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I’ve been looking into getting an e-reader, but I’m scared to get one from Amazon due to things like this. Are there any decent hackable and/or trustworthy ones out there?
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You paid for the ads-supported version if you got ads...
Not always obvious. I've stopped several relatives from making that mistake. For some reason, they're inclined to trust Amazon.
https://www.amazon.com/Amazon-Kindle/dp/B0CNVCQZG1/
This is the first one that pops up if you search "kindle" on Amazon.
I'm not sure how more clearly you could show the variants with and without ads.
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Not sure if you’re joking but is it possible to even do that? I understand some books are kept on their cloud servers and only some get downloaded.
I had an old kindle that I never connected to the net or with an amazon account. I loaded books by USB. Damn near impossible to find DRM free books to purchase though.
My method has always been to buy physical books (which is also better to support the author, because they get a bigger % of the price you pay.
And then, there are other creative ways to download the ebook... (without buying from Amazon, or other monopolists.)
14 years support window is so insanely good. But as it goes... You either die a hero or you live long enough to become the villain.
14 year support window is pretty good. Not being able to get a modern device with buttons, and having no way to read your books with buttons, isn't.
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It is still possible to remove DRM and export to PDF or epub. Not point-and-click easy, though. https://www.reddit.com/r/Calibre/comments/1q1uza4/successful...
While Calibre makes it easy, it's even easier to just download a copy someone else has already stripped of DRM. If publishers/authors want my money, they can release a version without DRM.
Calibre web and calibre web automated downloader remove a fair bit of the clunk.
I’ve been looking into getting an e-reader, but I’m scared to get one from Amazon due to things like this. Are there any decent hackable and/or trustworthy ones out there?
Kobo's devices let you bypass the account signup via a single option in a config file. Whether you do so or not it's easy to install koreader and start writing plugins for it. You can also hack on the linux OS they use
It’s not too disgusting, and over-the-air is nice to have.
Tip: if you let kids and others in your home use a Kindle and they might unintentionally turn off the airplane mode ... Go to your router settings and blacklist the Kindle's mac id. Sleep peacefully that your kindle will never be bricked or wiped by a software update.
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My kindle from 2012 used to have ads you needed to pay for to get rid of. It was sold as separate product with or without ads at a time. I had one with ads. I keep it offline in airplane mode permanently from 2016 and haven't seen a single ad in a long long time.
I have a similar one and I never bothered to pay to get rid of the ads or keep it in aeroplane mode. The ads are only shown while it's off, they're static black and white images, and 99% of the time they're for books. Totally unobjectionable. If they were in the actual UI and for stuff like cars and perfume I might mind, but they aren't so I never cared.
Speak for yourself. Aside from the principle, some of us don’t want to be advertised to in the comfort of our own home/bed/while we’re camping or whatever. Ads don’t have to be actively flashing, spaz-inducing insanity to be objectionable.
Not to mention that by definition an ad like this WILL be seen and attended to, even if only momentarily. That in itself is also objectionable.