The Kindle for PC app is being replaced with the Windows Store app. You will still be able to read on PCs.
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